Un seduttore in incognito

BOY CULTURE is a very fine little film and were it being evaluated solely within the confines of gay films, it would easily rate 10 stars. It is well written, well directed, well acted and has messages that cover a fairly broad territory (racism, homophobia, hustler life style, relationships, coming out tales and tales from the closet, etc). There are some technical flaws with the film and some unresolved character problems that prevent it from being what it comes close to being, but finally here is a gay themed film that is wise, entertaining, and user-friendly for a larger population than the community for which it was made.

The story is biographical in nature: "X" (Derek Magyar) is a male hustler who lives off the income from a limited clientèle of regulars, who occupies a living space with two gay roommates - Andrew (Darryl Stephens) and Joey (Jonathon Trent) - and who has what he thinks it takes to make him happy. The missing element is love, and in several ways he comes into proximity with that missing thread: his newest client is Gregory (Patrick Bauchau in a richly nuanced performance as a elderly closeted loner) who introduces X to the finer things in life, including introspection and looking for what is missing in his world. Andrew is a conflicted African American man who still misses the caring he had with a girlfriend whose wedding he is to attend. Joey has just turned 18 and looks to X and Andrew as father figures. The problem is that X and Andrew have deeper feelings of attraction and commitment to each other than either wants to admit, and the story (as narrated by X) is about how this mutual challenging need is resolved.

Q. Allan Brocka directed and co-wrote the film with Philip Pierce and the dialog is snappy at times and gently tender at others. The cast is quite fine: the young lads are top notch eye candy while bringing solid acting skills to their roles, and the older actors bring a since of resilience to the story that keeps it grounded in style. This is a very good little film that deserves a wider audience, one that needs to see this aspect of the population once considered merely peripheral. Movies like this help understanding interpersonal relationships, and everyone needs to address that. Grady Harp

As the author of the original novel, I think Q. Allan Brocka did a good job with the film. I have blogged about it extensively at boyculture.typepad.com and I think that my comments there capture my feelings on the subject. The director and writers kept the essence of my novel even while making some intelligent and creative changes. I can't imagine this film not being picked up by a distributor. All that said, it's very hard judging a film adapted from your own work. But I hope people like it and I'm confident that many will. There are a lot of gay movies out there that are not among my favorite films, that's for sure. But while I had feared something ridiculous might come of this adaptation, I can't stress enough that I feel the filmmakers did an excellent job.

I just came away from a screening of "Boy Culture" at the Seattle International Film Festival (where the director Q. Allan Brocka began his love of film), and thought "that was a very good gay film". The character acting was strong (especially the cameo part of Andrew's little sister "Cheyenne"). The audience all laughed throughout the film, which helped to ease the tension of some very powerful emotions. Derek Magyar pulled off the difficult job of being jaded and emotionally distant and yet a likable and charismatic character. "X" is part strong, silent, and manly and part Dorthy Parker with acidic observations. During the Q&A after the film, I found myself wanting to read more of the source material that Matthew Rettenmund has written in the original novel. IMDb doesn't give credits for Andrew's family but they really helped bring out his character more. While Darryl Stephens didn't have the same level of emotional non-verbal delivery that Magyar did, he was beautiful to watch and gave a strong performance. Jonathon Trent did a great job in the love triangle and made me think of the original "Queer as Folk" series.

BOY CULTURE looks like it might be trash, but it really is a treasure. The saga of a male prostitute dubbed X and his falling into love with his roomie. First off, the film looks terrific. This is a smart and classy movie. Second, the writing and performances are really quite good. Even the supporting cast is terrific - I only wish there were more time for them in the story. I loved the lesbian waitress and the entire family of the roomie. The story could have easily been trite and the dialogue cliché, but it neatly avoids that most of the time. It reminded me of an upscale episode of QUEER AS FOLK (before it devolved into soap opera hysterics). All in all, this is well worth a look see - gay or straight.

X, as we are told to think of the narrator of this gay love story, is a hustler. He has only a few clients, but they each pay him well. He lives in luxurious digs in Seattle. He has a couple of roommates and they give us most of the plot. X is cynical and clever, his friends are more romantic and maybe not so sophisticated. It all turns out more or less as you will probably suspect from very early on, but you just might have a good time watching it. I did.

The performances are spotty but all are at least adequate. There are a few sex scenes, but much more is hinted at than shown. I didn't notice a rating, but in a sane world this one could be PG.