I Am Michael

I stumbled onto this, having never heard of Michael Glatze. As an atheist and gay man, I was intrigued to learn about this story (and kind of embarrassed to have known nothing about him already).

The performances, especially James Franco's, were excellent. He was utterly believable in expressing Glatze's changes over the course of the film - ironically enough, as mesmerizing to watch as he was in "Milk".

Yeah, parts of the film kind of drag. But the script and the acting are well done. Many of the actors do a great job conveying emotions and characters' motivations just as well non-verbally as through the dialogue. Being a gay man and an atheist I still fundamentally, profoundly disagree with Glatze's views....but this movie helped me understand him better.

People are sheep. They really are. Why can't a person be gay and spiritual? Why? So many gay people have been wrongfully led to believe that god hates them and by hypocrites! Hypocrites that don't live by the Bible themselves. All the hate people endured over one vague line in the Bible.

Most gay people live typical lives. They hurt no one. They don't live in the urban mainstream of partying and promiscuity.

Why are people led to believe they must choose between being a religious monk and a wild so called gay lifestyle? Reality is in between.

Be an individual. Choose what will make YOU happy and don't speak for anyone else.

As a gay Christian I feel sorry for Michael...He is constantly changing and does not know himself...He has always been trying to get people to listen to him. He was an editor, he wrote a blog often, he would make speeches to young gay youth...and now he is a pastor . He is starved for attention.

To any gay person struggling with faith and being gay....Dont be...God would never put those thoughts into your head like that, unless that is who you are....You were born this way.....There are way way too many gay and trans people who have taken their own lives because of their religion...Its sad...Love yourself, treat others well....Do what makes you happy...Live life your way...Peace

Michael is a young man that thinks a lot. We first meet him when he is working for a campaigning, gay magazine and he is with Ben whom he seems to love and has committed to. Then Michael's mother dies and he starts to think about his whole existence and what happens after death.

This leads him on a spiritual path where he realises that he no longer identifies as 'gay'. Now that is all well and dandy but this film really takes its time. Michael is shown as a troubled man who seems to engender a lot of care, sympathy and warmth from those around him and this is despite him being as inspiring as a used shopping list.

His continual whinging about his inner turmoil with God and his old beliefs wear very thin very fast. I kept thinking the plot might make a welcomed detour but alas and alack nay. It really was an absolute bind to get through and that is even with a very good cast, some excellent performances, high production values and good cinematography. It is based on a short story and that may be where the problem is in that there is just simply not enough 'plot' here to make a full length feature.

The other major trip for me is that you have to care about the characters in order to be engaged and gain empathy and I stopped caring for Michael around half way through. The supporting cast are often more deserving and as such this just did not work for me at all.

I really thought I would love I AM MICHAEL. The subject matter is not one that has been sensibly explored from an authentic and non- bias perspective before. I was apprehensive about James Franco's participation. While Franco is a brilliant actor, his ongoing public gay-baiting and exploitation of the gay community have reduced him to a mere instagram underwear model. however, his inclusion was salvaged when I saw the enigmatic and vastly talented Zachary Quinto was involved. Quinto is both deeply respected as an actor and doesn't have to provoke a response by portraying himself as eye- candy or demanding people question his sexuality for unnecessary attention, he is an actor, and he is masterful.

Both were great in I Am Michael. Not shockingly at all. But we can presume Quinto did it because it was an incredibly important story... and Franco did the film to continue dangling himself in front of gay men. It could have been an Oscar winner, but who can take James Franco seriously anymore in subjects that require sensitivity and respect for LGBT people in general?

The film also suffered from a devastatingly bad script. The construct was there; the dialog was broken and unnatural. It came across as quite immature and, even worse, amateur.

Director Justin Kelly failed to make the heavy content move at an acceptable pace and I found myself wanting desperately to fast forward 20 minutes, which I did, and realized I didn't miss anything except Franco wandering around open fields in slow motion... or city streets... or a park, angst ridden and boring. Really, really boring. Any impact the film could have is absolutely lost because of the ridiculously slug-like pacing and poorly constructed exchanges.

Frankly, the film felt more like a student film. A student desperate to make an important film and be taken seriously. It didn't really work. For that, there is no excuse with a powerhouse producer like Gus Van Zandt; seasoned actors Quinto and Emma Roberts and even a blink-and-you-miss-it cameo by Daryl Hannah. The responsibility here falls squarely on the shoulder of Director Justin Kelly- because he co-wrote the disastrous screenplay as well.

I can't even recommend you see this, which sort of breaks my heart because of everything I wanted it to be, but it falls short on every single level and becomes a long winded, painfully self important and unnecessary film. In the right hands, it could have been a very relevant film. Alas, it was not.

I scored this three stars for the inclusion of an amazing Tori Amos song, which coupled with a better film, could have been massively poignant.