Harry + Max

(PLEASE NOTE THIS REVIEW IS BASED ON MORE THAN ONE VIEWING OF THE FILM)

(1) While 'good attempt' is an acceptable way in which to describe this film, there are definitely three words which better describe it: HONEST......FOOLISH......BRAVE. All three adjectives apply to the producers/director, but most certainly they apply to the two male leads (their futures in film likely are not now as assured as they might otherwise have been prior to undertaking these particular roles.....despite relatively accomplished performances). Also, it's important to say of this work that, while instances of incest have occurred in earlier films of various genres, this reviewer is unaware of any film script which has been as open or blatant in picturing such an ancient taboo (however, see paragraph 3, below).

(2) Much of the reaction to this film will, undoubtedly, be one of abhorrence. Yet can there be any question that the type of sibling love and sexual behavior exhibited here has occurred countless times throughout human history (whether there are those who like thinking so, or not). And whether that's been brother to brother, or sister to sister, it is behavior which has occurred, sometimes as a one-time or an infrequent event, other times most certainly for life. (At least it's not a behavior which can be claimed to "muddy the gene pool", such as a brother/sister relationship might). But (and here's a vital point) in incest, as in most homosexual events, at the end we are left with the question of who will admit to it. Surely we must all see that, throughout time, those who've railed the loudest, and behaved the most indignantly regarding homosexual behavior, very often were and are those who earlier on in their lives either took part in such behavior or possessed such feelings. Strong societal "norms", of course, force these individuals to, later on, express repellent feelings when confronted with such sexual behavior. Possibly, but perhaps in a much lesser number of instances, this might be just as true of incest behavior.

(3) To be completely objective about this film, there is, indeed, a fourth word which needs be applied to the work: FUDGED. Viewers will note that on several occasions the scriptwriters/director have "pulled back" from showing more complete scenes of the physical love that could have been expected to be taking place between these two brothers (how often did you, the viewer, see one or other pull back from physically responding when you knew that, in real life, there likely would have been no hesitation?). In other words, while it wouldn't have been necessary to go into porn mode, there were a number of instances of "talking the talk" but very little in the way of "walking the walk." In fact it might be said that there was more "directness" of physical behavior in the much more secondary relationship scene, involving Harry and a former Yoga instructor of Max's, than there was between the two leads. Too bad, for Harry and Max were really what this movie was supposed to be all about.

(NOTE that, in the Director/Leading Performers Commentary track for this film on DVD, the issue of there not being more sexual follow-through is 'spoken at' but never actually 'addressed' ---although actor, Cole Williams, does express his surprise that there had always seemed to be a "pulling back" from these activities, once they'd started)

(4) In the end and at the very least, however, this film has to be recognized as a "start" at being more open in showing and describing a behavior that is as old as man and woman.

****SLIGHT SPOILERS**** Harry and Max lacks all of the subtle interplay between characters that has so far been a hallmark of Christopher Munch's films. The premise sounded interesting and challenging, but the film was a let down for me.

None of the characters here, even Harry and Max themselves, are fully formed. Unfortunately, this means that the salacious premise (the repercussions of two teen pop idol brothers' incest) never overcomes its own silliness. I thought the nearly non-stop chatter between the two main characters would eventually be banished as merely a cover up for their deeper thoughts, but no, apparently this silly dialog was meant to be thought provoking in some way.

Why are these guys pop stars? Oh yeah, because who wants to see a movie about incest unless the stars are attractive? It should be central to their characters, but it seems only to be an excuse for Harry to have some sort of A Star is Born angst and for the audience to see pretty faces.

Max is infatuated with Harry, then Harry is infatuated with Max, both sleep with the other's past loves, vague hints are given about their messed up family and absolutely NOTHING of significance about love, human nature, lust, relationships, or anything else is ever revealed.

Not helping matters is the cursery development of all other characters. Josiah, Roxanne and Jordan are all treated like pieces of the set to be moved around at the need of the director. None has any depth, motivations or interesting qualities beyond their usefulness as background for Harry and Max. Even the boys' mother is reduced to two minutes of muddled screen time bitchiness. Nikki, for me, was the only interesting character here, but the reasons for her choices are never explored and in the end she winds up as flat as all the others.

Writers need to make choices and here none have been made. Either focus only on Harry and Max, or focus on their world, but please do one or the other with some degree of success! To my mind, this is Christopher Munch's worst film to date, not because of its scandalous subject matter, but because of its inability to reveal anything of interest about it!

This film is about the ambiguous relationship of two brothers who are both pop stars.

My impression of this very low budget movie is that it is trying to explore a taboo area, but it does not quite succeed. First, the film focuses too much on just Harry and Max. It looks as if the whole film has only two actors (possibly because of the low budget). The plot could have been great, but it is not so well written and not developed enough. I think they could have spent more time developing the plot, and expanded on details. Harry is good is his role, but Max is a little wooden. After watching this film, I feel that there are pieces of the film missing, and I do not feel satisfied.

This film is like the other Cole Williams film "Race You To The Bottom", in the sense that they are low budget films involving controversial relationships between two lead characters. I can safely say that "Harry And Max" is the better one of the two though.

New face Bryce Johnson held me from the moment this film began with a performance that knocked me out! He was able to overcome a muddled script and absurd story by the sheer power of his performance and engaging looks. A star is born! The script was so convoluted that I gave up even trying to figure it out so I just sat back and feasted my eyes on Bryce Johnson who has the appeal of stars from the Golden Age of Hollywood. In an era of young hunks Bryce stands out because he is so convincingly normal - the guy next door - anyone's best friend. He has the same appeal that John Corbett has and which has made that actor so successful and I think Bryce will follow right in Corbett's footsteps. The storyline is shocking and may put some people off, but Bryce is so appealing that even the most disturbing moments of the story did not keep me from watching all of the film. I look forward to following this young actor's career.

So this movie is about two brothers who are in love? I gave it a low rating because it's just poor writing and boring. The blandness in the character is just amazing. Could have been a 10 min short on youtube and still containing all the content. I seriously think whoever wrote the script lives in their own imaginary world of "I can do whatever want and people will respond to whatever I think they should respond." In a land where no one have emotions and everything doesn't really happen.

:/ truly tragic, nothing worth anything about this film. It's just really boring and bland and just the entire time i was just bored. I would not recommend this film unless you want to fall asleep.