O Seminarista

The trailer portrayed the film very promising but as I sat at its premiere I could not wait to get out of the theater. The audience agrees as you can hear and see their reaction to its slow paced development that lead to nothing and/or the awkward script.

I am not sure why a lot of people are raving about this film. Perhaps it's production quality is slightly better than other homosexual-base films, or maybe just certain viewers only enjoyed its male frontal scenes?

PRODUCTION: Above-average, simple sets.

ACTING: Unimpressive and most of the actors did not commit to their characters. Therefore, it's harder for the audience to connect

DIRECTING: See all above. Enough said.

Full disclaimer; I actually started watching this believing it was another movie with the same title, yet within seconds of the opening sequence and hearing that whiny "gay voice", I knew exactly what this film would be about; a self-indulgent, boring gay-themed movie where type-cast Mark Cirillo proves (yet again) that full frontal nudity in a gay indie does wonders for any actor's career (he keeps his towel on for a full 50 seconds this time). If anyone really had the writing skills to explore this theme (i.e. a gay evangelical Christian in seminary) there would be ample fodder for entertainment, but of course the writer/director relied on Mark's willingness to essentially do anything in front of the camera, hoping that someone would find it titillating enough to forget the script and acting is complete crap. Too many cases of long pauses, contrived dialogue and meaningless scenes to count. Surprisingly, out of a cast of horribly bad actors, Javier Montoya stood out as being exceptionally bad; I didn't believe he had a pulse, let alone that he was gay seminarian. In fact, other than some theological quotes and questions thrown in here and there, this is just another low-budget, badly made film about gay angst. I would not recommend this movie to anyone.

This movie may not be for everyone. It isn't fast past and there are a lot of long shots and sequences. The acting it about what I would expect from an Independent film. I thought the story was good and interesting as I know a couple of people who went to Seminary School (I guess that's how you say that). I really enjoyed Mark Cirillo in this (he is adorable I don't care what anyone says) and I thought he did a good job and was a very likable character. I liked the idea of following one person on their personal journey that's what made it relatable and enjoyable to me. It's a shame that it is so poorly rated because they really did do a good job.

Truly, I went into this movie with curiosity, interest as the film deals with a seminary student, I had attended a seminary for a time, and I too have been watching a number of gay films recently.

When the film was over, I was joyful, I was satisfied with regard to my curiosity, and I was able to relate in many ways with the ups and downs experienced by the main character.

Because I could relate to the character, because I believed the actor was portraying a gay character, because the other people were like people I have encountered so far in life, and because the film pretty well answered and addressed some of my questions as a gay Christian, I give this film a 9 out of 10.

I found this to be a refreshing film and very satisfying. I watch many gay movies and find many to be mindless. I am forgiving of many flaws, but not poor writing. This film delivers excellent writing. I wondered for a while whether this was originally a play. Material starting life in another medium has usually been well thought out. I read one of the other reviewers who found the action too slow. Perhaps like many people, that reviewer is too impatient. They cannot wait around for character development and their impatience is their loss. I did not find this slow-moving at all.

I found the relationship between Ryan and his mother believable. There was one scene where Ryan is ending his visit with his mother that I wished the camera had lingered just a little longer on his mother's face as she watches Ryan leave. We could have read in our own thoughts. No doubt some would have complained, though. Perhaps some were put off by the fact that the majority of characters were Evangelical Christians who were not easy cardboard targets.

This film does not pretend to be anything but what it is and I found it to be immensely satisfying. This is one for repeat viewing.