I am gay. My friend Ernie is straight. Not questioning. Not bi-curious. Straight. He's probably not entirely your average straight guy. I'm his best friend. He is super cool
So when I jokingly asked him to go to Latter Days I was only mildly surprised that he said he'd go. I warned I thought it was going to be a silly comedy about a gay guy trying to win a bet with his friends about seducing a Mormon Elder.
Boy was I wrong. Sure, it starts out joke-y and silly; with as little depth as the gay character Christian initially lives his life in. He and the other servers at Lila's (who's owner is played with sterling aplomb by Jacqueline Bisset) live and lust in LA. They go out all the time and seem to spend as much time tanning as working.
The four Mormon Elders that move in change everything. Suddenly a bet regarding Christian's formidable seduction skill. Almost immediately the tone subtly shifts. The jokes are gone. Not that the film isn't funny, but the laughter is suddenly more character driven. And wonder of wonders, a bit of actual drama finds its way in.
Like any movie of its type, there are always roadblocks set before the young lovers. But where many films use sudden inexplicable actions by either the principals or some support character to push things along, here we have a logical plot that plays out without too many crushing coincidences (let us face it, romantic films always run on coincidence -- Serendipity anyone?).
I will tell you I was blown away. This film has moments of such aching beauty that even my friend Ernie was obviously moved. It is a very fine gay film that touches and makes universal the desire to find love that gay folks have.
A point I'd like to include. I know Mormons are for the most part pretty nice folks. I also know they are hated pretty badly and feared by many. But even I am afraid of anybody, and the boards for this movie are full of ugly quotes from such folk, who make emotional or physical or spiritual threat to anyone based on their belief system. "I'm not against you, buy you're going to die and go to hell because you refuse to change this ugly thing about yourself." Is, to me, just as vile as "I hate you and I am going to kill you for being different." And anyone who says those two statements are different in any real way is myopic to the extreme.
Quibbles about the film: The crying jags of several characters sound forced or over-the-top. The sympathetic sister of Elder Davis is shown near the start of the film, and then completely disappears. Where is she when her brother is suffering?
There are many fine performances, even among the folks who play the more stock characters. Mary Kay Place, Joseph Gordon-Levitt (3rd Rock form the Sun) and Erik Palladino (ER) all do a fine job with minimal screen-time.
The leads, which so many complain are not gay in real life, do a wonderful job portraying what Ernie says are `average guys' who are gay; in other words, not flamers or such. Mind you, Christian's clothes are either sprayed on, nearly see through or just plane stylin'. But he looks more like a metrosexual than an actual gay guy. This is not a bad thing. Self-loathing (kept to the minimum here) and self-destructive behavior are not the order of the day.
And Christian's metamorphosis is believable enough. The mid-coital conversation he has while a guy attempts to distract him is so funny you'll forget two guys are having sex in front of your very eyes.
If you are looking for War and Peace, or Porky's, or even Parting Glances you're going to be disappointed. But for the kind of movie it is, a warm-hearted an deeply dramatic romantic comedy, it is a delight. Just ask Ernie.
So when I jokingly asked him to go to Latter Days I was only mildly surprised that he said he'd go. I warned I thought it was going to be a silly comedy about a gay guy trying to win a bet with his friends about seducing a Mormon Elder.
Boy was I wrong. Sure, it starts out joke-y and silly; with as little depth as the gay character Christian initially lives his life in. He and the other servers at Lila's (who's owner is played with sterling aplomb by Jacqueline Bisset) live and lust in LA. They go out all the time and seem to spend as much time tanning as working.
The four Mormon Elders that move in change everything. Suddenly a bet regarding Christian's formidable seduction skill. Almost immediately the tone subtly shifts. The jokes are gone. Not that the film isn't funny, but the laughter is suddenly more character driven. And wonder of wonders, a bit of actual drama finds its way in.
Like any movie of its type, there are always roadblocks set before the young lovers. But where many films use sudden inexplicable actions by either the principals or some support character to push things along, here we have a logical plot that plays out without too many crushing coincidences (let us face it, romantic films always run on coincidence -- Serendipity anyone?).
I will tell you I was blown away. This film has moments of such aching beauty that even my friend Ernie was obviously moved. It is a very fine gay film that touches and makes universal the desire to find love that gay folks have.
A point I'd like to include. I know Mormons are for the most part pretty nice folks. I also know they are hated pretty badly and feared by many. But even I am afraid of anybody, and the boards for this movie are full of ugly quotes from such folk, who make emotional or physical or spiritual threat to anyone based on their belief system. "I'm not against you, buy you're going to die and go to hell because you refuse to change this ugly thing about yourself." Is, to me, just as vile as "I hate you and I am going to kill you for being different." And anyone who says those two statements are different in any real way is myopic to the extreme.
Quibbles about the film: The crying jags of several characters sound forced or over-the-top. The sympathetic sister of Elder Davis is shown near the start of the film, and then completely disappears. Where is she when her brother is suffering?
There are many fine performances, even among the folks who play the more stock characters. Mary Kay Place, Joseph Gordon-Levitt (3rd Rock form the Sun) and Erik Palladino (ER) all do a fine job with minimal screen-time.
The leads, which so many complain are not gay in real life, do a wonderful job portraying what Ernie says are `average guys' who are gay; in other words, not flamers or such. Mind you, Christian's clothes are either sprayed on, nearly see through or just plane stylin'. But he looks more like a metrosexual than an actual gay guy. This is not a bad thing. Self-loathing (kept to the minimum here) and self-destructive behavior are not the order of the day.
And Christian's metamorphosis is believable enough. The mid-coital conversation he has while a guy attempts to distract him is so funny you'll forget two guys are having sex in front of your very eyes.
If you are looking for War and Peace, or Porky's, or even Parting Glances you're going to be disappointed. But for the kind of movie it is, a warm-hearted an deeply dramatic romantic comedy, it is a delight. Just ask Ernie.