What Happens Next

Wendy Malick, who plays Elise (and for some reason I can't see credited in the cast list above … maybe she didn't want her name associated with this movie??) was about the only central character in this film who was believable, although at times even she seemed to be overplaying her role.

Paul is in his fifties and has no inkling that he's gay. Right. He's been a successful businessman who just sold his business and is a bit at a loss as to what he's going to do now that he's retired. He meets Andy, who is in his twenties, in the park. Andy strikes up a conversation with Paul. Paul acts like this is the first person he's ever met. He's unable to respond to even the simplest questions without long pauses. I mean does it really take 15 seconds for a successful businessman to come up with a response to, "ok if I sit here?" and other things normal people can react to without a thought? And the twenty year old Andy falls in love with the 55 year old Paul who can't seem to carry on the simplest conversation, seems to be really uptight & uncomfortable about anything gay, is nearly twice his age and Andy isn't even sure Paul is gay … right.

The characters, their interactions, the dialogue and the inconsistencies in their behavior are all difficult to believe. What happens next or in this case what happens at the end of the movie, is a bit difficult to swallow as well.

Some funny moments … the dogs are cute … but I spent most of the movie feeling uncomfortable about it all and, what I assume was supposed to be a happy ending didn't relieve this discomfort.

Having read most of the reviews, I'm almost embarrassed to say that I really enjoyed the movie. I will probably watch it again. Again as I have mentioned in other reviews of or the movies it is not academy award winning material but so what? It was to me a fun and pleasant movie to watch. It was feel good and it had a good story line. Did it have some issues like the plate that never emptied yes but it had a good enough plot, the acting was fine and it made me want to keep watching. I can overlook many things in a movie if it makes me want to keep watching and makes me feel good. And this one did that for me.

This movie by no means will win an Oscar, however, it is a sweet story that I found very refreshing. They don't rely on sex or your typical "hot guys" and nudity, as most gay movies do. There are some continuity errors (they are forgivable) and some of the dialog may be a little forced. The story however is the saving grace. I like the message it has and I like that they didn't make any of the characters victims or whinny. You know going in how this movie will end and it doesn't disappoint. I thought the main cast did a very good job Wendie Malick was great to watch and you could see she was having fun with the role. Jon Lindstrom played the part very uptight as it should be. The Character is in his 50s and was a CEO if you expect him to be anything but conservative and uptight then you haven't worked with many CEOs (Tech Company CEO's don't count). Chris Murrah was very good and again it was nice to see a younger gay character that I would consider a more normal slightly above average in looks person. He was something that I think everyone could relate too. If you want to watch a good movie with a nice story and characters that you can relate to then definitely watch this.

A good cast and good acting is what kept this story afloat, as unlikely as the plot seemed. Most young gay guys would never consider dating a much older man. Here we have an age gap of at least 30 years. So what we end up with is a very contrived romance comedy of sorts. Many gay themed movies have had "out" characters who insist that anyone they intend to date has to be totally comfortable with public displays of over affection. I think it's completely rational to expect discretion in public spaces by refraining from strong statements of affection. As is typical, in this movie, we have the young gay character demanding that his older, romantic partner be willing to publicly display their affection for one another, or else it's a no go. Sounds more like an unreasonable spoiled brat to me. Still....a cute movie with good acting, good production values and worth watching at least once.

The idea of the film is very good, the story is very good. Those are the only good things about it. Bad photography, poor actor direction (you can see the actors are good but aren't being led in the right way), the story is full of gaps - situations and characters that lack development -, the dialogs are sometimes artificial, the soundtrack is badly used - you barely notice it, in a bad way -, errors in continuity (you see the characters eating but the plate stays full throughout the scene), reflections of studio light on the walls, misfit colors (filtering?). It could have been and should have been so much better. What a waste of wonderful plot...