Hard

Newly-minted detective Raymond (aka "Ramon") Vates (Noel Palomaria) is walking a fine line between two worlds. A rookie promoted from the streets when another detective is caught 'in flagrante delicto' with a dead hooker (and is equally as dead as she is, by the way), Vates must learn to live and work with the jaded, nihilistic, testosterone-laden meatheads who are his colleagues, while he conceals his biggest secret: he himself is gay.

He somehow manages to walk with one foot in both worlds, until a series of murders he is investigating with his new partner, Det. Tom 'Lucky' Ellis, (Charles Lanyer), brings his entire world crashing down. He's taunted, enraged, aroused and entranced by an alleged witness named Jack (the disturbingly good Malcolm Moorman), whom he picks up in a bar for a night of wildly passionate sex. When he wakes up, though, he discovers that Jack isn't merely the "screw-and-run" type. No, more like "screw-run-and-kill". Because he reveals himself to a handcuffed Vates to be the serial killer that he and Lucky have been hunting, just before he steals the captive detective's badge and issues a challenge: Can Ray face what he fears most - being exposed to the department and to the world as a gay cop? Because that's exactly what it will take to catch the deranged Jack.

From the very first scene, HARD immediately lets you know that it's not going to be your average gay thriller, and with its harsh message sharply delivered like a ball-peen hammer blow to the solar plexus, it goes way beyond the trappings of a noxious thriller like William Friedkin's reviled CRUISING, which had similar things to say about homophobia and indifference, only with a more exploitative bent.

It probably helped me appreciate this movie all the more that I saw the 'new' "FRIDAY THE 13TH" remake beforehand. After ninety minutes of practically mindless wall-to-wall gratuitous sex and nudity, followed by the spectacle of cardboard characters I could care less about being made into human sushi, it was refreshing to see scenes that were a lot more intense and better acted, produced with what probably equaled the catering budget on "FRIDAY".

Sure, the acting wasn't exactly Oscar-caliber and the low-budget seams were definitely showing. But Noel Palomaria's Ray Vates is an earnest, hard-working guy who only wants to do his job to the best of his ability and maybe have a life beyond it without the risk of being persecuted, while Malcolm Moorman's Jack has turned his back on the slightest possibility of love, embracing instead the virulent hatred he feels society has for him and all his kind, using it as the weapon of choice to do "exactly what everyone wants him to do", and never feel any remorse about it whatsoever. More than any other actors in the film, Palomaria and Moorman's scenes together crackle with dangerous chemistry, which is a big part of why the film works.

Lanyer lends solid support as Lucky, while the other actors are pretty much stock company-level. But that's not the important thing. HARD delivers its message loud and clear for those open-minded and thoughtful enough to listen. It is not delivered in a polite, cultured or genteel way, but it's not supposed to be, and couldn't be in order to get people's attention. And it's my hope that more viewers will take notice, since what it has to say is more topical and timely now than ever before.

Being a new detective can be hard. And surrounded by a group of narrow-minded, homophobic cops, Detective Raymond Vates finds it even harder. Deciding to keep it a secret to his fellow men, he and his new partner Tom Ellis starts to investigate the murder of a young boy. Pretty soon it becomes clear that they have a serial killer on their hands.

Hard portrays one of the most realistic serial killers I've ever seen in a movie. There's no doubt that they borrowed a lot from Jeffrey Dahmer (especially one scene in a car is very similar to something Dahmer did), because Malcolm Moorman's Jack is intriguing, manipulative and extremely self-centered. Sure, he doesn't run around with a chainsaw or build enormous killing machines. No, Jack is just like any other guy, which makes it even more frightening.

The mere fact that we get to see so much of the killer lends a new perspective to the story where one has to admire his manipulative games. The acting for this side of the story is very impressive. Moorman is fantastic and Michael Waite is very convincing as the insecure man who lets Jack into his family's home, and his bed.

