Seduciendo a Go

This is a delightful and enjoyable lightweight film about the unusual relationship between two young gay men in NY. It's slight as the story is exactly what the synopsis here says. The little tale of a shy young man obsessed over a far from shy go-go dancer in New York who pretends to want to make a documentary about him. The go-go dancer agrees and their "work" and personal relationship begins. They are only known as Go and Doc and they are both adorable. Doc (Tanner Cohen) falls for Go (Matthew Camp), as expected, but things turn out slightly different. Once we get to the point that they are involved, the film is an endless parade of scenes of these two kissing, cuddling, talking, playing & caring about each other with plenty of skin including a long and very romantic montage of kissing scenes filmed in various parts of NY. This was filmed 9 years ago as of this writing and Cohen is so good I am surprised at the lack of more credits than he has. Camp was really a go-go dancer at this point in time and he is just a charming natural in front of a camera and perfect for this part. I could have watched these two for longer as they are so enjoyable together. Special kudos to whoever edited this as it is a major part of what makes this little movie work so well.

My initial thoughts of this were not great. The iPhone arms-length POV style of juddery photography made me think it was going to be an amateur effort. Well it is, but it isn't... The gorgeously charismatic Tanner Cohen is the younger than his years, inexperienced - on all levels - ("Doc") who falls for an erotic dancer online whom he calls "Go" (Matthew Camp) and comes up with a ruse to get to meet him and explore how he lives his life. Surprisingly, "Go" accepts the proposals and we end up with a love story told in a mix of cinematographic styles with one of the most erotically charged sex scenes I think I've ever seen from US gay cinema. Not raw sex with noise and sweat; but based on intimacy and a genuine affection for each other. Occasionally the scenes may linger a little too long; the pace of the editing could certainly have been tighter - but then maybe it would have lost some of it's authenticity and the characterisations some of their depth. Sometimes real life meanders a bit - we all have plenty of pointless times/conversations in our lives - adds to the richness. I hated the ending; but that's because all I wanted for the pair simply wasn't what they wanted for each other. In a world of largely frothy, contrived plastic drama, this is a stand out piece of creative, observational cinema with two really good, fun, engaging performances.

This film didn't turn out to be what I thought it was going to be...it was better.

As an old fart it took me a short while to adjust to the style of the film making. It's truly wonderful how affordable and accessible film making has become these days....Thanks Apple. Just start watching and let it all wash over you. Be patient.

The young actors were superb. I had seen Tanner Cohen in Were The World Mine. He was very good in that as well. Mathew Camp seems to have made his debut in this film. Very competent and naturalistic in his performance. Amazing in his complete, complex character portrayal. Who knows? Maybe he is so similar to and comfortable in his characters skin. I don't really care. He was just a pleasure to watch as was Tanner.

I believed both of those boys characters.

The arc was just as it should have been. Realism to the core.

Don't know if the dialogue was improvised or loosely scripted. It seemed so spontaneous and natural that either those two boys are extraordinary actors or the writing is excellent or all of the above.

That's what I liked about the film....believability and accurate portrayal of those two individual's humanity. Served to show that love, especially young and fresh love, never changes. It's a blissful state of insanity. I have experienced the situations and feelings of both these characters back in the days of innocence, youthful optimism and raging testosterone.

This film reflected all of that.

I have been vague with details of the film because discovering it as one goes along is an important part of the pleasure.

Here's how much I was impressed, mesmerized, entertained and stimulated....I just bought the film from Wolfe Video.

It's available on NetflixStreaming, clips on YouTube, VOD from Wolfe Video.

I'm in love with both of those boys.

Great job.

Just saw it and better than I expected. Despite it's super limited budget, almost every aspect well done, the acting, story, editing, and photography.

Interesting to see Tanner Cohen again on screen after his last film was Were the World Mine (2008), he made reputation there, as the film too, one of the top greatest gay movies according to AfterElton. This some kind of good breakthrough. And the acting, no doubt, he's good.

No wonder, the director, Cory Krueckeberg, chose him as the lead. He was the writer of Were the World Mine (2008) and this is a great debut for him as a director.

The most interesting about this film is the story. It made like semi self-documentary, made by the 'Doc' (Tanner Cohen), who happened to be amateur fake director in a tricky way to get close to his favorite go-go dancer, 'Go' (Matthew Camp). He was very obsessed to 'Go' as he obsessed with online cam and blog. A little bit exhibitionist I say. He contacted 'Go' said that he's a director and want to make him and go-go dancing issue as the topic. Luckily, it was approved.

Then, story between the 'Doc' and the 'Go' begin. The shooting begin as their love of each other also begin to grow. Emotional build and love made, but the truth always altered the story.

Another great aspect of the film is the emotion, intimacy, and the bond between the two main actors really strong. We can felt this aspect almost at the entire film when filming the "amateur fake" documentary. At the point, I almost believe that this film was a "real" documentary starring by two "real" couple.

Some might said it's sad ending, some might said not. For me, it's fair ending and I liked it, because made less "Hollywood ending."

There are too many sequences of this film that drag on past the narrative point of including them. In particular the final near silent montage of kissing delays the climax far too much. The pace of the story is killed as a result. Further, several of the montages of Go border on the hypocritical given the rest of the film's commitment to discuss the rampant objectification of people in the gay community. The film is 20 minutes too long as a result. Likewise, there is a amateurish quality to the performances that prevent a more polished film. Camp and Cohen have good chemistry but they are not great actors. Camp, especially, doesn't seem to understand what subtext is. The docudrama construction feels like a vain attempt too hide this. The film is largely experimental in its filming (They shot at Camp's actual apartment for example) and this can be rather off putting at times.

With that being said the film is quite good. The story is a painful, and a painfully accurate exploration of several major tensions present within the gay community. The notions of too much sex, the cost-benefits assimilation, how to be gay, the various "tribes" of gay men and fickle nature of the male gaze all get a hearing in the film. I related to much of it but I can't say I found it much more than hey this problem exist. A lot of it is left unresolved. That is probably a realistic viewpoint but it adds to the indie vibe of the film.

The film is quite forward in its depiction of homoeroticism. I found the sex scenes very naturalistic. I am not sure if I have seen gay sex depicted as realistic as I have seen here. The film does provide a nice counterpoint to the heteronormative depictions of the male form one usually finds.

I am glad I own this but it is a challenging film to watch.