Trick

Finally, a movie about gay men that is not about dying or someone getting bashed or whatever. This is truly a great film. I just can't believe all of the negative reviews. This was a shy and cute movie and it should happen more often that two people should get the "hard" part over with first - you know the getting to know you part. Everyone is so hyped up with getting "off" instead of wondering who this person is I'm about to *^ck. I thought Mr. Campbell was beautiful, from his dimpled checks, to his twinkling eyes. And Mark, well - I'm a true ass fan, so - seeing his round little number did it for me.

See this movie with a date, or better yet, that person you've been in love with for all of those years. It will remind you of yourself and the day you met your mate. It's funny, I met my lover over 13 years ago at a bus stop and it started out pretty much like it did in the movie. Like Mark's answering machine states in the finally scene - "Hi it's Mark - you got me".

I was a little wary of a movie about two guys trying to find a place in New York city where they can be alone and have some sex. A comedy? I thought it could be very boring. I'm so glad I went to see this one! It is funny and romantic, and it ends in a smart way, and I can only say: Thank you, guys! That was fun!

Not having seen the film when it was originally released, I caught up with it on IFC. The film is surprisingly light, as the director, Jim Fall, has avoided the usual cliches when dealing with the subject matter.

Mr. Fall was very lucky to find this cast, indeed. The three principals, Tori Spelling, Christian Campbell and John Paul Pitoc play very well together. It's a fun film to watch anytime at all. All types of audiences will enjoy this tale of romance, missed opportunities, and fulfilling a dream.

All this, and N.Y.'s Greenwich Village in the background, who could ask for anything more?

Gay romantic comedies seem to fall into two different categories: either they deal with AIDS specifically, or they don't. TRICK falls into the latter category. Films in the former category tend to be too heavy-handed to be good (save JEFFREY and LOVE! VALOUR! COMPASSION!). Here, screenwriter Jason Schafer focuses not on AIDS whatsoever. In fact, it is never mentioned once. Instead, we watch as two men (wonderfully played by Christian Campbell and John Paul Pitoc) try to have a one-night stand. The only problem: they have no place to go. As these two men desperately try to find a room, fate interferes, allowing them to get to know each other before consumating the relationship. Tori Spelling is terrific in a supporting role, but it is the two leads who must manage this film, and they do with astonishing realism. It's a modern-day, gay fairy tale. It's the type of film that makes you laugh, cry, and feel good in the end. Hollywood could learn something from this small independent feature.

It's hard to imagine a gay themed film where the main characters aren't drag queens, don't have AIDS, aren't bitchy, catty, flamboyant, tragic or shallow. As it turns out, gay people, like non-gay people, can be all those things (and aren't we all tired of it) and so much more. In fact, the most distinguishing characteristic of gay people is that, for the most part, they are virtually indistinguishable from non-gay people. Isn't it about time a movie just allowed its central gay characters to be a couple of cute young guys whose casual meeting teeters over the course of a hilariously frustrating evening on the verge of becoming more than a one night stand?

Gabriel, played by Christian Campbell, Neve Campbell's older brother, is a shy, aspiring composer with dimples to die for. Mark, J. P. Pitoc, is an outgoing journalism student who earns money as a go-go boy and has the body to prove it. Pitoc and Campbell, who appear together again in the "Thank You, Good Night", gel beautifully as the put-upon would-be lovers. In a world where meeting and having sex can be a rather common and often all too impersonal event, they meet, and like most people their age, they want to have sex. But the story that gently unfolds is not at all common. It's tender, funny, and much more romantic than it sounds.

Tori Spelling, it hurts me to even write this, is terrific as Gabriel's oh-so theatrical friend. She maintains a drama in her life that can be endearing, but is often times more annoying, the latter which Ms. Spelling portrays with great comic success.

The rest of the cast is fairly unremarkable, with two notable exceptions. Steve Hayes is brilliant as a friend from Gabriel's theatre class whose hilarious "Como te gusta mi pinga" is the funniest cabaret number since Priscilla. Clinton Leupp as drag queen Coco Peru, delivers a delightful bathroom soliloquy that will have you in stitches. Even more amusing is the fact that Miss Coco looks distractingly like Ms. Spelling's character, right down to the overabundance of drama.

Trick is an uplifting and life-affirming look at being young and gay and almost in love. Surely you were at least one of these things once.