Encontro no Café

Although Coffee Date got a little too weird for me it does have a definite amusement value. I'm so jealous of Jonathan Bray because I have a brother and he never fixed me up with Wilson Cruz whom I actually met many years ago.

Jonathan Silverman who is Bray's brother fixes up Bray with a computer date whom he has to meet in one of those Starbucks type coffee houses. It's with someone named Kelly. Expecting a woman Kelly turns out to be Wilson Cruz. Bray then spends the rest of the film first denying he's gay and then trying it on for size.

Before the film is over a whole lot of people wind up doing a lot of soul searching and genders are bent to a considerable degree. I won't say more, but it gets too weird and coincidental for me.

But with Wilson Cruz's presence, that's always a plus sign.

This film is so nearly there. There are more than one or two genuinely heart rending moments in it. There are several characters of almost three dimensions. A little more work and it could have been all the things it almost is - subtle, touching and funny. It's just slightly amateur. Not much, but enough to take the edge off what it could have been. TLA Releasing seem to put out a fair number of movies a bit like this. Sweet tales of modern gay life. Gay movies you want to love, that sometimes bring a tear (just the one) to the eye and have you laughing (a couple of times), but that don't quite cut deep enough to make them memorable or watchable twice. This coffee-date does have charm and looks, but he lacks substantial charisma.

(There is also a technical problem with Coffee Date; the sound mixing is all over the place. One minute the background is high and the dialogue low, then an angle changes and it's all different again. This is a pretty basic requirement these days, decent sound design and mixing).

There seems to be a nice niche market going for high production value gay themed comedy scripts, which also manage to attract one or two relatively known/good named actors. "Coffee Date" definitely fits this genre, and we are treated to Wilson Cruz playing his "butch" but vulnerable character. However, the script is also high on camp (almost mandatory) and not a lot of substance or thought-provoking value, since we really have to suspend our disbelief on a few occasions here. There is also a tendency for at least one "over the top" actor (the "Karen" of the group if you will) in this case played by the protagonist's mother. But it's a "fun", so if you're looking for some brain-candy for a date or just a movie-night with gay friends, this should do it.

A frightened-seeming heterosexual in his mid-30s and an eye-rolling gay salon owner "meet cute" and, despite their differences, become movie buddies; still, everyone close to the straight guy misinterprets this friendship as an intimate relationship, causing him to question his own sexual preference. Simplistic, unamusing comedy of misunderstandings, with overdrawn, 'kooky' supporting characters and a basic lack of verisimilitude in the leading ones. Strictly as a superficial light entertainment, this low-budget film is relatively harmless and friendly enough; dig deeper however and it's really rather offensive--both to straight and gay audiences. Jonathan Bray's Todd, with his perpetually astonished expression, is like a walking loaf of white bread, complete with uptight clothes and a clenched jaw; neither sex could loosen this man up...and neither sex would take the time to. *1/2 from ****

If you have a couple of free hours on a lazy afternoon and you are not looking for anything too challenging to fill them, you might try watching this low-budget comedy on cable. It certainly wouldn't be the worst way to spend your time, but the problem with this little film is that it certainly wouldn't be the best way to spend your time either. Jonathan Bray and Wilson Cruz are certainly competent actors who play likable and attractive leads who meet-cute in the setup for this sweet and goofy comedy of errors. Along the way, the film even manages to achieve a couple of touching moments and a few small laughs. Nonetheless, the story suffers by the screenwriter taking a premise best suited to a movie short and stretching it thin to fill a feature length film. The film piles improbability upon improbability to keep the plot trudging forward and it throws in tired clichés and cheap laughs as a poor substitute for genuine wit and sophisticated character development. The sincere effort of the two lead actors keeps the whole flimsy story together for most of the film, but eventually even their strong acting skills can no longer compensate for the ridiculous plot developments and trite dialog.