De Zéro à I Love You

Soap opera of fraught interracial affair between out gay and closeted gay in hetero marriage. Not terrible, the leads are pretty, some good moments, but oh my it just goes on and on and on repetitively in familiar territory. I don't for a moment believe there is any passion here -- even the betrayed parties seem like they'll be fine after a stiff drink. The script meanders, and it looks like everybody was afraid to bring any scale to the thing; acting is not just "looking natural" -- you've got to take us someplace, show us things . . .

This is a movie about a white closeted married guy who dates a black single guy with a history of dating white closeted married guys. While the premise seems to hold the potential for an engaging story and the production is at least competent, it falls hopelessly flat in every respect. It simply isn't dramatic enough, funny enough, heartwarming enough, or steamy enough to be worthwhile. Everything here is skin deep. There's no reason for the audience to get behind a guy who seems to see his devoted wife and daughters as mere baggage, and shirks his responsibilities to them at every turn. A couple doleful piano notes as the boyfriend is left hanging again (as if he couldn't see it coming) isn't near enough to tug at my heartstrings. I'd suggest the filmmakers go out and live a little, and find something more substantial to write about. But at least they got the title right - there's plenty of Zero, a bit of I Love You, and not much in between.

Oh, and - there's not a closeted guy on the planet who'd ask his secretary to send a dozen roses to a man.

Since the first moment I saw this picture I knew it was going to be a big compromise from me to not jump to conclusions that it was going to be a Hollywood Fake Movie. And it was! I didn't believe in the acting of any involved in this drama story where i found everything very insipid and so predictable specially from the the cast of this film! Everything sounded so annoying and honestly for me it was only a gay story where production, direction and acting was just a Big try from rescuing some Dramatic Love (Unbelievable) Scenes that did not make the movie any better!

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.

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!