While these characters are very well developed and easy to relate to in one way or the other, I do feel something is lacking in the police department, so to speak. The gay detective, played by Noel Palomaria, is somewhat hard to relate to and even though he's going through, basically, all the circles of hell there is, you don't really feel that bad for him.

Even so, this is a brilliant movie that any fan of thriller and drama should watch. It's not predictable, it's very interesting and never boring. It has been labeled a gay movie, and while there's a lot of just that, this is by no means close to anything coming from the gay-cinema movement. It's not a gay movie. It's a thriller. And, quite frankly, one of the best and most interesting I've come across so far.

Hard is one of those independent films that keeps you thinking long after the film is over. Exploring two segments of our society - police and street hustlers - for whom violence is a frequent occurrence, the film poignantly shows the internal struggles of being gay in a straight world, and graphically shows the external results of society's indifferent attitude toward gay victims of violence. The attitudes and results can easily be extrapolated at some level to the experiences of other segments of American society - minorities, the religious right, even smokers. Human beings can ignore, and thereby endorse, the repression of other human beings, so long as the repression doesn't personally affect them.

Hard is beautifully shot, but a few flaws will jump out at you - a couple of clunker lines, some low-budget props. But if you ignore those and look at the underlying message, you'll find your time well spent. I'll take Hard, warts and all, over a perfectly made but brain-deadening Miss Congeniality any day.

I recently rented a DVD version of "Hard". There were some extras, most notably two commentary tracks and some Q&A sessions at gay film festivals. For me the most interesting part of the whole experience was listening to the ex-police advisors discuss the problems they had when their departments found out the advisors were gay. Examples from these experiences (harassment, beatings, no back-up, etc.) were on display in the film. If you rent the DVD, be sure to check out the extras.

The film-makers make the statement that they wanted to show how the police disregard low prestige victims (e.g., hustlers), how the police make life a misery for gay cops, how serial killers really behave, and depict the plight of street people in general. Well, hustlers and others just show up in time to be victims and then are turned to bloody messes. So the focus is really on police behavior and on the killer.

Several scenes, especially the torture and darkened interior scenes, are lit and photographed well. The victims all come across with some personality. The bad guy was the most effective actor. The rest of the adult actors were just OK. Pacing was all right. The protagonist is a closeted gay man who has just been promoted to detective; he has to learn some things the hard way.

Your liking of the movie will depend some on your own fantasies. The police environment and issues raised are useful for everybody to consider.

A gay serial killer preys on young men that are in rough situations. A closeted cop gets promoted to detective and takes on this case. Unfortunately, after a night out at the bar, he ends up going home with the killer! You have to give it to this one for its original premise. It sounds a tad like "Cruising," but it is not as offensive as that film. Considering "Hard" had no budget (apparently, it was financed on a few credit cards and everyone involved worked for free), the average acting is (sometimes) forgivable and it is a well-made film. The violence is mostly implied and you see the nasty resulting images, which are certainly creepy enough. I saw the R-rated version (damn it!) and was annoyed that the screen faded to black during most of the sex scenes (except the one heterosexual one, of course).

"Hard" makes several attempts at social commentary, some of which are muddled and not entirely successful. The serial killer's motive is severe internalized homophobia. On the outside, he doesn't seem to have a problem with being gay, but he can't stand that American society treats Queer youth as disposable. So instead of doing something to change this, he disposes of the kids himself to save them from the abuse they'll face throughout their lives. Yeah, it is pretty ridiculous, especially considering he tortures his victims, many of which aren't even Queer youth. Related to this, but explored much more satisfactorily, the film portrays how difficult it is to be a gay cop, and the extreme homophobia that goes on in police departments. Much of the tension and suspense in this film, interestingly enough, comes from whether or not the lead character is going to out himself or be outed. Once he finally is, he is subjected to hatred and violence from his coworkers. I've read several accounts of things like this happening, but have never actually seen a film portray it, so "Hard" gets kudos for that. While it isn't always effective or successful as either a serial killer thriller or a social commentary, Hard does have its moments and is an admirable no-budge film.

My Rating: 6/10