A Four Letter Word

I saw this at the Cleveland International Film Festival this week.

Luke is a promiscuous gay male who spends his time cruising bars and working in a sex toy shop. He is surrounded by a small group of friends, whose stories we learn more about as the film progresses. While out one night, Luke stumbles upon Stephen, a "straight acting" (as the characters define the behavior) hottie who makes a few comments about just how Luke fits the gay stereotype so well. This bothers Luke and begins his journey to self discovery, although it's not exactly rocket science.

I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys the silly gay comedies. "Another Gay Movie," "Adam and Steve," "Noah's Arc (TV Series)," etc. etc... If you've seen and enjoyed these mentioned movies and shows, I have no doubt you will love "A Four Letter Word." The film is a bit silly and you and your friends may squirm at some of the lines, but there is a heartfelt message and you will walk away from the film feeling pretty good about yourself (although you may feel like hitting the gym right away and puking up that movie theater popcorn after staring at the gorgeous actors for 90 minutes)

The first five minutes of this film had my friend and me squirming in our seats, convinced we were about to see another tired gay comedy with stereotypical characters and an all-too-obvious plot line.

But looking back, I think we were purposely, and perhaps masterfully duped by the director to trigger our own stereotypes and preconceived ideas about what it means to be young, gay and living in New York. He flipped the stereotype switch gently, providing everything from drunk boys in bars, to gratuitous and seemingly premature skin shots. It was a useful tool that invited us to confirm the unspoken notions of our gay identities in order to bring about a more genuine deconstruction.

The art of the film lies not in the acting, which sometimes stumbles; save of course, for Cory Grant who delivers a consistent and unique authenticity. Instead, the film's soul is truly in the scripted storyline and in the very digestible way we are taken on one character's drunken and stumbling path to the first spark of his own electric and glittery evolution.

A Four Letter Word is not a ground-breaking piece of cinema by any stretch. But for all its failings, there is enough substance to enjoy.

The plot leans on the weak side and the main character (Luke) extremely unlikeable. I found myself, at times, feeling very disengaged with his experiences in the film.

But pushing past this, there are laughs along the way and some of the minor characters actually steal the limelight.

The problem with this film is that it throws together all the major gay clichés, and for this reason it stumbles constantly. The director surely must have had more vision than to peddle worn-out and tired gay stereotypes.

Successful gay cinema celebrates diversity and breaks free of the constraints and expectations society imposes on homosexuality.

If anything, A Four Letter Word is a major disappointment in this regard. I expected a lot more.

It's easy to pick holes in this film but there is enough to keep watching until the end.

I have given it a solid 5 for a pass and the power of the support cast saves me from a harsher judgment.

I found this movie interesting after i watched it i wonder why the rating is so low i am ok with full frontal male nudity feature ok i know a lot of people might not like it i think my problem with this movie is the pacing is too fast for me and conversation few of the words they use i barely know or hear before maybe because the target audience is only gay/queer people oh and about the poster it doesn't look appealing at first but not gonna lie this is the kind of comedy genre film i was looking for and i love it.

Are you tired of reading my review? Yeah the same as when i saw this movie.

Luke (Jesse Archer) meets Stephen (Charlie David), and of course it's hate at first sight. then, they warm up to each other. it's all an exploration of gay and straight relationships, told from a 2007 point of view, in new york city. we visit long term relationships, dating, sex with no strings attached, dating with strings, love, sadness, breakups. some fun jokes and gay gags along the way. gay life. great banter between Zeke & Luke. Which relationships will work out, and which ones won't? it's really good.. much better than the ratings show. Directed by Casper Andreas. Opening and closing theme is "A Different Kind of Love", a gravely voice of Caroline Wennergren. Fun film. Check it out.