Pretty Red Dress

I decided to see this film as it was the best of a rather bad lot on general release this week.

I have to say that I was grateful for the subtitles as I am hard of hearing and so otherwise I would not have been able to understand the dialogue.

I would have to say that I do not form part of the target audience for this film. So it was inevitable that I would become festive about an hour in,but I remained to the bitte!r in.

It was one of those films where if anything can go wrong it will do so,this there is an air of predictability and inevitability about the course of the narrative. I get rather bored at characters who constantly swear at each other.

A stretch in prison brings you back to your sweetheart, it's a year that you've been separate and apart, life's quite tough when you're a felon, when you wish you had some melons, just to pop inside a dress, with firm support. And then the chance arrives to get yourself made up, and add some padding to your wife's lacy bra cups, pop some scarlet on the lips, waltzing around to shake your hips, you look amazing in that red tasselled getup. It's not too long before you're found with your pants down, it causes consternation and a great big frown, you try to work your way around, but deep inside you're glad your found, you are relieved, released to wander around town.

I was really disappointed in this film. The trails suggested a cutting edge drama about a man challenging the norms of his community but what we actually get is an over-scripted, not very well acted, family melodrama. "Travis" (Natey Jones) returns home after a spell in prison to his wife "Candice" (Alexandra Burke) and teenage daughter "Kenisha" (Temilola Olatunbosun). "Candice" has an audition to play in a Tina Turner musical and has her eyes on a spangly red dress. It's expensive, but "Travis" manages to find a job with his brother and manages to buy it for her. She loves it, but, well... so does he. At this stage we begin to sense that he has some identity fluidity issues, but that is best kept under wraps for fear it will not be well received by his family, nor by their friends. It's only when "Candice" comes home unexpectedly one evening that the relationship dynamic suddenly changes for all of them. The premiss is bold - it does aim fairly and squarely at bigotry and homophobia, but the execution is slow and ponderous. Alexandra Burke is a great singer but she is not a great actress and as the ever more contrived family shenanigans mount up - including some issues for the young "Kenisha" - the thrust that made the film interesting in the first place gets rather lost. Jones is adequate, but again his character is largely undeveloped with little of a backstory to give us a sense of just how this relationship evolved, and ultimately I just think Dionne Edwards relied a little too much on the shock value of the thread and of audience assumptions rather than develop this into something more powerful. It's watchable, bit misses the goal I'd say.

Here's a sensitive and contemporary take on love, identity, sexuality, expectations, kindness and the human condition. It doesn't need labels or explanations and can cope with and hold ambiguity. It likes and respects all of its main protagonists and does not feel the need to fall victim to simplicity. All the more, you identify with the characters, and it feels encouraging that there is room for emotion amidst all those somewhat 2-dimensional contemporary labelling efforts. Be feminine whilst being masculine, be real, be vulnerable, take a risk, take a stand for your feelings but don't hurt others in the process - in fact, don't just me me me, bur really let them matter (to you) too. Recommended.

I went to go and watch this film for free as I am a member at Picturehouse. As a crossdresser/gender explorer myself. All I can say is finally we have some accurate representation in the media! I could relate to a lot in this film, and it was beautiful to watch. It's a film that explores masculinity, gender expression, and family issues. Every character is relatable in their own way. I wasn't too sure at first about Alexandra Burke's acting but as the film went on I was certainly impressed. Ignore the negative reviews about this film, it deserves a much higher score. Thankyou for making the film we very much needed!