Looking

I followed this HBO serial based around a group of mainly gay friends in San Francisco. The main character Patrick returns to his old haunts here and is looking for some sort of 'closure' on his past but instead everyone wants to carry on where they all left off.

Now those that loved the series that have gone before will find 'more of the same' here and so love it. However, it also manages to bring most of the negative baggage from the two seasons which was sort of inevitable. That is also where it has its flaws.

If you identify with the characters and the happenings it is much easier to get into this. I found it very watchable but not the best serialised gay themed drama ever and wanting on a few occasions – I did really enjoy the first season but thought the seconds so lack lustre that I only finished it out of some sort of loyalty. This though is better and so a fitting way to say a final goodbye.

If anyone bothered to watch the 'Looking' series before watching this movie they would realize that "Looking" was more about Patrick forever looking outward, rather than inward, to find himself. The 'Looking' series was smartly done to showcase Patrick and friends living in San Francisco as average modern day gay people troubled with personal needs and wants while juggling the demands of scratching out a comfortable life in a big city. Nothing remarkable nor outstanding happens in their lives. It's just daily life as the majority of civilization lives it.

In "Looking: the movie" Patrick returns to Frisco to attend a wedding. We find out Patrick had moved back east and this is his first visit in years. He is ambivalent about this trip because he knows he is certain to cross the path of old flames and Patrick really doesn't want to bring those feelings back to the surface.

As the story progresses mostly nothing happens (outside of a lot of drinking and eating) because everyone has gone onward with their life and they don't expect anything more from Patrick other to be their for the wedding. What appears as a simple non story is actually full of examples of human interaction with other humans and the misconceptions that come along with it. The story ends pretty much as it started - steps are taken forward but we forever find our-self in the same place.

This movie only really makes sense if you have watched the series before hand. I wanted it right after finishing the series so I think it fit in well with the story. It allowed for time to progress and the characters to change a bit while bringing them back together they still had their same spark as people. I appreciated the looking forward we were left with instead of the questions from the series.

I think that there already is enough said what "Looking" is all about. I must admit, that I really loved the series because of its authenticity, its good story and its extremely well done acting. I still don't understand why it was canceled after season 2. There was an (typical) open end and we all assumed and looked forward to a third season. Instead there was a movie made to close a chapter (like Patrick is saying in the movie). The problem is, that 80 minutes are not enough to close the chapter of four or five people. So the story is a little bit to much focused on Patricks character - but, so what? In the end we won't get anything new and the way the story ends is disappointing, because it's not what we would have liked to see. Kevin is the word! And that brings me to the ulti-mate highlight of the movie. Talking about love scenes in movies, like "Gone with the wind" or "Love Story" or "Titanic". Well - watch Russell Tovey in "Looking" and add this to the others. He only needs five words to say ("Why? - Because I love you"), a hug, a kiss, a touch and a look to create the most heartrending love scene I ever had the privelege to watch. He's only got about ten minutes of the entire movie on screen - but what ten minutes !! Enough to break ones heart. Giving a very strong performance throughout the whole series, this man is an acting genius and that's what makes it worth to watch this movie.

These last few weeks I watched all of looking and its movie, and I can safely say that there aren't a lot of shows out there that were able to touch me as much as this did. This film does a really fantastic job of allowing us closure on the events of the season 2 finale while seemingly exploring the ideas and themes that made the show stand out as much as it did. Jonathan Groff's work throughout the series really deserved to be praised. He makes it all look incredibly easy but going on this journey must not have been easy, and his effortless charm, longing, and internal emoting really make it an incredible performance that will be hard to forget. I will miss this show and its character dearly.