In the Flesh

OK, so everyone has said everything about this film that needs to be said. if ANYONE is curious about the songs written exclusively by Wes Yoakam and Pop Cycle, but could never find those songs, anywhere... here is your answer. Wes had 2 bands; one was called "Catfish Jenkins" which towards the end of their run, had their name changed to "Pop Cycle" This was name of the band that recorded the songs for this movie. The other band is called "Big Atomic" and are still around. strangely enough, the songs from the movie have resurfaced on Big Atomic's "Wrestling the Dragon and the Rat" You can find it on itunes, amazon, etc.

The scale is small and the results not especially impressive but this earnest, thoughtfully-made movie has a sure grip on its story and characters and never loses its focus. I would have preferred the sex between the hustler and the cop to be a bit more explicit, and it would have helped had Ed Corbin (the cop) not relied so much on that deer-caught-in-the-headlights expression, but the overall effect is respectable enough to make me look forward to the writer/director's next project.

I thought In the Flesh had great promise.

The story (surprisingly?) is excellent, and there is even some character development happening. But altogether it was very slow going. Not just in the plot though ... even the actors movements seemed to be painfully plodding.

I would have liked to see more of the heroin dependent sister and the "slow" boy playing his Nintendo. These seemed to add a really human touch to the rent boy.

More action (or even sex) scenes would have given it a nice boost along.

I gave it a 6 out of 10 mainly for the story.

After a very disheartening beginning this story moves quickly (but not quickly enough) towards what it is really all about: trust between men. Ben Taylor chose a stalking killer as a plot device, unfortunately the identity of the killer is not much of a mystery. Nevertheless the main focus really is the two male leads and their coming together is explored in ways you don't often get to see in gay-themed films. High praise to Taylor for making an effort to present us with something a little bit different. The two male leads (Ritter and Corbin) are very good together and their performances are far better than I ever expected them to be. Sometimes the script-director is to be thanked, but very often it seems to be the determination and commitment of the actors who pull the film up by its boot straps. Dane Ritter is rivetting. He seems to hit every mark that the story sets for him. All in all, a film that is well worth seeing ... if you can get past the first several minutes.

But this film went on for almost 2 hours. The mystery angle and the love story are never integrated very well, as the former stops dead cold while the latter progresses.

Ed Corbin - jaw tightly clenched throughout - plays a 30-something cop investigating drug dealing at a gay hustler bar, and falls for a young male college student in his early 20's who hustles on the side. The young guy has major emotional problems involving a car accident which killed his former partner, and turns tricks as a form of self-punishment and longing for an emotional void. Good basis for a drama, but awkward execution.

The bizarre thing about this film is that it's a love story between the two male leads, but the only sex scene is one between the college student and a girl he works with at a record store (guess he was experimenting on the side). The two guys never even kiss once! Now that's something you'd never see (or not see) in a heterosexual love story. Bizarre.