rubellan

I first saw Home Movies on cable TV in the early 80s, before I was even a teenager. I was drawn in by Nancy Allen being 'possessed' by a foul-mouthed bunny rabbit hand-puppet. I found it hilarious and watched the movie anytime it aired during that month or so. I could never forget it and looked for it on VHS later in the 80s when we got our first VCR. Then, I had a laserdisc of the movie, then the DVD (which appears to be a straight transfer of the laserdisc). Now in my mid-50s, I still adore this wacky movie from start to finish, right from the opening notes of the catchy string intro theme.

The characters are hilariously messed up. Mom is a drama queen faking suicide attempts due to being attention starved for her endlessly cheating and flirting husband, always finding a reason to cry and feel sorry for herself. James is the domineering older brother who is attempting to rehabilitate Nancy Allen's character from her prostitution past, which included the bunny hand-puppet. Taking it to extremes with a Temptation Marathon, subjecting her to weaknesses: "Can she resist". Denis is the nerdy younger brother, but the most normal of all of them.

Mom adores James as the perfect son, often pushing kind-hearted Denis aside suggesting he be more like James. But James has a latency presented during his alleged teaching of his sort of boy scout troupe how to be 'men' as he tries to get them to kiss each other under the guise of showing them how to please a woman. It's so funny and ludicrous as the students resist the direction.

From start to finish, the whole movie is like an adult cartoon of the most slapstick kind, and there are quirky touches everywhere, from out-of-nowhere sound effects, exploding tapes, to dramatic light breezes during key moments of dialog.

Nancy Allen as Kristina tries so hard to please James and become what he wants her to be, which is a requirement of their pending nuptials. That is, until she catches his antics with his troupe. That's when Bunny reappears in her life on the day of her engagement party giving a peek into her past to hilarious effect. Watching her stumble around the house sedated with that rabbit puppet handing out "glossies" and telling everyone to "Catch us at the Pussycat" has been seared into brain since I was 12 years old, and I love it!

I don't expect too many people will appreciate this student film, but I clicked with it instantly. The following year, De Palma would go on to further success with Dressed To Kill, also staring Nancy Allen and Keith Gordon from this film, along with a cameo of the amusingly dramatic mom Mary Davenport making disgusted faces at the end of that film when Nancy details male to female sex change surgery.

It's insane, it's very politically incorrect (especially by today's boring standards), and it's a lot of fun if you can appreciate it.

As another review queried, why does almost every gay film have to revolve around sex? Well, to be blunt it's because most gay men revolve around sex. Nearly 40 years since I came out, I've never identified with 'the community' for this exact reason, among the other expectations of being a gay man. It's absolutely tedious to see yet another queer themed film that starts with sex and continues to revolve the paper-thin narrative around it. This film, taking place in 1950's Mexico City, etc, sadly confirms that it's always been this dysfunctional, regardless of place and time.

Generation after generation of gay men who have come off the conveyor belt in the exact fashion as all those before. And here, it's the typical substance abuse, self-loathing, self-destruction trainwreck recipe that seems to be in the DNA of gay men. The superficial and casual behaviors and mindset is alien to me, and as such I've been an alien to other gay men. Why it's shocking that two gay men can be friends without having the benefits part attached is no surprise when the reality is only confirmed by each cinematic depiction of making out with any random men who happen to be in the vicinity as a prelude to whatever sexual act commences, be it in a bedroom, darkened alley, car, one-on-one, group, or whatever.

This is one of the few films in which the soundtrack stuck out... as a complete mishmash of randomness. The generic mush that played over the bland sex scenes appeared to be an attempt at adding sensuality when all I could picture was a mom making breakfast as her children were gradually waking up. It was like a coffee commercial from the 1970's. Then throw in some awful Nirvana and mediocre New Order songs that are to be completely out of place. This isn't the first gay film that has come across like a disjointed elementary school project. Grade F!

While some blame Daniel Craig for the droning dullness of Queer, he's already proven time and time again that he's a fine actor with great adaptability but when you've taken on a script that moves at the pace of molasses moving uphill, there's only so much redemption that can be done, or none in this case. Seriously, it was like being a fly on the wall watching the most uninteresting cookie-cutter characters, none of which were slightly likeable. At least it motivated me to get my laundry done. And typically, you get all the fawning reviews by those who MUST praise any gay-themed anything, as some sort of obligation of support, despite a total lack of quality. That's old news as well, and certainly no surprise.

Oh, and don't even get me started when towards the end things get all sort of wannabe Cronenberg and Kubrick weirdness. This is as painful as listening to high school poetry. But hey, maybe that's your thing.