Birthday Cake

Birthday Cake (2013) was written and directed by Chad Darnell.

This is a movie for which I had high hopes. It's a sequel to a very funny short film, Groom's Cake. Writer/director Chad Darnell stars as Daniel, who's in a loving relationship with Steve, played by Rib Hillis. They have an adorable little girl named Sam, who's one year old, and the plot revolves around Sam's first birthday party.

Because Daniel and Steve are both in the entertainment business, they naturally decide to make a professional film of this happy event. Great concept for a really funny movie because friends, relatives, entertainers, and unexpected guests will naturally interact--for better or for worse--with the film crew.

That was the concept, but it just didn't come off. The predictable guests arrive--loving family members, not-so-loving family members, gay friends, lesbian friends, straight friends, clowns and puppeteers. And, of course, there's the film crew which brings with it all of its baggage--literal and figurative. There is lots of noise, lots of interactions, but, sadly, not lots of humor.

*Important note to Chad Darnell and all filmmakers: Alzheimer's Disease isn't a good source of humor. Making fun of someone with Alzheimer's Disease isn't funny--it's cruel. Don't do it.

I think the basic problem with the film is that Darnell didn't follow through with the basic plot of the film crew trying to make a movie about this fluid, amorphous gathering. In fact, sometimes we lose sight of the film crew during the movie. Then, suddenly, they reappear. It's as if the director thought, "Uh-oh, I need more screen time for the film crew. I have to bring them back into the plot right now." Then, there they were. The movie would have worked better without the plot line of the film crew, or with that plot line emphasized throughout. The half-hearted use of the film crew is what brought the movie down.

We saw this film at Image Out--the Rochester LGBT Film Festival. It's the second film-- along with G.B.F.--about which I believe that a opportunity for a very funny film was wasted. The movie will work on the small screen.

If your family oriented group needs some shock therapy this show works.

Did it have top actors or quality sets. Not unless they were trying to impersonate non actors in absurd situations. They pulled it off spectacularly. It was a laugh out of the closet moment that got funnier as it went on and more absurd moments. The clown skit had us in stitches and then it got funnier.

It may not have that honed in Hollywood sparkle and 7 figure budget but it has charm and dare I say it, class.

Or lack there of in decorum and for all to see.

I was thrilled to hear there would be a full-length feature to continue the story of Groom's Cake, which was a lovely short film I saw at Atlanta Out On Film. Birthday Cake picks up with Steven and Dan approximately one year after they receive their adopted baby, Sam, and leading up to Sam's first birthday party.

It's shot in a mockumentary style similar to the first film, and I'm so glad there was time to get to know the characters a bit more this time around. We learn a lot about the history of the couple, and get a peek into the complex emotions and family dynamics surrounding their marriage and foray into parenthood. It's a sometimes hilarious, gritty, touching, sad, and joyous look into the world of a same-sex family...which is sadly underrepresented in the movie world today.

If you know me you would know that I'm not a kid person and to watch a movie about a gay couple celebrating their adopted kids one year birthday would be the last thing on my agenda however this movie was totally totally funny. From the first few minutes all the way through it had laugh out loud laughs. Something I thoroughly enjoyed and would watch again.