The Fruit Machine

The idea of the story is not bad, but the use of stereotypes (Edie behaves very effeminate, the people in the man only bar too) only makes this movie painful to watch. The only character I liked was Michael, since he behaves like a normal boy (and is sexy too...)

The Fruit Machine is a tender and loving film about a pair of gay male teens from Liverpool. But if the pejorative of fruit is to describe them, than they are as different as apples and oranges.

Emile Charles is an effete biracial sixteen year old who likes nothing more than watching old flickswith his mom at home. Tony Forsyth is a street wise rent bpy and that's redundancy because if you aren't street wise you won't last long as a rent boy. Forsyth has to do a lot looking out for Charles.

Never more so when they witness a murder at a gay club of its drag queen owner with a machete. They flee to Brighton and have some further adventures there.

The boys are a pair of finely scripted characters fleshed out nicely with good performances and direction. In the supporting cast noe Robbie Coltrane as the lckless club owner.

One good gay themed film that has held up well since the 80s,

Do you remember the line "I depend on the kindness of strangers"? Well, of course it is from Tennessee Williams‚ "A Streetcar Named Desire‘, and sums up the meaning of the whole play. As it does sum up the meaning of this film. It's about the fight of imagination and reality – and again reality wins. Or so it seems.

If this film has any flaw it's the crime story woven around its center. The gay-hating killer seems an overused cliché nowadays but at the time of the film's production it was probably more than a symbol.

Nevertheless, the film moves – at least me – even a decade after it was made. If not a masterpiece, at least a very, very good film.

A beautiful, powerful and very much underrated British gritty gay thriller from the late 80's, released in the UK as The Fruit Machine and in the US as Wonderland. It is passionate, resolute, beautifully directed, filmed and played that I would have thought it would have been higher in the book Top 50 Most Influential Gay Movies of All Time than the ranking it was given.

The Fruit Machine is a wonderful and poignant tale of growing up, it combines the rite of passage, buddy flick with a road movie genres in perfect symmetry and also shoves in a bit of a thriller just for the sake of it. BAFTA winner Philip Saville directs Emile Charles and Tony Forsyth as Eddie and Michael, two gay mates on the very brink of adulthood as they head into the adventure of their lives. These two friends may both be gay but their sexuality is the only thing they seem to have in common. In all other respects, they are as different as the proverbial chalk and cheese, Eddie is soft, gentle, sensitive and fragile. He adores nothing more than watching old classic black and white movies with his mum. Michael is much more streetwise, tough, manly and loves video games.

The story then follows them as they head away from the mean inner city streets and enjoy the wonderful seaside exuberant Brighton! Its so lovely, wonderfully made, easy to view, moving whilst also being funny.

Read more and find out where this film made it in the Top 50 Most Influential Gay Movies of All Time book, search on Amazon for Top 50 Most Influential Gay Movies of All Time, or visit - http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B007FU7HPO

Reminds me of my own youth in similar circumstances and reminds me of the scrapes I got in to with my late best friend, in the late 80s in the North of England. Ignore the stereotypes...sometimes the stereotypes actually exist, you know. Brilliant.

The characters are well drawn and the dream sequences add some mysticism. Whilst the plot is a little crazy its a genuine,sad and heartwarming tragedy, which in view of the lack of a big Hollywood style budget, for me at least, is something that cheap British films excel at. Well done. Its s ashame most of the young actors did not develop their careers, but looking back on such films it only adds to the importance of it for me.