Shared Rooms

I've read all the user reviews here. I don't understand the negative ones. This is one of the best gay-themed movies I've seen. I think the script was imaginative. There's a lot of "synchronicities" between characters, interesting twists and turns. It's well-acted. The actors are nice to look at. There's full-frontal nudity. It has a great ending. I mean, what's not to like?!

This is from director Rob Williams who brought us 'Make the Yuletide gay' – which I quite enjoyed on the superficial level that it was designed to be. 'Shared Room's similarly a bit one dimensional in the scenes it sets up an the depth of those that inhabit said scenes. There are three related stories of gay men and the sex they have during the festive season according to the blurb.

That is correct but is mis represents the lack of depth that happens here. There is one character who actually does really well and that is probably because his role has some space to grow and that is the long lost nephew of Cal's that turns up after being thrown out. Some of the themes could have been expanded and more could have been made of the 'awkward' moments that were often that so contrived.

What would have saved this is a dose of good acting and/or a better script, and in places both do come together, but it is so rare, this is like an ebb and flow of 'interesting' and as such so does the viewers fervour to watch more. Not a disaster but not one you will ever rave about either.

The chemistry between the actors ties this film together and leads to fluid dialogue, which felt like it was delivered quite naturally. The cast seemed to have been chosen deliberately.

While I laughed a lot in this movie, I left the theater feeling connected, in some way, to each of the characters. There were quite a few one-liners, which didn't seem forced. At times, the plot seemed like it could spin off into a television series.

Despite the lightheartedness, there was always a string, or maybe lots of strings, of emotional struggle woven in the narrative, which grounded the film and makes it relevant.

Very nice film. Great for a romantic date by the fire with a glass of wine and a man in your arms. Most of the cast was great, the plot was ok, the production was cheap but good. There are three, interconnected, stories, not all being believable enough. It leaves you with a bitter sweet taste because the ending was rushed but at the same time you feel that it didn't have anything else to say. Maybe if the three stories were more developed or maybe if we knew what happens next. I don't know, it was just like a fairly good first episode of a tv series where you are forced to wait for next week's?

Shared Rooms (2016)

Is a no angst gay rom-com written and directed by Rob Williams who brought us 'Make the Yuletide Gay'

This is another "Holigay" film that's intended to be light entertainment and it succeeds on that level. The story involves 4 gay couples with their stories told in an intertwining manner only to have them all close the loop; Couple 1 are an accountant and a screenwriter who open the film lamenting (over a Christmas dinner?) to couple 4 about the way that their social circle is shrinking as their gay friends are getting married and switching from partying to parenting. Of course couple 4 reveals that they are in the surrogacy process and expecting a baby themselves soon.

Couple 2 involves two men who are meeting on Christmas day for the first time thanks to a "manhunter" (Grindr/Tindr?) date. They discover that not only do they have sexual chemistry but quite a few other things in common as well.

Couple 3 involves two roommates who've shared digs for over a year with one traveling extensively. The traveler returns unexpectedly to find that his flatmate has turned his bedroom into a gay B&B and his room is actually rented out. Of course the two end up sharing the other bedroom and both discover... While couple 4's story isn't really developed, we actually get a fifth couple when the teen aged nephew of one of the guys in couple 1 gets thrown out of his own home and comes to lodge with his Guncle.

The stories all come together at a "Steve Not Eve" New Year's party.

The acting is genuinely not bad, the actors are good looking if not strikingly handsome, the production values are adequate, and whilst there are unlikely plot developments, there are few of the cringe-worthy moments that kept me from ever really enjoying the director's earlier 'Make the Yuletide Gay'

At only 75 minutes this film requires little time, and since it's streaming free with Amazon Prime, little investment. This is not an epiphany generating film with tremendous amounts of fiber and food for thought of the greater issues, but it is a candy cane of a movie. Light and sweet and perfect for the holidays.