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jfessenden
Reviews
Back Soon (2007)
Surprisingly good, sweet love story
This is obviously a low-budget film -- quite possibly a micro-budget film, by studio standards. As such, I went in expecting poor production values. The writing might or might not be good, and the acting could vary from friends of the director who could barely read their lines to good non-A-list actors. Also, judging from the majority of low-budget GAY films I've seen in recent years, I didn't have my hopes up.
The beginning of the film was a bit weak. The acting was better than it could have been, but some of the dialog was trite. The production values weren't bad.
Then I was surprised to find myself getting caught up in the two main characters and their situation. The first time they end up in bed together had me hooked. It was very sweet, and their reaction to it the next morning was even better. The minor characters did silly things that the filmmaker tried to pass off as plot complications, and I could have done without most of it, but I really liked these two characters and was really engaged by them on screen.
I've read the other reviews that seemed to think the best part of the film was two straight guys falling in love, while the supernatural element ruined the story. I completely disagree. Two straight guys falling in love is a porn plot. I've seen it a hundred times. The reason for the love that developed between them, and the questions it raised about the nature of that love were what make the movie interesting.
I also strongly disagree with all of the comments about the lack of nudity being an issue. I'm not a teenager. If I want pornography, I'm perfectly capable of finding it. I don't object to nudity in films, and my own micro-budget films have a good bit. But I'm very tired of the expectation that a gay romance must be seventy-percent sex scenes.
This is a very sweet film. The ending is a bit unsatisfying, but I like the fact that it's open, at least.
Outing Riley (2004)
Flawed, but still a nice film
As far as I know, from what I saw on Project Greenlight, Pete Jones isn't gay. So, I'm curious what motivated him to make this film, and to play the gay lead. It's not forbidden - and I'm always happy to see filmmakers portraying gays positively in their work - it just seems a little odd. And, in fact, that's one of the weaknesses of the film: Pete Jones doesn't really come across as gay. I'm not saying he should act effeminate or anything like that. It's just that that there was something not quite "on" about the scenes between his character and the character's boyfriend. At other times, I really got the impression that he'd watched "Jeffrey" a few too many times, and was trying to imitate it.
The other element that really didn't work for me was the voice-over and talking to the camera. It drew too much attention to itself, wasn't as funny as he seemed to think it was, and often didn't tell us anything we couldn't have learned from watching the characters interact.
Having said that, though, I think the film also has some excellent writing and strong performances, especially by Nathan Fillion. The best parts of the movie are when the brothers are trying to deal with Riley being gay. Jones is brilliant, when it comes to writing realistic - and very funny - dialog between characters he obviously relates to. This film, and his earlier film, "Stolen Summer", prove him to be a talented writer and director, and it turns out he's not half bad as an actor, either. I really hope he continues to make movies, and they get distribution.
The Gay Marriage Thing (2005)
A very moving film
I absolutely loved this film. The filmmakers chose to approach the gay marriage issue from a very personal perspective, documenting the difficulties facing a lesbian couple who applied for a marriage license, as they endured a year of political maneuvering and media hype that directly impacted their lives. It was extremely touching, and I found myself in tears at the end. Other documentaries on the subject might present the facts more clearly (although this did a wonderful job of it), but would not likely make me feel as deeply. Additionally, the filmmakers made every attempt to present both sides of the argument fairly, and although their bias was clear, nobody came across as the villain.