Walk a Mile in My Pradas

The premise of the movie is cliché but somewhat interesting. It tries to promote a message of equality, but does so in an entirely too heavy-handed way. And the attempted message is totally undercut by the horrendously outdated stereotypes. I could forgive them in a movie made in the 90s, but this was made in 2011. There really isn't a good excuse for it. A movie like this doesn't get made without the involvement of at least some gay people. How did none of them help course correct?

If you want to watch this movie, plan to have it on while you're doing something else, because it doesn't deserve your full attention.

Hey! Looking for a new holiday movie? Looking for a *gay* holiday movie? I mean they're a rare treat to find.

Well if you are, then PLEASE do NOT see-for your own sake-"Walk a Mile in My Pradas."

Oh, dear what a horrible film, and on so many levels. I can forgive the low budget. So many "gay" movies have a low budget. But this movie? Well, it bordered on downright offensive.

I mean the acting-and it really can't be called acting-was terrible. But I will get back to that....

So let's skip the acting. Let's say the writer was helping his friends and wanted to make this film and they all stepped in and did the job for free, including Dee Wallace and Tom Arnold (both who are very competent actors and who sucked in this movie). Let's go on to that script.

OFFENSIVE!

Here is the plot line. A magical Christmas ornament has the power to grant wishes. There is an obnoxious homophobic straight man who makes the wish that the gay guy was straight so he wouldn't be so disgusting and the gay guy wishes the straight guy was gay so he would know what it was like to be gay. Good premise? I thought so.

But it isn't that they change their sexual attractions. It's that they suddenly become hideously stereotypically "gay" and "straight." The gay guy stops on a walk and helps a man fix his car, picks up a board and pretends to play the guitar, hates his clothes, calls his lover "queenie," orders large meat lover's pizzas with pepperoni and meatballs (as if those don't come with meat lover's pizzas-and as if such pizzas are more "manly") puts on boxing gloves and shadow boxes, and shouts at TV screens showing sports. And the straight guy stops to smell roses, gets a manicure, acts prissy, holds out his pinkie while drinking cocktails, can no longer play sports, and decides Martha Stewart is wonderful and begins cooking souffles. And both make rude comments to people they're attracted to. As if what makes these men gay or straight is being stereotypical ("I'd like to bang her like a screen door in a hurricane.").

Now back to the "acting." I see movies with acting this bad and I just can't understand how these people got jobs. Here in Kansas City where I live, I go to local plays at such places as The Unicorn and the Living Room, and I am blown away by the local talent. So, if there are actors this good in the mid-west, surely there is some downright awesome talent in Hollywood where many films are made, right? And we all know there are tons of out of work actors waiting tables (and waiting for a job) and many would be *happy* to work for equity. So HOW are these simply HORRIBLE actors getting jobs? Would I offend you, the reader, by saying that I think there was some sleeping around going on?

Both the main actors (Nathaniel Marston as Tony and Tom Archdeacon as Steve) are beyond terrible. I had to check and see if they wrote and/or directed the film in order to get their parts. And yes, Tom Archdeacon was co-writer-he was willing to admit it! Mr. Archdeacon had about as much chemistry with his boyfriend (Emrhys Cooper) as a rock does with a tennis shoe. I would say Mr. Cooper is the worst actor I've ever seen, except there's their gay best friends (Eric Casaccio and Jabari Jones) who are so bad it actually hurts. I can only assume they aren't actors at all, and just stepped in to help out a friend (Mr. Archdeacon?). Tony's girlfriend Sarah (Kirsten Lea) is pretty horrible as well. Everyone was bad.

This movie could have been so clever! And instead it instantly degraded into offensive stereotypes. Mr. Archdeacon? For shame! For shame!

Even the music was bad, especially the songs. I mean I had to mute the movie while the songs played.

At least the ending sort of shapes up. It's almost as if someone else stepped in and rewrote the ending. But it's not worth it. Don't see this film. Save your time. And save your sanity.

UPDATE!: I said I could forgive this movie's low budget...but then I checked. It was TWO MILLION dollars? Where they spent it I can NOT imagine!

I thought this movie would be funny, but it was horrible. It took every cliche and stereotype and put them together in an bad attempt to be funny.

There are small, independent films with gay themes that are gems, like 'Trick', and, 'But I'm a Cheerleader'. Sometimes these small films can be a bit amateurish, with poor lighting, sound, and sets but the movies are good so you can forgive the little issues. Unfortunately, 'Walk a Mile in My Pradas' is not in league with either of these films and the tech problems are magnified because the plot is so thin and the jokes so forced and unfunny. If you have seen the trailer for Walk a Mile in My Pradas then you have already seen the best jokes in the film. This movie uses a gimmick that has been used many times in other movies and works even less in this film. I gave it a 2 because that was how many times I actually laughed. I was expecting more.

I am a gay man with no talent, only opinions

In my opinion the story premise was great! That this was Nathaniel Marston's last movie. My deepest sympathy to his family. The problem usually with gay themed movies is the budget. This movie budgeted at 3 million was badly spent! The writing was awful except for the last 15 minutes. Did they bring in a ghost to finish it? The acting was forced. The dialogue and attempts at comedy played to GAY/Straight stereo types. I think it borders on being insulting.

If you are looking for a Gay themed Christmas movie...keep looking! This is not worth the time!