De Zéro à I Love You

This is such an amazing story about love and living in one's truth. The cast was awesome and played their roles to perfection! Darryl Stephens and Scott Bailey's characters were so heartfelt and had many layers. This story was extremely well written and directed by Doug Spearman, and I cannot wait to see what he does next! Bravo!

I grew up resenting being taught to be paranoid. The folks in this story could have benefitted somewhat from a pinch more paranoia than they exercised. My only resistance in the movie was my inner counselor kept doing therapy on all the characters. OF course I know if they all made consistently good decisions there would be no plot and no movie. Well, not a problem; they were all screwed up enough to make a damned good, impressive movie! My time was well spent.

This low budget film makes great use of its resources due to a lot of talent behind the screen as well as in front. This is a stylish, well written rom-com about a gay love affair with all the difficulties & complications getting there as is usual for this type of film. It's a nice little movie full of very likeable actors and the characters they portray. It's smart and humorous and I was surprised at how much I liked it as it's not my usual style, but it's hard to resist despite a bit of necessary unpleasantness involving a wife and children. All the actors are good, though I never really bought for a minute that the co-lead, Scott Bailey, was gay, but like the rest here, he is likeable and appealing. I was particularly impressed by the other lead, Darryl Stephens. He's talented and attractive with a smoky voice that is killer. It's not flawless by any means, but it is a good little film that I don't think had a theatrical release, which is a shame, though it probably wouldn't have made a dime. It's not the point of this film, but bisexuality is a lot more common in this country than many would believe.

Frankly, I could watch anything with the apparently ageless, engaging and charming Darryl Stephens in it, so I'll try to get through this review with as little bias as possible. But in truth, Spearman has assembled a talented cast that delights from beginning to end. Stephens has palpable chemistry with his handsome co-star, Scott Bailey. Keili Lefkovitz is effervescent in the potentially thankless role of the down-low guy's wife, and Stephen Bowman is a ton of fun as Stephen's best friend. Veteran Richard Lawson - trivia: his first credited role, in 1971, was "Homosexual", in Dirty Harry. He went on to appear in pretty much everything, including Dynasty (1986) and Angry Boys (2011) - plays Stephen's father, who, in a refreshing twist, is a black father who doesn't have a problem with his gay son.

Good gay rom-coms don't come along very often. From Zero To I Love You manages to be hopelessly romantic, a hoot, and genuinely insightful (the damage wrought by Pete and Jack's affair isn't merely brushed under the carpet).

Surprising, enchanting, and sexy, From Zero To I Love You is a winner. Doug Spearman: what's next?

Is it your standard "Will he or won't he come out" story? Or is it more about the "other man's" fear of commitment? Or his struggle with his black identity amidst a sea of affluent white people. Even the starving artist is affluent to a certain extent.

And then there's the "Where do we stand on monogamy?" Even though most of the male characters are promiscuous. And at one point, they even touch on the crystal meth epidemic in the gay community.

That's too much to unpack. It could be made into at least three different movies.

I would love to see one centered around the black man and the potential complex intersections of his fear of commitment and how that might be related to his growing up as an affluent African American. Directed by a black director, please!

I'll leave you with one of my biggest pet peeves in movies like this. As a New Yorker who visits Philadelphia frequently, I can assure you a magazine copywriter could never afford a quaint apartment.t in Rittenhouse Square - much less move to the newly gentrified meat packing district adjacent to the West Village. Decorated with a Noguchi coffee table and a Barcelona chair!