If you prefer SIX FEET UNDER to QUEER AS FOLK, then you are bound to find something to like in BIG EDEN. As opposed to the often ridiculously epidemic sexploits and caddy size-queen humor of QUEER, this gay-cinema drama offers a more mellow outlook from the point of view of a neurotic, insecure 40-something protagonist whose too busy fumbling his way towards self-acceptance to come up with witty one-liners and realize that flannel is a big fashion no-no.
Middle-aged New York artist Henry (likeably played by Arye Gross, who some may remember from the first few seasons of ELLEN) goes back homea small town called Big Edenwhen his grandfather suffers a stroke. The problem is: his grandfather doesn't know he's gay, and that he's carried a torch for a local hunk for 20 years.
What I loved about this movie is that it is not centered around impossibly beautiful, Abercrombie-model 20-somethings panting for each other in some prep school or humping each other after meeting in a club. This is about average-Joe looking guys with struggles that feel a little more palpable and common, thrown into a story that has enough tension in it to make it interesting.
Arye Gross plays Henry well, though his character is definitely self-absorbed in his own neurotic apprehensions. I never felt that he was too flat, but I did find something lacking not just in his character, but in this movie. Too quiet and quaint, perhaps?
The small town atmosphere was both believable and hammy: the townsfolk include archetypes in the form of old blue-collar townies who sit on the porch of the local shop and do nothing, and a meddling, casserole-baking old widow determined to put her matchmaking services to work on the beleaguered Henry. We get the sense it's a small backwater, but that people are also open minded (the general store serves cappuccino!) as you see later when they become involved in Henry's love life. I loved the town, but it also seemed far-fetched to have all these provincial country-folk so involved in the amorous pursuits of gay men. It was a lovely fantasy, though, and a positive vision of how things could be.
It was a quietly charming story, and at times moving. One scene between Henry and his grandfather nearly had me in tears.
I recommend at least one viewing, though it is not the best movie on the subject I have ever seen. I would sooner and more enthusiastically recommend ALL OVER THE GUY and MAMBO ITALIANO bar none (more entertaining & better dialog), but this movie was fairly good in its own humble, unglamorous way.
Middle-aged New York artist Henry (likeably played by Arye Gross, who some may remember from the first few seasons of ELLEN) goes back homea small town called Big Edenwhen his grandfather suffers a stroke. The problem is: his grandfather doesn't know he's gay, and that he's carried a torch for a local hunk for 20 years.
What I loved about this movie is that it is not centered around impossibly beautiful, Abercrombie-model 20-somethings panting for each other in some prep school or humping each other after meeting in a club. This is about average-Joe looking guys with struggles that feel a little more palpable and common, thrown into a story that has enough tension in it to make it interesting.
Arye Gross plays Henry well, though his character is definitely self-absorbed in his own neurotic apprehensions. I never felt that he was too flat, but I did find something lacking not just in his character, but in this movie. Too quiet and quaint, perhaps?
The small town atmosphere was both believable and hammy: the townsfolk include archetypes in the form of old blue-collar townies who sit on the porch of the local shop and do nothing, and a meddling, casserole-baking old widow determined to put her matchmaking services to work on the beleaguered Henry. We get the sense it's a small backwater, but that people are also open minded (the general store serves cappuccino!) as you see later when they become involved in Henry's love life. I loved the town, but it also seemed far-fetched to have all these provincial country-folk so involved in the amorous pursuits of gay men. It was a lovely fantasy, though, and a positive vision of how things could be.
It was a quietly charming story, and at times moving. One scene between Henry and his grandfather nearly had me in tears.
I recommend at least one viewing, though it is not the best movie on the subject I have ever seen. I would sooner and more enthusiastically recommend ALL OVER THE GUY and MAMBO ITALIANO bar none (more entertaining & better dialog), but this movie was fairly good in its own humble, unglamorous way.