In my constant search for the better side of gay television and cinema, I came across "In Between Men," a web series centred around four gay men working and living in New York. They like sex and clubbing and all the things upstanding gay men are supposed to enjoy. Shockingly, it is a stereotypical mess of a show.
To start, the acting is sub-par at best. The men are gorgeous, surely, but the lines are delivered without emotion, and the energy feels sudden and manufactured. (Surprisingly, pretty face doesn't equate to good actor!) A few are fine--Ben Pamies, Max Rhsyer as a few examples--but the main character Dalton, played by Nick Mathews, is uncomfortably robotic. The worst of the bunch, though, is Michael Sharon playing an older, wealthy Italian man that pounces on Dalton. He puts on a marbles- in-your-mouth accent that makes me cringe every time he appears in a shot.
That said, the atrocious writing certainly isn't helping the actors perform. The dialogue is unbelievable, as if the characters aren't even listening to one another. (I was continuously saying "People don't talk like this!") While some bits of the writing are humorous, like the boys yelling "fist f*ck" as a way of expressing their bond, these moments are ruined by inappropriate timing, as they yell this at an art gallery, absurd because they're supposed to be part of this world. The majority of the lines are strange and stilted, often in situations that seem out- of-place. The narration, which (thank goodness) fades away as the series progresses, is identical to Carrie Bradshaw's narration in Sex and the City.
In actuality, there are problems in every aspect of this show: the vast majority of the characters are white, well-to-do men (with the exception of a black man that appears in the final episode of the first season, which feels like an attempt to appease that criticism that existed since the pilot); the opening credits, the best of a high school Flash project, are set to hip hop that has nothing to do with the show or the atmosphere it gives off.
Its biggest problem, in my opinion, is the fact that this has been done before: Sex and the City, the L Word, Queer as Folk, even Girls all follow this same formula. The difference is that In Between Men is dull and portrays a gay clichéd lifestyle.
In all fairness, the show finds its footing as it progresses, becoming slightly more believable. The production values are high for a web series, shot well with appropriate lighting, settings, and plot. And, as a throw-back to Queer as Folk, Michelle Clunie guest stars briefly in episode three, (the best moment of acting in the entire series). But it's not enough to hide the show's undeniable flaws that make scenes laughable for all the wrong reasons. Sadly, this is a failed attempt of a web series; it tries to be different but is just another sad example of gay entertainment.
To start, the acting is sub-par at best. The men are gorgeous, surely, but the lines are delivered without emotion, and the energy feels sudden and manufactured. (Surprisingly, pretty face doesn't equate to good actor!) A few are fine--Ben Pamies, Max Rhsyer as a few examples--but the main character Dalton, played by Nick Mathews, is uncomfortably robotic. The worst of the bunch, though, is Michael Sharon playing an older, wealthy Italian man that pounces on Dalton. He puts on a marbles- in-your-mouth accent that makes me cringe every time he appears in a shot.
That said, the atrocious writing certainly isn't helping the actors perform. The dialogue is unbelievable, as if the characters aren't even listening to one another. (I was continuously saying "People don't talk like this!") While some bits of the writing are humorous, like the boys yelling "fist f*ck" as a way of expressing their bond, these moments are ruined by inappropriate timing, as they yell this at an art gallery, absurd because they're supposed to be part of this world. The majority of the lines are strange and stilted, often in situations that seem out- of-place. The narration, which (thank goodness) fades away as the series progresses, is identical to Carrie Bradshaw's narration in Sex and the City.
In actuality, there are problems in every aspect of this show: the vast majority of the characters are white, well-to-do men (with the exception of a black man that appears in the final episode of the first season, which feels like an attempt to appease that criticism that existed since the pilot); the opening credits, the best of a high school Flash project, are set to hip hop that has nothing to do with the show or the atmosphere it gives off.
Its biggest problem, in my opinion, is the fact that this has been done before: Sex and the City, the L Word, Queer as Folk, even Girls all follow this same formula. The difference is that In Between Men is dull and portrays a gay clichéd lifestyle.
In all fairness, the show finds its footing as it progresses, becoming slightly more believable. The production values are high for a web series, shot well with appropriate lighting, settings, and plot. And, as a throw-back to Queer as Folk, Michelle Clunie guest stars briefly in episode three, (the best moment of acting in the entire series). But it's not enough to hide the show's undeniable flaws that make scenes laughable for all the wrong reasons. Sadly, this is a failed attempt of a web series; it tries to be different but is just another sad example of gay entertainment.