Third Man Out

I'm used to seeing under-achieving gay movies, with laughable acting, unbelievable writing and downright bad directing. But not "Third Man Out"! The plot is excellent. The actors are believable - and really good. The directing is second to none.

The only disappointment is that too many gay stereotypes were used - not stereotypes imposed on gays but stereotypes created by gays. That is, evil cigar-smoking Republicans hiding their hypocritical deeds, and evil church officials ruining the lives of others. But, the movie was so good, I can forgive the writer for injecting his own bias. Good job overall!

I also get tired of seeing gay lovers always fighting. For once it was refreshing to see two characters really love each other - portraying what we all seek. In addition to that, the two characters really had different lives and different tastes, yet they made the relationship work. It was a good match.

Thank you and congratulations to Chad Alan, Sebastian Spence, Ron Oliver, and Mark Saltzman.

Chad Allen made his debut as Donald Strachey, openly gay detective based in Albany, New York in Third Man Out. Allen is hired by Jack Weatherell noted gay blogger whose specialty is outing closeted gays, especially those in conservative clothing. But now one of those who Weatherell is gathering research on is maybe looking to kill him. The usual death threats have been made and there have been incidents.

The subject of outing is still a controversial one, but becoming less and less because as the forces of fundamentalist religion and the homophobia they engender denies our access to equality in the USA and other places in the world. There is more and more agreement that the Larry Craigs of the world need to be outed. But in 2005 Allen as Strachey is still coming to grips with his feelings on the subject as is his partner Sebastian Spence.

Later on murder does occur and Allen zeroes in on three really good suspects, a Republican Congressman, a closeted gay children's show host and none other than Roman Catholic Bishop of the Albany diocese. They all are real good candidates.

I do like Allen in this role very much and I wish I had seen this film first as it sets up characters and situations in the two succeeding Strachey films I saw before Third Man Out. Allen is completely in the pulp fiction tradition of Sam Spade and Philip Marlowe. A young man who loses his job in this film because of what Allen does in his former boss's office in his search for the truth is later hired and becomes his secretary/receptionist. The seedy office Strachey operates from is straight out of Mickey Spillane.

However as is the times Strachey is completely devoted to his partner Spence and probably were among the first to be married this year when New York got same gender marriage. The love is strong because he takes a pass on Matthew Rush, gay male porn star who plays one in this film and in which we get to see exactly what Strachey passes on. Married or unmarried fidelity as the case may be is NOT in the Spillane, Chandler or Hammett tradition.

Third Man Out is a well made film, shot in Toronto and Vancouver, which don't look a bit like Albany and has a real novel twist at the end.

The story seemed somewhat hackneyed and predictable, filled with the staples of the genre, but that struck me as more intentional than accidental. The dialogue was awkward at times, but I enjoyed the performances. The production values are good, and the music helps carry the story during its weaker moments. Overall it seemed like a reasonably good pilot for a series. I'd enjoy seeing where they could take this, once the actors and writers had a chance to settle into their roles.

The biggest weakness I found was determining how seriously to take it. It seemed to ricochet between overly-earnest and tongue-in-cheek. But overall I enjoyed it and would look forward to seeing more.

(Keep your eyes open for interesting gas prices.)

This is one of the most satisfying "gay" films I've seen since "Beautiful Thing," and one of the best mystery-married pairings since John and Sherlock, or should I say Nick and Nora. It's the story of Donald Strachey, tough guy P.I. with a shady past and a sweet tooth for guy pal Sebastian Spence. It's a good story, not a great one, with a sultry jazz score and topical references to such controversial subjects as celebrity outing and pedophiliac priests. What makes it work is the unconventional casting of Chad Allen (who is gay himself, but doesn't look it--although one character dubs him "Nancy-boy Drew") as Strachey, who just happens to be very happily married to Timothy (played by Sebastian Spence, who is apparently straight, and maybe that's why his character overdoes the nelly a bit). Allen, as Strachey, is developing very nicely as an actor, and he's more interesting looking now than he ever was as a child. In "Third Man Out," he gets solid support from QAF's Jack Wetherall and Sean Young. Apparently, this is the first in a series, based on the novels by Richard Stevenson and set, contrarily, in Albany, rather than in New York City or San Francisco. Hopefully, it will prove popular enough with its intended audience that other books in the series will also be filmed. Apart from the rather pedestrian direction (by Ron Oliver) and a couple of too obvious twists in the plot, "Third Man" is entertaining throughout.

The gay private eye thriller Third Man Out is, hopefully, the first of a new film genre that I'll dub "Queer-Noir". Third Man's plot may be a bit serpentine and it's dialogue stretched at the corners to cover maximum political ground, but Chad Allen's nuanced and sexily hard-boiled performance easily compensates for these shortcomings. As Private Eye Donald Strachey, Allen comes off as Spenser crossed with Columbo with a dash of Brian Kinney tossed into this enticing mix.

Though Ron Oliver's direction isn't flashy, it's very appropriate for a noir flick set in Albany. Like Richard Stevenson's books--on the pages of which Donald Strachey was conceived--this film is about character and concept and the tension between these two dramatic elements. Stevenson was one of the first writers to infuse the pragmatic, ultra-masculine private eye genre with an unabashedly gay aesthetic. A perfect synthesis of these two influences, Third Man Out gives us a detective who shares waltzes and moonlight martinis with his hubby, drives a banged up Toyota Tercel and can lay bad guys flat with an unsparing right hook.

Third Man's production values are outstanding for a cable film. Keeping Richard Stevenson's Albany setting was a smart move by Here! network, as so many well intentioned films go astray when they aim for glitzy settings and end up with cheap Canadian photocopies.

The only flaws worth citing were: a couple of actor Sebastian Spence's scenes (during which he portrays Donald Strachey's husband as a cross between C3PO and Uncle Arthur from Bewitched) and a heavy-handed score (with good feature songs that are sandbagged by some very obtrusive "tension and suspense" instrumentals).

What most delighted me about Third Man was the thrill of watching a genuine and polished noir flick which was, in every respect, thoroughly but naturally queer. While Third Man isn't Brokeback Mountain, it is a milestone in its own right. It's a well executed, enjoyable film about a hard-boiled detective who wears bad ties and breaks out in a blushing grin when his boyfriend kisses him on the cheek.