Circuit

CIRCUIT

Aspect ratio: 1.85:1

Sound format: Mono

A gay police officer (Jonathan Wade Drahos) is outed at work and subsequently relocates to LA where he becomes involved in the 'circuit party' lifestyle and is almost destroyed by its worst excesses...

Filmed in digital video format by director/co-writer (and former 'Playgirl' centerfold) Dirk Shafer, CIRCUIT casts an uncritical eye over the circuit party scene, exposing the highs and lows of a subculture driven by sexual excess. Drahos toplines a relatively unknown cast as the wide-eyed innocent torn asunder by corrupting influences, though he's upstaged by former soap actor Andre Khabazzi ("The Young and the Restless", "Sunset Beach") as a pumped-up party boy who refuses to have sex with anyone unless they pay for it, and is obsessed with growing old and losing his beauty (there are moments in the film when Shafer's camera lingers on Khabbazi's sculpted body, culminating in a memorable sequence where Khabazzi indulges his characters' narcissism in front of a full-length mirror). Equally impressive is Daniel Kucan as an aspiring filmmaker who records a series of video interviews with his circuit party friends (including Drahos, in a beautifully acted sequence where he's so spaced-out he can barely speak). Further down the cast list, veterans William Katt and Nancy Allen are reunited on-screen for the first time since CARRIE (1976), and while they both appear to enjoy playing against type, their roles seem pretty superfluous. Kiersten Warren and Brian Lane Green are solid as the only true friends in Drahos' life, and 80's pop sensation Paul Lekakis makes his screen debut as an erotic performance artist whose acts of self-mutilation will horrify all but the most hardened masochists. You have been warned!

Director Shafer revels in the beautiful gym-buffed bodies which form a crucial aspect of the circuit party scene, and he also includes a number of relatively chaste sexual encounters, mostly tender, sometimes dark and disturbing, always credible. The movie's production values are OK, and Shafer demonstrates a genuine cinematic awareness, helped by solid technical support all round. Look quickly for brief cameos by Craig Chester (SWOON), writer/comedian Bruce Vilanch (GET BRUCE) and director Randal Kleiser (THE BLUE LAGOON). Sensitive viewers are advised that the climactic party sequence contains prolonged flashing-light effects.

I saw this movie with a title "Party Boys". For me, it was NOT about some circuit in L.A., or wherever. It reminded me of the feelings I had - in my party times - every weekend - in the middle of Europe - far away of the gay paradises of the west. This is why I dare to call this portrait more general. Forget about drugs, forget about time and place... the thing that remains is that next-day's "why?" and "nothing more?". All that love-is-in-the-air (that is just the text of the song, not what is present in the atmosphere), all that boys-good-in-bed (that are so bad actually in their imitating of the porn, thinking that THIS IS a sex), all that care-about-your-body that disguises the lack of purpose of the void corpse, all that rainbow-colourfulness (that is the dictate of one color actually - even if different every weekend).

Being myself...??? Come on! I loved and still love the parties, music, dancing, nice guys, feeling of something happening - but I don't wanna see just ones side, to get drunk by this "pure happiness"... After one gets drunk, the hangover comes... I like gay culture (subculture, pseudo-culture, whatever), the ideas of colours, unconstrained love, freedom, enjoying of life - but what there really is - is far from this ideal. Uniformity, sex as a sport (who experienced nothing else, will not understand), vogue, must-have-fun must-smile must-laugh for any price... Maybe this is what the director wanted to say.

Maybe it's not true about your L.A. circuit - but there's more to feel than to see.

Director Dirk Shafer does his low-budget best to capture the vibe of cruising the California Gay Circuit. The rather bland soap opera device used to connect the party sequences is unaffecting. A much more prurient approach to the sex and drug culture here would have probably worked better. Needless to say, the acting is amateurish, but, for the most part, acceptable. The editing is fairly refined for an indie project, but the film is not as good as Shafer's MAN OF THE YEAR. The unrated DVD is the way to go for those interested, even though the soundtrack is rather poorly rendered for a film filled with pulsating rave tracks.

I went to the premier of "Circuit" at Outfest 2001 and left the theater feeling somewhat overwhelmed, which is a good thing. The story is about a smart, handsome gay cop from a small closed minded town who moves to Los Angeles to live an openly gay life. After his first party in the Hollywood Hills, he becomes friends with a gay male escort and falls into the circuit party scene which slowly tears him apart. He becomes obsessed with muscles, drugs, parties, and the fast gay West Hollywood night life which eventually ruins his personality and spiritual growth. This film has a special kind of honesty that is both good and bad. Good because it can serve as an awakening towards certain gay men that live to abuse themselves in the party world and bad because it may encourage the circuit lifestyle as cool or glamorous, which in reality can become the complete opposite and ruin peoples lives. The ending left me feeling angry and sad about the circuit scene, and I hope it will for others too. The story line has the ability to leave an important message to certain people that desperately need it.

I saw this at the Reel Pride festival last November (2001), and couldn't stop thinking about it for days afterward. While it's been called a "wake-up call" to some members of the gay community it doesn't come off as didactic as it could. Instead you find yourself caring about the characters and wondering what will happen to them after the movie ends.

The only thing wrong with the film is the intended main character, i.e., the cop who leaves the repressive and hostile smalltown life for the wildlife of West Hollywood. While his character is not a static one, the changes that take place in his life seem to come as a result of his passivity rather than any active move on his part. This isn't helped by the bland and vanilla acting of Jonathan Wade-Drahos. Andre Khabbazi as the jaded Hector on the other hand brings much to his character, and so Hector becomes the one your heart goes out to. Wade-Drahos acting aside, this is a well-told story, and one that merits a wide release. Check it out as soon as you can. As for me, I can't wait for the video.