Just Say Love

This was originally a play. The movie is a filmed version. The writing and acting are first rate. Very emotional journey for the two protagonists one of whom is openly gay, while the other is supposedly straight. They meet in a park and decide to hook up for some quick sex. They keep meeting, and the gay guy falls hard for the straight guy. I was pleased with the ending. So many gay themed dramas feel the need to kill one or more of their characters. It was a pleasant change to watch a life affirming story.

.........ending. And you know what? We deserve it!

Having seen years of gay film productions (particularly romances) on video tape, Laser and DVD, for me most have been crap (any disagreement?). BUT....this one can take a proud and high position in the Top-12 of gay dramas. Excellent writing/conversion to screen, great staging.......they're in here. Still and all, it's Matthew Jaeger (Guy / Guido) and Robert Mammana (Doug) who breathe life into this work and into Us as we watch. Captivated and drawn into their simple lives, we see them become Us---you and me. That's right, who out here wouldn't want a man of openness, raw needs, funniness......wouldn't "physically" want such a man as Doug? Would anyone of us turn down a Guy's perceptiveness, depth of feeling, and indefinable ability to draw us out of ourselves?

So in the end, this whole thing (this "Just Say Love") has fallen to and been carried on the shoulders of these two amazing actors---actors who didn't just learn lines....but who lived their parts. In tribute to them, I feel compelled to say I can think of no past performers in gay filmdom who could have done better. Can you?

PS--Oh...and if Guy wasn't "disappointed".....how could we be?

(( I awarded "Brokeback" a 9/10. This work is close in satisfaction given ))

The uncluttered staging of this work allowed the viewer to concentrate on the performers and what was being said. The impact was visceral, and yet the subject matter of the dialogue intellectually stimulating. Performances by Jaeger and Mammana were outstanding. The emotional intensity just below the surface was gripping. Someone finally expressed what I have felt in my life.

Scenes like waiting at the corner were so expressive....no need for words! I've been there.

The film is about two guys meeting up for a quicky, ending up in a sort-of no-strings-attached situation (with all the derived clichés). The one guy is a wannabe-witty-but-omg-whiner who endures an emotionally abusive relationship, while the other one, supposedly straight, enjoys a good ... service once in a while. Two thirds of the movie turn around the gay guy swallowing down indirect insults (for everyone who has even a little self-respect) just to meet again with the "hero" he's hopelessly fallen for, while in the last few minutes everything gets miraculously resolved in a Disney-like happy ending (which couldn't be further from any realistic outcome possible). The whole takes play on a minimalistic theater stage (something that might have worked for Dogville but pathetically fails here, since there is no real plot substance to substitute for the stage props missing). Characters do not really evolve, conflicts are not analyzed and resolved but unexpectedly disappear, while cinematography is on purpose absent (I do not consider changing the filming angle cinematography). Matthew Jaeger and Robert Mammana do a decent job trying to act, but the script is so shallow, that they have nothing to work with.

The film is supposed to be an adaptation of a stage play by David J. Mauriello (although googling for the original play didn't result in any information whatsoever). The story might have been enough for a ten-minute short film at best (in which case the development and the catharsis are left as homework to the viewers), but nothing longer. If the author wantonly recites Plato, he should first know (and apply) Aristotele's definition of Greek tragedy (theater 101).

Last-minute addition: Reading my review again, I realized that I may be overreacting (in fact much more than usually in my critiques), but watching it made me angry. I decided not to soften my tone because I don't want others to also waste their time (or if they do, to at least be aware of the risk they're taking). The most important reason for my anger, however, is the subtle insinuation throughout the movie, that enduring an emotional abuse may magically pay off in the end.

I tired very quickly of Guy's helplessness and whining and began to focus on that horrific lump on the left side of his face, which I think needs a biopsy.