The Fruit Machine

Reminds me of my own youth in similar circumstances and reminds me of the scrapes I got in to with my late best friend, in the late 80s in the North of England. Ignore the stereotypes...sometimes the stereotypes actually exist, you know. Brilliant.

The characters are well drawn and the dream sequences add some mysticism. Whilst the plot is a little crazy its a genuine,sad and heartwarming tragedy, which in view of the lack of a big Hollywood style budget, for me at least, is something that cheap British films excel at. Well done. Its s ashame most of the young actors did not develop their careers, but looking back on such films it only adds to the importance of it for me.

The idea of the story is not bad, but the use of stereotypes (Edie behaves very effeminate, the people in the man only bar too) only makes this movie painful to watch. The only character I liked was Michael, since he behaves like a normal boy (and is sexy too...)

Two gays teens on the run after seeing a brutal murder. It deals with homosexuality, racism, friendship & love.... and handles them all well, what more could ask from a movie! The acting is sincere, the directing well paced. Overall this is a very entertaining movie

The film "Wonderland" (aka "The FruitMachine") is a surprisingly dippy, imaginative romp involving two gay teenaged boys who happen to witness a gangland murder and are forced to flee Liverpool for Brighton. The film takes many inventive turns, several of which involve Eddie's dream lover, a man-dolphin hybrid who actually appears at crucial moments in the film to save Eddie and his partner, Michael. There are many subplots and colorful supporting characters, and the ending, albeit sad, is inevitable. It's worth it if only for the dance sequence at the Fruit Machine, a gay showbar in Liverpool, in which Michael competes for thirty quid. His dance is both erotic and touchingly naive. Both boys, Emile Charles and Tony Forsyth, should have had big careers in film. Apart from one distracting editing lapse that blunts the finale, this is a superior film, in that it refuses to indulge in stereotyping and doesn't condescend to its lead characters.

A beautiful, powerful and very much underrated British gritty gay thriller from the late 80's, released in the UK as The Fruit Machine and in the US as Wonderland. It is passionate, resolute, beautifully directed, filmed and played that I would have thought it would have been higher in the book Top 50 Most Influential Gay Movies of All Time than the ranking it was given.

The Fruit Machine is a wonderful and poignant tale of growing up, it combines the rite of passage, buddy flick with a road movie genres in perfect symmetry and also shoves in a bit of a thriller just for the sake of it. BAFTA winner Philip Saville directs Emile Charles and Tony Forsyth as Eddie and Michael, two gay mates on the very brink of adulthood as they head into the adventure of their lives. These two friends may both be gay but their sexuality is the only thing they seem to have in common. In all other respects, they are as different as the proverbial chalk and cheese, Eddie is soft, gentle, sensitive and fragile. He adores nothing more than watching old classic black and white movies with his mum. Michael is much more streetwise, tough, manly and loves video games.

The story then follows them as they head away from the mean inner city streets and enjoy the wonderful seaside exuberant Brighton! Its so lovely, wonderfully made, easy to view, moving whilst also being funny.

Read more and find out where this film made it in the Top 50 Most Influential Gay Movies of All Time book, search on Amazon for Top 50 Most Influential Gay Movies of All Time, or visit - http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B007FU7HPO