Another Gay Movie

"I don't even want straight people to see us acting like that." That's what an openly gay actor from one of Outfest's shorts told me when I asked if he'd seen Another Gay Movie, possibly the most hyped gay film since Trick. I can't agree with him in that it would sound too much like the queers who cringe at flamboyance during Gay Pride—I find that sentiment psych-illogical. But I will confess I knew what he was getting at: The movie left me feeling vaguely...embarrassed? By what? For whom?

I definitely liked Edge of Seventeen, the 1998 film directed by David Moreton and cleverly written by Another Gay Movie's director, Todd Stephens. I have to confess I've never even heard of Todd's directorial debut from five years ago, an oddball-sounding flick about Stevie Nicks fans called Gypsy 83 that featured Karen Black. I hear that Gypsy 83's distribution nightmare (it wasn't considered gay enough to be a gay film) led Stephens to conceive of Another Gay Movie as not just [insert film's title here], but as The Most Gay Movie. Ever. The concept is interesting—instead of another gay love triangle or another gay hustler movie (hey!), why not invent the genre of gay gross-out flick?

One review I read in L.A. stated that if you could "get" the concept, Another Gay Movie was the best of Outfest. Not by a mile. First of all...what's to get? I just summed it up in a line or two and I'm sure you followed, right? Now that we've wrapped our minds around the gimmick, does it play?

I'd say no. I'm not hostile toward Another Gay Movie, and there was some loud laughter in the screening I attended. But the laughter felt to me mostly forced and nervous, along the lines of, "Did they just do that?" rather than, "Wow, that was hilarious!"

The story follows four gay virgins who make a pact to lose their virginity by graduation. Little Darlings, anyone? Or Porky's? Or American Pie, reinvented as American Quiche? All of the above, and on purpose. The guys are played by the magnetically adorable Michael Carbonaro, whose manic, Jason Biggs-time (but better) performance nabbed him an Outie as Best Actor; Jonah Bleckman, who plays a shrill queen whose scream can only be heard by dogs; Mitch Morris, the adorkable one; and Jonathan Chase, a movie-star handsome jock whose enthusiasm for getting naked on screen belies the fact that he later disassociated himself from promoting the project ("Mr. Chase is not doing any press for Another Gay Movie," is how NYC's HX quotes his management team). Oh, well, at least Chase and Morris cook up some nice chemistry in a nipple-tweaking scene.

With Carbonaro—a potential future star—setting the bar-bonaro impossibly high, Morris and Chase manage to keep up with him admirably, investing what was an incredibly short shoot (days, baby, not weeks) with the requisite amount of enthusiasm. Blechman...the less said the better. He has the same energy, but feels off in every scene except for during his A+ dance routine. Though it must be said Blechman (an executive producer of the film, too) is not nearly as off as Ashlie Atkinson as a bull-dyke (don't get all PC on me—this movie has an Asian girl squeaking "me love you long time" with Chinese subtitles) or as every one of the stunt-casted gay celebs, from jailbird Richard Hatch to brow-lifted comic Ant to to talentless (if tasty) twink James Getzlaff, who doesn't...get any laffs. When porn titan Matthew Rush delivers lines better than you do, it's time to look into other careers. Might we suggest porn? When you're 35 and hot and can't act, it seems as good a way to go as any.

The movie is basically a series of gonzo comic scenes revolving around anal sex and who's gonna get it first—or at all. Carbonaro earns his Outie if for nothing else by showing his balls in a scene destined for places like here or here. In this mildly fun scene, where he's screwing himself with vegetables and other objects under the covers, the potential of Another Gay Movie is glimpsed before it goes AWOL. The comedy is just so broad and the laughs just so few and far between, you're left to contemplate the cynical mess that it all boils down to—while there are certainly many wonderful gay movies (and wonderful tries!) that involve sexual situations, I couldn't help thinking, "Gee, is it right to get these guys to perform humiliating, borderline pornographic scenes in the name of comedy when it's really just to get dollars and leers from gay patrons with low expectations?" Well, the actors aren't babies and could have turned it down, and I certainly don't have a problem with porn...so what is my complaint? I can't rationalize it, but I definitely felt like the laughter was more at the actors than with them, and at the tackiness of the endeavor rather than at any inventive jokes and gags. And I really hope I'll never see even one more movie with pointless ’70s and ’80s references—these are 18-year-old characters...believe me, they would not hold Carrie in high esteem, making a lengthy Carrie sequence distractingly misguided.

