Friday, February 22, 2013
REWRITE
I have never done this. I didn't like my "review" of the film
Elliot Loves (2012)Look. It is as simple as this.
Gay men are either afraid of commitment or obsessed with finding a lover to commit to. Believe me. I have been there. Both sides.
Sometimes they abide together in the same mind and body. Been there and done that too.
Inevitably, these men meet other men, usually the opposite.
Elliot wants a relationship, bad. But he picks guys who are relation-a-phobic.
He has a broken picker.
One reason is that while his mind tells him he wants a lover, he also wants to get laid. Not the same thing.
Why is Elliot screwed up? His childhood, of course. His own and his parents experience with relationships.
So Terracino has written and directed a film which lays this out very clearly with a young Elliot, with his screwup Mom, and older Elliot who is playing out the same script as his mother with the guys he meets.
The child is the father of the man.
Simple.
That is the whole thing.
A series of vignettes shows young Elliot then older Elliot. You draw the comparisons.
Cartoons are used very creatively to dilute the basic tragedy of this kind of endless loop of parent/child/child/parent dance.
The story shows us how Elliot resolves this and gains insight through hard practical experience.
The film is funny, sad, suspenseful and satisfying. And gentle even though it does lay the child abuse cards on the table.
Incidentally, there is a straight corollary to this. It just happens that Elliot is gay.
A five. Great movie. Go below if you want to see the preview. Seeing the film is better.
Labels: films
