rkellytex

I thought this was a little gem of a movie. Well acted and realistic; Felicity Jones is especially good. My 16-year relationship had immigration problems within the first two years and this movie gets to the heart of that pain. Worth seeing, if you don't mind your love stories with a dose of melancholy.

A beautiful movie that captures what it is like to be a gay man, looking for a connection (or not). It is a rare opportunity to see our lives on film that doesn't resort to the use of the sassy best fiend, mincing drag queen, or homophobic father to flesh out our lives. It just shows how we might spend one weekend making a connection with another human being.

I went to a sneak peak of this movie at the Castro Theater in San Francisco and had not heard anything about it, so had no expectations. The movie is mediocre at best and after seeing the writer/director, Juno Temple, and a surprise appearance by Melissa Manchester at the Castro I wanted to like it more. The likely mostly gay crowd at the Castro hootted, guffawed and hissed, but it all felt forced. The comedy is way to broad and most of the characters are caricatures (the chubby gay boy, the hateful homophobic dad, the school bully). I too was a chubby (closeted) gay teen in the early 80's right across the Red River in Texas, so should have been able to relate, but the connection just wasn't there. Although some will find the flour-sack baby cloying, I didn't mind it and thought it could have worked in a better movie. The two saving graces I found were the 80's songs, some of which were obvious and others more subtle, and Juno Temple. There was one scene at the end between her and Tim McGraw that was truly beautiful and didn't fit in with the rest of the movie. I was kind of blown away when she came out and I learned that she is actually British. I went so far as to pull up IMDB after the show to see if I had sen her before (small parts in Atonement and Greenberg), but her work in this film, and especially that one scene, indicate the girl can act if she is given the right role.