Which would be worse if you're a gay detective based in Albany, New York...slugged in the kisser by an irate blonde who doesn't care for the photos you took of her husband or being called "Nancy-boy Drew" by the corrupt and catty manager of a hotel who secretly films the doings of some of the guests? Donald Strachey (Chad Allen) doesn't much care for either, but this is nothing compared to what he is about to get involved in. Fortunately, Strachey is a happily married man, or as close to it as a gay man can be. His partner, Timmy Callaghan (Sebastian Spence), is a smart, affectionate political assistant to an elected New York state assemblywoman. Strachey's latest case brings him a client that both he and Timmy are repulsed by.
John Rutka (Jack Wetherall), an aging, self-righteous gay demagogue, publishes a cable expose program called The Rutka Report. In it he outs closet gays, especially well-known married public homophobes who promote family values and sponsor anti-gay legislation while secretly making nighttime visits to highway rest stops and wearing their leathers at, ah, small, intimate parties. After someone breaks into his home and shoots him in the leg, Rutka goes to Strachey for protection. Strachey turns him down. Outing people, Strachey and Timmy agree, is one of the lowest forms of human activity. But the need for Strachey to earn an income changes their minds. Even though Strachey has to hold his nose, he takes on the job. It's not long before a charred corpse turns up and is identified through dental records and that gunshot wound by the cops as Rutka. Strachey took the man's money; now he's determined to find the man's murderer. There are three prime candidates, one of whom Rutka was going to pick as the cover-boy for his next broadcast. From Rutka's files, Strachey identifies Ronnie Linklater, the host and star of a hugely popular children's television show who enjoys using his hand-puppets in unusual ways; Bruno Slinger, a powerful, anti-gay Congressman who thinks B&D without a little pain for his partner is for sissies; and a person Rutka identified only as "the ultimate hypocrite." From there, Strachey doggedly goes through piles of Rutka's documents, financial records and computer files. Along the way he visits sleazy motels, a Catholic church, a hospital and a funeral; he encounters Rutka's body- building partner, Rutka's foul-mouthed sister, an exercising granny who puts moves on him, and various tough guys who push him around and pistol whip him. He leaves one of them limping, after Timmy gets beaten up, by using a power nailer to plow a nail into the guy's foot. Strachey also visits a porn call-in site where the owner, Dik Steele, for a fee will talk to heavy breathing call-in chumps. Even Strachey looks put off a bit at the operators posing as Steele...balding, chubby males and grannies with deep voices, all pretending to be Dik Steele in the throes of ultimate passion. Kind of like internet sites. The conclusion carries a powerful and unexpected twist which some may like and some may not.
Third Man Out is the first of what may be a series of Canadian cable movies featuring Chad Allen as Donald Strachey. The second, Shock to the System, was broadcast in 2006. It seemed to me that with Third Man Out, director and writer Ron Oliver was still in the process of finding the right balance between message and mystery. Oliver and Allen deal with a lot of issues here, some head on, some in passing, everything from hypocrisy, AIDs and the costs of AIDs medicine, the ethics of outing, gay relationships and on and on. For me, all these messages began getting in the way of the mystery, which I thought was well-constructed with clever false leads, good characters and a disturbing conclusion. With Shock to the System, I think Oliver found the formula that works...make sure you put the mystery first and keep the messages low-key. For readers, the Donald Strachey mysteries by Richard Stevenson, all eight of them, are worth buying. The plots are strong and Strachey makes for a believable, sometimes cocky private eye. They are solid mysteries that happen to feature a gay private detective; they're not simply gay mysteries.
John Rutka (Jack Wetherall), an aging, self-righteous gay demagogue, publishes a cable expose program called The Rutka Report. In it he outs closet gays, especially well-known married public homophobes who promote family values and sponsor anti-gay legislation while secretly making nighttime visits to highway rest stops and wearing their leathers at, ah, small, intimate parties. After someone breaks into his home and shoots him in the leg, Rutka goes to Strachey for protection. Strachey turns him down. Outing people, Strachey and Timmy agree, is one of the lowest forms of human activity. But the need for Strachey to earn an income changes their minds. Even though Strachey has to hold his nose, he takes on the job. It's not long before a charred corpse turns up and is identified through dental records and that gunshot wound by the cops as Rutka. Strachey took the man's money; now he's determined to find the man's murderer. There are three prime candidates, one of whom Rutka was going to pick as the cover-boy for his next broadcast. From Rutka's files, Strachey identifies Ronnie Linklater, the host and star of a hugely popular children's television show who enjoys using his hand-puppets in unusual ways; Bruno Slinger, a powerful, anti-gay Congressman who thinks B&D without a little pain for his partner is for sissies; and a person Rutka identified only as "the ultimate hypocrite." From there, Strachey doggedly goes through piles of Rutka's documents, financial records and computer files. Along the way he visits sleazy motels, a Catholic church, a hospital and a funeral; he encounters Rutka's body- building partner, Rutka's foul-mouthed sister, an exercising granny who puts moves on him, and various tough guys who push him around and pistol whip him. He leaves one of them limping, after Timmy gets beaten up, by using a power nailer to plow a nail into the guy's foot. Strachey also visits a porn call-in site where the owner, Dik Steele, for a fee will talk to heavy breathing call-in chumps. Even Strachey looks put off a bit at the operators posing as Steele...balding, chubby males and grannies with deep voices, all pretending to be Dik Steele in the throes of ultimate passion. Kind of like internet sites. The conclusion carries a powerful and unexpected twist which some may like and some may not.
Third Man Out is the first of what may be a series of Canadian cable movies featuring Chad Allen as Donald Strachey. The second, Shock to the System, was broadcast in 2006. It seemed to me that with Third Man Out, director and writer Ron Oliver was still in the process of finding the right balance between message and mystery. Oliver and Allen deal with a lot of issues here, some head on, some in passing, everything from hypocrisy, AIDs and the costs of AIDs medicine, the ethics of outing, gay relationships and on and on. For me, all these messages began getting in the way of the mystery, which I thought was well-constructed with clever false leads, good characters and a disturbing conclusion. With Shock to the System, I think Oliver found the formula that works...make sure you put the mystery first and keep the messages low-key. For readers, the Donald Strachey mysteries by Richard Stevenson, all eight of them, are worth buying. The plots are strong and Strachey makes for a believable, sometimes cocky private eye. They are solid mysteries that happen to feature a gay private detective; they're not simply gay mysteries.