Out Loud

"Out Loud" (Lebanon 2011) This movie teeters in the balance between quirky and just plain bizarre. It is part comedy (ala Harold & Kumar); part musical (ala Bollywood); part melodrama (ala AfterSchool Special); and part social commentary.....yet somehow in the end it really worked for me. At the heart of the message is the effect of the intolerance of Conservative, Fundamentalist Religous Ideologies. This message is told through the friendship of four (very hot) Lebanese young men (Jason, Elvis, Louis, and Rami) -- each dealing with some secrets and ties to their past. The film starts on Jason's Birthday. He has just been dumped by a girlfriend and his buddies are rallying around him to cheer him up. In the course of conversation Rami reveals to his friends that he is gay....and that his dad caught him kissing his boyfriend (Ziad). Elvis calls Ziad and tells him to get to Jason's house ASAP and they will protect him. To complete the films Quintet is Nathalie...a woman that Elvis/Louis found online to be Jason's date for the night. Keeping up so far??? The five decide to run away together to give Rami and Ziad time to figure out how they are going to survive (both families are of the mindset to kill them for the disgrace). This evolves into a plan for the five of them to become a family...build a life together....raise a family together....til death do them part (obviously a highly controversial arrangement in the Muslim world!). What starts out as a light-hearted, farsical film, takes a very dark turn, then ultimately redeems itself before all is said and done. Despite the unusual style of storytelling, the film is visually stunning! The cinematography, filtering of colors and use of imagery was way above average even for most mainstream films. And the soundtrack (including the cheesy song-and-dance numbers) was beautiful to listen to. I REALLY had to "push through" the first 30 minutes of the film (fighting the urge to give up on it) but I am sure glad I did! [3.5/5]

Amaya-Akkermans(The Mantle)May 30,2012 "Out Loud" – to put it in simple words – isn't only challenging the taboos of a society but also telling a beautiful story and at that successfully. Unlike most films that tell linear stories with socially relevant content – and somehow evoke the format of the traditional novel – there's hardly any social realism in it and the aesthetics of the film is somewhere between poetry and hope.

Director Samer Daboul wanted to plant a seed for the future, and this film is precisely it. It is a question mark and an exclamation mark for all those who want to live in tolerance and equality. This film – Romantic, epic, sardonic – being humble as it is, is a microcosm of the real Lebanon that lurks underneath the wars and the endless political diatribes.