Plainclothes

I really struggle to care about romance films. Love is such a private, subjective, and in many ways arbitrary experience and, as a show-don't-tell medium, movies in my opinion just aren't an easy art through which to explore how people feel it. Generally movies standardize it to "well she fills his X deficit/need and he fills her Y deficit/need and that's why they work". I don't care about such contrived, transactional relationship.

Plainclothes, however, completely breaks through this trap. For spoilers I won't detail how, but this easily the most "real" romance I've seen in recent memory, perhaps late memory. I teared up several times in this one. If you're gay or bi, this is especially moving. But even if you're not, you're in for a novel concept and a tense story to keep you glued through an eye-opening experience about gay love, or the lackthereof...

Another reason this works so well is that, while substantively a tragic romance, it FEELS like you're watching a thriller due to the pacing, anxious cinematography, and tense writing structure.

So, so good. Keep an eye out on the creative team. Exceptional film.

The only spoiler I want to give about this finely acted and directed film is to say that it literally shows male love as it should be seen. The plot is basically about a plainclothes policeman who entraps men in public toilets. Set in the late nineties of the last century I had the feeling that this could be today in any place that represses forcefully homosexuality. Tom Blyth is superb as the man who entraps and while doing so he entraps himself in a passion for another man ( played well by Russell Tovey ) and how both of them fall into a transitory, but real love relationship. The film is truthful in its description of sex and how versatile it can be. Both men are willing to open themselves to each other and role playing so often seen in LGBTQ cinema has no place here. It is the best loving sexual scene I have seen and I have seen many. I urge anyone who cherishes diversity to see these two great actors, Blyth and Tovey show us both painful truth and ecstatic joy. An essential film.

The film has the intimate feel of an exclusive memoir, the chemistry between the two actors takes the audience's breath away, the wonderful performances and images make an old story very beautiful, and the language of the shots can make you feel it!

The first encounter between the two actors is well shot, and the first half of the film is when the audience is fascinated by their story. The film's biggest feature is the way it is edited, the old DV machine cuts and the sound of the machine malfunctioning create a sense of tension and anxiety. As a fan of Russell Tovey, I think compared with his previous gay movies, his performance in this movie is very fitting and reaches another level.

From another perspective, this is like our real grindr story, sometimes you will fall in love with a stranger after ONS, which is beautiful, but it is painful and can not be eternal.

Definitely one of the films you must watch in 2025.

I hope we all find our own San Francisco.

Plainclothes

An excellent movie set in the 90's that explored the reality of being gay and trying to deny that truth in a straight world of friends and family. Supposedly built on a true story.

The ever present expectations of everyone around you to be what they expect you to be, is well played out in this movie.

Tom Blyth plays Lucas, a cop, who detail at the present is entrapment of gay men, here he meets Russell Tovey, who's playing Andrew and there is an instant connection. The movie skirted around the all to common reality that many a gay man cannot realised his true sexuality whilst his parents are alive and then when that moment arrives all hell breaks loose.

This was a cleverly scripted and crafted movie that alternated between the police work and the embryonic romantic relationship between Lucas and Andrew. There is more than an element of fixation on Lucas's part as this is his first entanglement.

I thought this was all played very convincingly and stated in spades no one can choose their sexuality or sexual preference regardless of their own intellectual desires, it just cannot be denied.

I'm going to give this firm 8 outta 10, a most believable set of scenarios.

I've read that this movie was kind of expensive to make but man...it doesn't show at all. I think the actors are doing their best with a pretty basic script, but the production is just bad.

It's not the VHS resource - Gregg Araki's work still looks interesting today. It's the editing, the cheesy close-ups and everything that goes by the numbers: even the antagonist has no redeemable qualities. Tovey is the highlight - he elevates the material with his performance but there's just so much he can do. It's not a terrible movie but I needed to bring some objectivity to the reviews posted so far..