The Event

I was fortunate enough to see this film at the Sundance Film Festival, and while I was ostensibly in Park City for skiing, this film will stand out in my memory as the high point of the trip. Poignant, heartfelt, authentic, beautifully acted, outstanding direction, incredible script - I could go on...

When the director of the film came out to address the audience before the screening, he commented about all the love that went into this film. This "touchy-feely" stuff tends to make me a bit uneasy, but in fact, every frame of this picture showed that love.

This film is so utterly honest with it's subject - a gay man dying of AIDS, post 9/11 - that you wonder how a film like "Philadelphia" is still regarded in such high esteem. As a gay man, I felt "Philadelphia" was fraudulent - unreal - pure Hollywood sap. (I won't ever forget the scene when Hank's character, covered with KS lesions, is handed a newborn baby to cuddle. Yeah, that'd happen...)

If you want the real thing, check out this amazing, wonderful film - we now just have to pray this masterpiece finds a distributor.

The auditorium I saw this film in at Sundance probably held 1500 people. There wasn't a dry eye in the house.

I came to this film via Thom Fitzgerald's earlier work, the mostly comic pseudo-documentary "Beefcake," so I was unprepared for the many-layered drama of "The Event." There have been a lot of films about gay men with AIDS, most of which are earnest and predictable, but "The Event" is definitely surprising in its story. It is easy to identify with the various points of view in the film, and that raises the viewer's stakes considerably. And what an indie dream of a cast! I viewed this DVD via NETFLIX which inexplicably -- considering their trove of Grade Z films about gay people -- doesn't stock "Beefcake." Thom Fitzgerald doesn't do the same old same old -- for which, hats off and Thanks!

Only one thing saves The Event from being a total loss; Olympia Dukakis! When she is on screen, the warmth of her being and the grace of her acting temporarily convince you that this is a good movie. She plays a pivotal character and she packs an arsenal of subtle and powerful emotion!

Unfortunately, there are many, many minutes of film dealing with the other characters, most of whom have a faceless, gray presence that gets annoyingly boring. They are not helped by an episodic, way too long screenplay and episodic and short-on-creativity directing. The climax of the film is genuinely moving (thanks mostly to Dukakis), but it takes so long to get there that you feel cheated that you didn't care more for these characters during the balance of the film. The little coda after the climax is unconvincing and unsatisfying.

Lots of unnecessary pop songs intrude along the way. Parker Posey is the only other actress to induce any sparks. If you can wade through the slow spots, its worth seeing for Dukakis; but barely.

The event was a strong powerful movie. The family was cast perfect. It felt like it could of been your neighbors. The movie made me cry and every person sitting next o me cried as well. Olympia should get an award for her acting. The little girls made me laugh. I needed to laugh between my tears. Good Job

Gay guy Matt has died from AIDS and Asst. D.A. Posey suspects something other than natural causes. In spite of these mysterious overtones, "The Event" spends most of it's time being a gay guy dying flick which deals with coming out to mom, visiting doc's, hanging with gay friends, talking about options, taking drug "cocktails", creeping symptoms, emotional contortions, philosophizing about life/death, etc. in a kind of muddled Mulligan stew of gay/straight family/friend relationship stuff via flashback. The ill focused story manages to pull itself together in the end and gives everyone in the audience (who is left) ample time to relish in the hopeful woe of the moment...and then ends all over again. Kinda sappy, full of stereotypes, quite disjointed, and poorly scripted, "The Event" has it's moments though they apparently went unnoticed by GLAAD. The bare bones DVD I watched also had no CC or subtitles or special features. Recommended for gays and anyone who have the stomach for another AIDS flick. (B-)