Strange Fruit

I just saw this excellent film at the Asheville Fim Festival and was just stunned! The movie was so well written. The acting flawless. I was in tears at a couple of places during the movie. Mr. Faulcon was just tremendous in the lead role, especially in the last few minutes. His powerful acting was one thing that brought me to tears at the end. It kind of had the feel of "In The Heat of the Night". Very sad movie that makes you think about being gay in the South and also being black and gay in the South. As a note, Mr. Shickner was in the audience and hosted a Q&A after the movie. (I was actually sitting next to him and another producer without even knowing it. Pretty neat!)

Highly recommended, especially if you grew up gay in the South.

"Strange Fruit" certainly occupies a lonely niche on the video shelves - a gay drama with an African American cast and themes. For that alone, it was worth a look-see. Centering around the lynching murder of a gay black man in a small New Orleans parish, the tone teeters between realistic and over-the-top at times. Perhaps it is the 'momma' who seems to be way too young (topped by an ineffective gray wig - wasn't there an actress of age willing to take the role?) or maybe it is the 'moustache twirling' sheriff that unbalances "Fruit", but the film's reality suffers none-the-less. The acting is pretty good, with a background love story (for those who don't care for crime drama). My major problem with "Fruit" is that it seems overly long at nearly two hours and could have been streamlined a bit. On their indy budget, sound suffered the most and the editing is static and doesn't help move the film a long one iota.

"Strange Fruit" does indeed have its flaws primarily the stereotypical redneck Sheriff. Additionally, one has to suspend believe entirely to believe a handsome African American man would come out as gay in high school in the deep south. However, getting past that, how likely is it that a homophobic self-righteous Sheriff would allow a gay bar to exist in his Parrish? Nonetheless, despite the weak plot devices and one-dimensional portrayals of some of the ancillary characters, the movie tells a story that needs to be told. That is, how difficult it is for gays - especially African American gays to find acceptance both in their families and their communities. The dead characters mother provides some telling insight into the whole "DL" phenomenon when she laments that fact that her some Kelvin "Never knew how to blend in." This is very realistic as a lot of African Americans have disdain for effeminate gays. If you're "passable" and keep your personal life hidden, everybody's OK with that. Kent Faulcon, who portrays William Boyals, alone is worth watching this movie for. He's unbelievably handsome, and gives a dignified and powerful performance. His depiction should be required viewing for black male actors who shy away from accepting gay roles. Playing gay need not require sacrificing one's manhood. Also moving is the depiction of a mother who loves her child, but cannot accept his sexual orientation therefore believes she should hold on to her hurt, anger, and bitterness rather than finding a way to deal with it. I would recommend viewing "Strange Fruit" for the social commentary it so realistically portrays.

Horrible script, ending is a non sequitur, some okay acting, mostly wooden - bad, bad, bad script. Much as I am willing to suspend disbelief in the interest of a movie about gay life this movie is beyond my ability.

Some of the relationship interactions, e.g. between Boyles and Calvin's brother, are interesting and worth watching. Duane's performance is good, the bar owner's is also. This is not the strongest cast, but no- one could do much with this script.

Surprise endings should make sense in retrospect - this one just comes out of the blue, without any reasonable build up or explanation, confusing the message of the movie and disdaining the intelligence of the audience. Also, a message movie about racism and homophobia does not need a surprise ending, it just distracts and detracts. Stupid stupid script.

Would love to see a serious movie about life as a gay black man in the South (or anywhere) - this ain't it.

After the first few minutes, I figured I wouldn't give this film anything higher than a 5. The sound is atrocious. The violent scenes are beyond amateurish. Some characters, particularly the Sheriff, were parodies of themselves, and unintentionally painful to watch. And some characters had sudden changes of heart that weren't believable.

But two things hold the viewer's attention. First, Ken Faulcon in the lead role is believable and captivating. And second, the story of twin bigotries is also believable, and the plot is told in a way that the ending was a complete surprise to me, in more ways than one.

I agree with others who said this film could be better paced near 90 minutes. Get a better cast, fine-tune the script, improve the production values, and you could have something. Look what happened to those atrocious Madea videos -- some became half-decent movies. While I give this current film a 6, I'm certain that a remake could achieve a 7 or 8.