Going Down in LA-LA Land

At the beginning, I thought this movie was like any other from West Hollywood, but it ended nicely done a with a very romantic ending side (With Adam and John) and mixed with the witty personality of Adam's best friend Candy. The actors made good job and the connection among them was believable and made sense in that entertainment industry where economical power, lust, sexual desires and even drugs are present to end in a romantic relationship and even some scenes were not of my cup of tea, i continued watching it and the more i was getting to the end, this film became more interesting! Music background was right, direction and set up locations were good also and Acting was memorable. Very hard to find in these American Hollywood stories!

....."Brokeback Mountain." ......(*Alternate title for this review: "I Hear the Crabcakes are Excellent").

In its first near two-thirds running time, "Going Down in Blah-Blah Land," is the typical "Hollywood meat grinder" story about all those aspiring, young Newbies scrambling for a foothold, after arriving in the world's film capital. (WARNING: Beware those Gay video porn-mills!). ....Ah, BUT, then come the very best parts, where we start to see...(well, you'll find that out, below).

NOW TO OUR CAST: And saving the best for last, here's a glimpse at the major characters...beginning with:

• *Allison Lane, as the ditzy B(Girl)FF of the male Lead. Named "Candy", she is the supportive and often funny--yet sometimes tiresome--friend from back home. (Good for Allison...she gets more screen time than anyone other than our main star).

• Next, in a major (time-wise) supporting role, we have the Director, himself: Casper Andreas, playing a "User" of a guy, who we'll later see as the true scuzzball he becomes. (This viewer thinks Andreas would do well, in future, spending all his time BEHIND the camera....for I'm starting to picture him as he appears in his last scene---or is that just effective acting?).

• AND FINALLY: Let's speak to that "CHEMISTRY" mentioned above. RARELY, in an American produced Gay film, do we get to see such an emotionally deep relationship between two men. It was obviously developed by main actor, Matthew Ludwinski (as our gorgeous "Adam") and his co-lead, Michael Medico (as sweet, but closeted, "John") during their shooting time with one another. Their "few" scenes together will keep you RIVETED. We can a..l...most Touch what they burn off the screen at us. (And there's the shame of this movie: 56 and one-half minutes into it before we even see this couple together--except for a "prologue" of sorts). NEVERTHELESS, you tell me if the likes of this film relationship has been seen, in this country, since the days of "Brokeback Mountain"!

Oh, I had my doubts, well into this movie......but Matthew Ludwinski held me to it.

****

This is Casper's best effort to date. The film is beautifully shot and directed. While there may be a misstep here or there, they are easily ignored given the level of acting.

Candy (Allison Lane) and Adam (Matthew Ludwinski) make a warmly klutzy pair of friends who met in film school and have eventually landed in Hollywood. Candy has an apartment, paid for by her boy friend, with a room Adam can crash in until he's got a job.

While some the story is cliché, much of it is original, based on Andy Zeffer's semi-autobiographical novel. Again, while some of the plot points about getting involved in the porn industry aren't particularly new, the tale of a love affair gone awry, with the hope of redemption, rings true.

I found the connection between Adam and John quite convincing. Judy Tenuta as Zinnea, an old friend of John's with secrets of her own, is particularly comical, if over the top in Judy's trademarked manner.

This is not a heavily dramatic story, but is sufficiently entertaining that I heartily recommend it. Having Bruce Vilanch pop in for a cameo was an inspired bit of casting.

It is a mix of romantic comedy and serious drama. Which at points creates an interesting space of humor and tension that feels real and mimics true life. While at other points it's too funny to be serious while at the same point too serious to be funny, which creates a sense similar to look at modern abstract art and thinking either I am missing the point here or they failed to hit their target.

Overall it is a good movie that has a nice balance between sweet and tragic but it bothered me that some characters came into the story seeming to be important and then just kind of drop out of the story with little to no explanation as to why or what happens to them.

The cast grabbed me so fast, I was hooked from the opening few minutes. Very funny,heart warming,perfectly acted,great production values and the cast of characters were real. I couldn't sleep because of a broken heart and found this movie on cable. Had no idea what it was about and thought it might cheer me up. It did more than that. Made me take a look at me and make some decisions about how I wanted to live my life, with the integrity in which Adam lived his. Don't settle for anything other than what you want and deserve in life. Live with integrity and strength of character. The characters in this movie acted the parts so well that they really made me think about issues like this. Not many movies have the power to do that. That is what a great movie should do.