You Should Meet My Son!

This movie has been sitting in the gender equity office at my university for awhile, this morning I decided to pop it in. I was surprised at how sweet, funny, and endearing this movie is! Most "gay" comedies are poorly acted and are filled with nothing but shirtless men and awkward sex scenes. This is the type of movie a person could watch with their mother and not cringe. The acting is very well done, the script is very witty, and the drag queens are fabulous! The movie may be low budget, but it really doesn't affect the quality of the movie, much of the talent and decent use of camera angles makes up for it! Will be watching this movie again!

"You Should Meet My Son" is a comedy about a closeted gay son and his loud and crazy mother. The son tries his utmost to hide the fact that he is gay all the while dealing with an emotional breakup. The mother discovers that her son is gay (with the help of her equally loud and crazy sister) and sets out to find the perfect guy for her son to be with.

The first half hour of the film is funny and lighthearted, with bits of clever jokes here and there. The jokes end however when "comedy" turns into "crack humour." The film begins to pack clichéd drag queens and a very predictable anti-gay Christian family into the same scenes. The film stops being about the gay son and the mother and just becomes a great big mess of gay characters and religious characters interacting with one another.

The story between the gay son and the mother is enjoyable and kind of touching, but you will need to sit through a lot of crazy, random stuff before you get to see the ending to that story.

True to the DVD cover art, "You Should Meet My Son" doesn't masquerade as being anything other than light and fun entertainment, but it is also honest and passionate. In brief, a young gay man has tried far too hard to keep his sexuality secret from his mother and aunt - to the point where his partner leaves for greener pastures. Brian's mother and her sister discover the big gay truth and quickly dispense with their culturally acquired bigotry. They then set out on a mission to find heartbroken Brian a suitable gay male partner - taking a crash course in gay community diversity and etiquette, but thankfully things are not that simple (and only marginally overladen with stereotypes).

Keith Hartman does a wonderful job with the script - keeping things fresh, lively and relevant. Hartman also ought to take a deep bow as director in his first feature film - and he happily gives plenty of due credit to the talented crew he assembled to make this film always look beautiful and interesting, and to also sound wonderful (especially, as we learn from the commentary tracks, in quite challenging circumstances). The editing is particularly praiseworthy - my award goes to Donna Matthewson. The slightly surreal colours remind me very much of the UK original 1999 Queer As Folk series (NB: the cinematrographic quality is much better in this film - due no doubt to the improvement in digital technology.) I recommend that anyone who likes the film should also take the time to watch the DVD with each of the two commentary tracks - and then watch the film again with the original soundtrack. Your appreciation is significantly amplified, making "You Should Meet My Son" a film which you're likely to recommend to all your family and friends, and to enjoy re-watching with them any number of times. An excellent original music soundtrack adds further lustre.

The cast all do a fine job and they must be very proud of the final edit. It's no surprise that this has been an award winner at gay and lesbian film festivals.

"You Should Meet My Son" A Mother's Job is Never Done Amos Lassen When conservative Southern mother Mae learns that her only son is gay, she decides that he is not to go through life alone and starts looking for the ideal husband for him. Do I have to say that this is a comedy? Not only is it is a comedy but it is very sweet and a wonderful movie experience.

This is director and screenwriter Keith Hartman's feature debut and it is about the mom and aunt everyone wishes they have. Mae (JoAnne McGee) is a Southern mother who just wants the best for her son Brian (Stewart Carrico). Mae and her sister Rose (Carol Goans) invite Brian and every single girl in town over most Friday nights to meet Brian. (I can't help but think that Mae also should be a Jewish mother as well). Brian, however, always brings his "special friend and roommate." Finally mom and aunt understand but they help with a survey in a magazine called "Is Your Son Gay"? That doesn't stop them and now they try to find a man for Brian. They get a computer and the teen neighbor sets it up for them and they go to "Manhunt" at the teen's recommendation and find themselves cruising the site. They even go to the bars and are determined to find the right man for Brian. The film is loaded with good performances and laughs and it is very, very gay.

Set in Southern USA, this movie deals with a conservative mother's reaction to finding out her son is gay: she sets out to find him a husband!

I read about this movie at afterelton.com, and it looked promising. Boy, oh, boy, does this movie deliver the goods! While it's true that it shows that the movie was shot on a shoestring budget, you honestly don't even think of it as any big impediment at all. In fact, it adds to the "earthy" feel of the entire movie.

I did read that the accents were really supposed to be fake; but being from India, and never having been to the States, this isn't something that I could pick up on: I leave it to Americans to rate that particular aspect.

I would have to say that the strongest aspect of the film would be the wonderfully quirky characters:

Mae and Rose really shine in this film; hell, you could say it's THEIR movie.

All in all, it's a light hearted movie which doesn't fall into the trap of taking itself too seriously.

I totally recommend this one!