I wish I had more positive things to say about Another Gay Movie other than to re-emphasize that I just loved Michael Carbonaro—a star is horned, er, porn, er, born. I don't take pleasure in trashing it. I wanted to like a movie with cute guys, some good to greatish performances and an almost punk attitude about being in-your-face gay. But I'm afraid I have to come down on the side of those churlish critics who are constantly pointing out that too much of gay culture in the past 10 years is half-baked crap that we're conditioned to like strictly because the guys behind it enjoy being behind guys. This is a case, for me, where I have to step back and say, "I appreciate your gayness and I'll check out what you cook up in the future, but this is not my cup of tea room."

You know what? Check the movie out for yourself and weigh in with me. I'd be curious to hear from people who absolutely loved it and from those of you who absolutely agree with me that a movie needs more than cute boys in (and out of) their underpants.

Comments

[Mark]

Jeez -- get over yourself! Simply put, "Another Gay Movie" is a low budget Gay parody of "American Pie". It's just as cheezy & embarrassing as that film -- only the lower budget makes it even cheesier.

But so what? It's fun & it's supposed to be.

GO SEE THE FILM & ENJOY IT.

(I saw it at NewFest a few weeks back & I "got it" right away)

[Matthew Rettenmund]

I don't need to get over myself...I'm not criticizing the movie for failing to resolve the Israel/Lebanon War. But aside from that, my point in my review was that I, like you, did "get it"...and anyone with brain waves would "get it"...as a parody of American Pie. I just didn't like it, and didn't find it fun or enjoyable. That's my complaint, not its low budget or cheesy concept. I do wish I'd liked it more and went out of my way to stress the few aspects I did like. Calls ’em likes I sees ’em. But thanks for reading and offering your opposite opinion. Glad you liked the movie.

[Shirley]

it's not that I liked it, or didn't like it -- it's just that I didn't take it so damn seriously. I realize with so few gay films seeing release, it's hard not to want every precious moment to be amazing.

Also, I found your specific review of the over-the-top queeny character to reek of some internalized homophobia.

just my 2 cents.

[Matthew Rettenmund]

At the risk of being accused of being defensive (AM NOT! AM NOT!) I do love a good queen. Just not this queen. It's more...externalized specificperformanceaphobia than internalized homophobia. Also, I think that when people don't like movies that are obviously not to be taken too "seriously" (like this one), their dislike of it is sometimes equated with taking them too seriously as opposed to just...not laughing. Dumb movies I've loved include American Pie, which this movie is a (cleverly devised, not-as-cleverly executed) take on. But enjoy away—I agree that getting any indie made and getting it to be a topic of conversation is commendable. I think this movie, in particular, is likely to do quite well at the B.O. and gay dollars are better spent on this than on equally sub-par big-studio, mega-bucks releases. I can't explain the icked-out feeling I had...but I had it. Shrugs. Nothing about me is internalized, as this blog proves. I like to analyze things, even popular culture, because I think everything has meaning and potential importance. Even a comedy about losing your anal cherry.

[derek]

The movie is fantastic!
I think the fact that a movie like this is a chance to laugh at ourselves, and not get laughs at our expense is all good fun.
I mean it's time to lighten up.
We cant control what people think.
If we want to be equals with the rest of the planet ( which we are) Then it,s time to have a gay comedy, a family oriented drama, an action film, and a gay horror film aswell.
If people see us laughing at ourselves, they may be more incline to laugh with us. Instead of at us. CHEERS!

[Matthew Rettenmund]

Glad you liked it; unfortch, I just didn't find it funny. But I agree with you that there is nothing wrong with a gay comedy.

[Adrian Hamilton]

We go to the movies to be stirred inwardly. I for one would hope this emotion spreads to the loins rather than the fists. There's a lot of repressed people in this world, let film help the masses find true love.