Eine Überraschung zum Fest

Make the Yuletide Gay is not a great piece of art. This is not a film that will open on a ton of screens worldwide and earn millions of box office dollars. This is a small budget gay themed holiday film. If you go into it expecting anything more than a bunch of corny jokes and a formulaic plot, you'll be disappointed.

College student Gustav "Gun" Gunderson (Keith Jordan) is out and proud at school but is secretly not out to his eccentric Midwestern parents (Derek Long and Kelly Keaton). During the Christmas holidays he struggles to find the right time to finally tell his parents the truth. When his boyfriend Nathan's holiday plans fall through, Nathan (Adamo Ruggiero) surprises Gustav by showing up on the Gunderson home to spend the holidays. Comedy ensues.

This film explores familiar territory but it's a fun ride. Some of the jokes you see coming, but generally the script is quite clever. There are a few awkward transitions and the editing could have been a lot tighter. The camera particularly overplays Keaton as mom Anya Gunderson, lingering on her a few moments too long after each punch line. Often removing a few beats here and there would have made a lot of difference.

Keith Jordan does a fantastic job. Despite the fact this is a comedy and everything will probably turn out for the best, Jordan manages to make the "what if" fears seem real.

Degrassi-The Next Generation's Adamo Ruggiero seemed oddly uncomfortable in front of the camera during the early scenes. Initially I had trouble believing he and costar Jordan were in a long-term relationship. Ruggiero's acting steadily improves as the film progresses and eventually delivers a good performance, but he was obviously chosen to draw in an audience.

Make the Yuletide Gay is fun and light-hearted with a few good laughs. It won't become a mandatory Holiday viewing, but it is perfect for what it is. In other words, you get what you pay for.

I enjoyed this movie. . .

I was not perfect, but it was fun. . .

It didn't preach hard about coming out. . .

It seemed that the problems were that there was no communication from any of them. . .

It had touches from old screw ball movies of the 1940's. . .

Misunderstandings. . .

Confused identities . .

Anya the mother could have played off of the Three Stooges or the Marx Brothers. . .

I would love to see these characters in another movie. . .

Perhaps, the lives of the two young lovers as a couple.

Overall I am not too impressed with Christmas movies, they tend to be too, sickly sweet.

Since I'm a gay man, and had a free subscription to a gay video channel, I thought I would blow caution to the wind and view the movie.

I actually did like it more than six stars but for one just horrific casting, the father Sven, played by Derek Long. What shall I say about this performance? Hmm, maybe that Derek should find a fall back career? I think that's enough.

Otherwise, I thought the other actors were just fine. Anya the mother played by Kelly Keaton was fabulous I thought. Her comic timing was wonderful, and she pulls of the intensely upper Midwestern accent flawlessly. Either she's a native, or she has an amazing ear.

Now this might seem a strange focus for a review right? Well if you watch the movie, you'll quickly understand why it is important.

The other college male protagonists were great also, attractive and knew their craft obviously.

The strangest part of the movie was the inclusion of Gates McFadden as Martha, the mother of Thomas, the "out" gay college boyfriend. Her scenes we fine, she is a skilled actress oh course, but she had such a small part in the film. Makes you wonder about her motivation for being involved in this project.

If you are looking for a bit of a different Christmas themed movie, check it out and let me know what you think with a thumbs up of my review.

Cheers. Mark (aka The Dying Atheist) P.S. If I were to give this an (MPAA) film rating, it would be PG-13

Being gay, I'm subjected to a lot of bad gay movies. It's solidarity; we know they're bad, but we watch them anyway, out of loyalty more than anything else. This is why I'm glad to report that Make the Yuletide Gay is, well, not bad. It's not great, but when I was going in expecting another cringe-worthy gay romantic "comedy", I got a pretty decent... gay romantic comedy. The writer needs a few lessons in subtlety, given the vast number of over-the-top stereotypes and often wince-inducing double entendre in the film, but the actors take the material and make it work pretty well. As a long-time fan of Degrassi: The Next Generation, I primarily was interested in Adamo Ruggiero's movie debut, and he acquits himself nicely. His character starts off as vain and somewhat obnoxious but becomes sympathetic as the film progresses, and when Ruggiero smiles that beautiful smile of his, I can't help but love him all the more. It's a fun little film, and if you can get past some of the writing, it's worth a watch.

Gunn has a holiday surprise for his folks and boy is it a big one!! A sweet and goofy film that has a fine message of acceptance but doesn't hit the viewer over the head with it. The male leads are endearing and attractive but this is stolen by Kelly Keaton as the mom who gets a natural high from the joy of Christmas and life in general. She and Derek Long have fun as the long married couple who accept each other as they are, she a motor mouthed dervish and he a semi clueless stoner. Hallee Hirsh is sprightly as the girl next door who is wilder than she appears and hey look its Nellie Olsen as her Mom! Speaking of Alison Arngrim she is having a ball as the randy next door neighbor who engages in veiled verbal jousting with Gunn's mom to the audience's delight.