Shoulder Dance

I watched this for ages trying to recall where I'd seen Rick Cosnett before then I remembered he was Grant Gustin's love rival in "The Flash". Well, here he is more in the "flesh" as he turns up on the doorstep of his long estranged school friend "Ira" (Matt Dallas) with his lively girlfriend "Lilly" (Maggie Geha). Up until now, "Ira" has lived quite happily with boyfriend "Josh" (Taylor Frey) but is reluctant to commit to anything more formal. Now, with their unexpected houseguests, the booze starts to flow, the weed gives way to the molly and boundaries start to blur as truths start to rear their ugly heads. At times there's quite an engaging chemistry between Dallas and Cosnett, but the unfolding scenario is a little too contrived and the storyline just starts off weakly before going nowhere fast as the predictability lives up to our limited - and disappointing - expectations at the conclusion. It's sad that it has to reinforce some rather fickle stereotypes along the way, too and in the end it offers little more than an excuse to watch some daytime eye-candy take part in something that looks like it has been sloppily edited for ad breaks. Most of it is filmed in an haze and there's simply nothing new here, sorry.

I loved the amalgamation of the beautiful camera shots, talented cast, and story line that was equal parts, sexy, funny, and endearing. By the end of the movie, you'll identify with one of the characters struggles, as well as yearn to live in the dreamy beach house. It's not at all a thriller, but still leaves you holding your breath, and bitting your nails at certain points. The whole production feels very reminiscent of Tom Ford's movies to me. Every scene, sound, movement, and lighting change is a vibe. This is a newer director for me, but after watching The Shoulder Dance, I want to check out more of Jay Arnold's films. Go watch! This was the perfect move to laugh, cry, and think fondly of yesterday. :)

Sexy beautiful story about relationships and healing, and new paths forward. The writing and directing are excellent! Looking forward to a sequel or perhaps a prequel of this wonderful story. Lots of curiosity around the past and how these characters developed and how they could be developed for another film very nicely done. It would be especially interesting to see how the female character lead got her start and how she evolved into the first thing that she is in the film. It would also be interesting to see the event that split Ira and Roger apart and caused this very long pause in their relationship, would love to see more from Director Jay Arnold .

It's a good film. It has a great and honest perspective on what matters truly at the core of our most real, most human relationships.

I wish Arnold would write in more BIPOCS with his lead characters and stories though. It's been missing for most of his films (there's background BIPOC characters in Big Gay Musical sure but it seemed an afterthought). So here's hoping to finally see forethought and fleshed out major BIPOC roles in this upcoming works.

It'll be great to see nuances in shapes, sizes and colours with his cast members and it frankly would be interesting to see how Arnold's brilliant writing and storytelling craft will evolve within a multicultural and pluralistic milieu.

So many fake 10 stars reviews out here! Let me get this straight, as ironic as it sounds, cause this is a gay movie. This drama romance comedy revolves around a man child who couldn't got over childhood crush, that it made him so afraid of commitment with his current boyfriend. And Matt Dallas is the one playing that character. Poor guy. Can't they give him a more sophisticated character, that isn't so vapid? That being said, the movie itself isn't so bad. It's still watchable.

There's only one moral lesson that I want to highlight here : Kids, don't do drugs! Movies made it sound so fun and so light like doing drugs isn't anything big. Well, let me tell you something real without being preachy. Drugs are destructive for your brain! You won't feel the side effects right away. But in your future days, doctors will tell you how those cursed things have eaten away at your brain cells. And regret, always comes too late. So you might wanna follow Josh's footsteps in this movie. Cause he's a smart boy, he knows what's bad for him. And won't let anything pressure him into doing whatever he doesn't wanna do.