Sunday, February 28, 2010
SUB GENREUpdated
Today's movie was a gay audience film called
This is a sort of B-picture. There are many of them produced for a specific audience. There are equivalent films for Christians and, I suppose, any sizable group that will buy or rent or even go to the theater to see some of their own life and interests on the screen.
I am sure there is an economic model. The films are done with little known actors for scale. A lot of location shooting. Usually with a minimum crew. Digital.
I do not scoff. I am not immune. I watch them from time to time particularly if I hear about one or read a good revue.
None of these films is rated. They do not have to be as a general audience will not see them. This one would barely make the NC17 rating as we see dicks and there is some explicit sexual content. But, in these films, this sort of thing is severely edited down. It is not even erotic for the most part. It is certainly not jerk off material.
The acting is usually adequate. Stereotypes of one kind are brought around. In this case a drag queen, a gay pothead who can't really relate, a sex addict waiter/actor and in this film they have brought in a trannies. I do not relate to that. I don't get the fit.
The hero is OK. The formula acceptable. It is a Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court only changed to a Frenchman who visits LA after a breakup with a boyfriend.
He has culture shock but it does not prevent him from finding a home, getting an SAG card, appearing in a commercial, making friends of all the stereotypes and having a good time.
The one thing that he does not do, sadly, is get laid.
He pines for the lost boyfriend but, as we are shown, the bf is rather unsavory.
He throws all of his few week's success over to go back to France and reunite with the cheating little bitch.
Improbable.
I don't get it.
In fact the whole exercise would please any homophobe. Every negative stereotype was there for the picking. Even I got offended.
Is this the new form of punishing the gay character for being gay? Well, it beats suicide or a fatal beating ala Brokeback. Which, if I may say so, is in the old Hollywood punish the faggot style no matter who starred in it or how beautiful it may have been.
I had read the story when it first came out so I knew enough to stay away. Besides I don't see the movie of things I have read or visa versa.
I digress.
The film's one non-formula part is that the hero is actually homely. He is a new actor in his first part. He is very low energy. Could he be the producer's boyfriend? He is sort of hot. Looks like Adrian Brody. They comment on it in the film.
The film also has Chad Allen who famously came out as a teenager and now is the go-to actor in a film like this. He holds some of it together. All of his scenes work. But he is not pivotal. A mistake.
It was slight fun to see this film. There were amusing moments. I see one of these every once in awhile just as one would get a MacDonald's instead of having a sirloin steak.
I didn't FF it. I watched the whole thing. That makes it a 2 out of Netflix5.
Labels: films
