Lucky Bastard

This flick screened at Outfest in Los Angeles two nights ago to a completely sold out audience. Many standing in line were even turned away. They were the lucky ones.

The storyline, in a nutshell: When his boyfriend leaves town, architect and restorer Rusty quickly hooks up with a sexy drifter named Denny. Rusty's already unsettled life is set on its ear when he discovers that Denny is a crystal meth-addicted hustler.

Beginning about 20-30 minutes into the film, audience members started walking out in droves. I'm not sure of their reasons, but I would have left had I not been stuck in the middle of a crowded row of people involved with the film. I would have just felt bad disturbing their experience.

Why would I have left? I found both the storyline and the characters unbelievable and unlikeable. Rusty is described as a success, but I couldn't figure out why anyone would use that word to describe him. Unable to make a decision or take a stand, he lets himself get pushed around professionally and emotionally throughout the film. Had there been some kind of hook or insight in either the writing of the character or the actor's performance, I might have wanted to root for the guy, but he just kept going back for more and never earned my respect as an audience member.

The two lead actors are gorgeous, so that was what largely what made the film semi-bearable for me. And Dale Dymkowski, who plays the hustler Denny, did the best he could with what he was given, so he's pretty much what earned the two stars in my rating.

Technically the film is kind of creaky as well. The color was terrible in the print I saw, and the sound was extremely tinny.

Recommended for home viewing only, where you have the fast forward option and the ability to give up on it easily if you're so inclined.

I gave this higher marks than some, because I think the story cast a light on the prevalence of meth in LA, especially when it's used for sexual enhancement in the gay community. I once visited LA in 2011, and I met a recovering meth addict, age 50, by chance. It's important to show how these drugs destroy lives, as it did Denny's, one of the leads in this film. Yes...the actor playing Rusty was a bit stiff, but he played and looked the part well enough....wholesome and cute with a lean, hot body. Yes, it didn't seem believable that he would let a meth head drifter into his head or bed. But Denny was a confident charmer with a smoking hot body. And Rusty seemed to be very vanilla and conventional, with limited sexual experience. Denny brought out his inner pig....at least for awhile. In the end, we did see a believable conclusion....as Rusty's experiment didn't last long. Denny had the more demanding role and I think he did a good job. Happy ending.....but felt bad for all the people like Denny. Worth watching once.

I've seen a lot of gay films, and many of them have been just okay. This one, however, was just plain bad.

There is absolutely no way any sensible person would give a meth addict $200. There is no way any sensible person would claim to have fallen in love with someone he picked up in a convenience store (especially someone in a supposed committed relationship). There is no way any sensible person would then allow that meth addict to say, "I'm yours, but you don't own me. I can fool around with whoever I want."

The implausibilities in the story are the film's major weakness. The bad acting would run a close second. The guy who plays Denny is all smirk and swagger, looking like the love child of Sting and Neil Patrick Harris. He is a complete douchebag with no redeeming qualities whatsoever. What does Rusty know about him that causes him to fall in love? That he's HIV+. And that's about it. Some argued in their review that Denny is somehow damaged and Rusty feels the need to "fix" him in the same way he restores old houses. I don't buy that at all; if that was the intent of the writer/director, it should have been set up a hell of a lot better in the early part of the film.

The actor playing Rusty is wooden and bland. At no time do we see the torture he is supposed to be suffering that leads him into this destructive relationship with Denny (which is really an extended one- night stand).

I could go on and on, but it would be as pointless as this piece of crap film.

The score, by William V. Malpede, alternates between haunting and intense. It's fantastic, and by far the only redeeming aspect of this film.

My final take on the title is that a Lucky Bastard is one never to have met and become entangled with a crack addict. The manipulation of educated, successful Rusty, which comes by every single word out of Denny the drug addict's mouth, seems to be remembered verbatim. Rusty's susceptibility comes in part from his being a decent guy who does not expect others to lie. Al Green sang about a kind-hearted woman who revives a poor half-frozen snake. When the snake bites her in return, he brushes aside her betrayal by reminding her that she knew what he was when she warmed him to her bosom.

Life's too short to watch bad movies, and this is one I found myself compelled to watch completely. The actors are all capable and believable in the many layers they must weave. The production values won't make you cringe, and the script manages to show a lot in a brief time, without wasting any. The music is unusually good, which is why I'm on line to find out more about it (found it as Amazon mp3 downloads). You don't need to suspend disbelief to enjoy this film. Instead, let this film lead you out of whatever naiveté insists we'd never misstep in the path of an addicted conman without conscience. Here's where you can glimpse how fallible such a belief makes you.

I selected this movie due to the nudity and smoking listed in the warning. I like edgy movies, but these movies tend to not be very good and it is good to find a gem in the rough, which this one is. The main characters were well cast, even the antagonist. I've never worked in porn, but I would think this is how the characters act offscreen. The character of Mike (McManus) is what I would expect a porn director to be, friendly then mean then back to friendly, whatever it takes to get the project done. Then Ashley (Rue) is what I would think a porn actress would be, having the ability to block out what she just did, "It's just a job to pay the rent." knowing that she will deal with it later in life. Dave G./Ernest (Paulson) is an awesome creeper. Mike ignores all the red flags to get the job done. Ashely eventually acquiesces to get the job done. Paulson hides his psychosis to get the job done. The rest of the car does a good job of supporting the main characters. All this was tied together by the director keeping the energy high and the suspense ongoing. At least there were no scantily clad women backing into a dark room backwards. All this suspense was done in broad daylight in one day. I truly enjoy how the movie ended. No spoilers. Something I found interesting was that Ashely Saint was a producer. That is a unique name and the name of one of the main characters. It made me think that this may have been made from an actual event, but no. Nothing that I could find. It may have just been someone deciding to give the real Ashely some notoriety. Maybe. All-in-all, an enjoyable offbeat edgy movie.