Noticias

If Wadjda's status as Saudi Arabia's first feature film (to say nothing of having been directed by a woman in a country where she isn't allowed to drive) is its claim to fame, then Out Loud is almost certainly most notable for being Lebanon's first self-proclaimed gay film. That the homosexual relationship it details at times feels incidental to the plot is somewhat remarkable, as director Samer Daboul treats it with a matter-of-factness that most American filmmakers have yet to replicate. Like a lot of well-meaning movies whose positive messages overwhelm the plot, however, Out Loud is too clumsily put together to give its subject the weight it needs to feel both grounded and moving. The narrative centers around a group of forward-thinking friend...