GoGo Boy - O Projeto Da Minha Vida

A small surprise: an extremely low budget movie, much of it shot on an iPhone, that manages to explore issues like objectification and heteronormativity with intelligence and wit and even some tenderness. It takes a romcom setup and transcends it, turning stock figures - the nerd and the hunk - into real people, thanks to shrewd performances by its leads, Tanner Cohen and Matthew Camp, who improvised a good deal of their dialogue. Cohen plays a college student and aspiring writer whose sex life is almost entirely online, jerking off to images of men, particularly a go-go dancer in a gay bar. He becomes obsessed with the dancer, and one drunken night emails him, claiming to be a documentary filmmaker who wants to do a film about the life of a dancer in a bar. To his surprise, the dancer responds, and he finds himself rounding up the necessary camera equipment. The dancer, known in the film as Go, wants to know if he'll be paid, and the student, whom Go calls Doc, agrees to give him five percent of any profits the film might make - although he knows full well that there will probably never be a real film. And then they fall into a real relationship, which, in conventional romcom fashion, we know will be damaged when Go finds out the truth. Except that it doesn't quite work the way, a smart reversal of our expectations. Getting Go doesn't seem to have found much of an audience beyond LGBTQ film festivals, but its attractive performances and intelligent dialogue make it a film that should be more widely known.

This is a delightful and enjoyable lightweight film about the unusual relationship between two young gay men in NY. It's slight as the story is exactly what the synopsis here says. The little tale of a shy young man obsessed over a far from shy go-go dancer in New York who pretends to want to make a documentary about him. The go-go dancer agrees and their "work" and personal relationship begins. They are only known as Go and Doc and they are both adorable. Doc (Tanner Cohen) falls for Go (Matthew Camp), as expected, but things turn out slightly different. Once we get to the point that they are involved, the film is an endless parade of scenes of these two kissing, cuddling, talking, playing & caring about each other with plenty of skin including a long and very romantic montage of kissing scenes filmed in various parts of NY. This was filmed 9 years ago as of this writing and Cohen is so good I am surprised at the lack of more credits than he has. Camp was really a go-go dancer at this point in time and he is just a charming natural in front of a camera and perfect for this part. I could have watched these two for longer as they are so enjoyable together. Special kudos to whoever edited this as it is a major part of what makes this little movie work so well.

A gorgeous, early-20s gay virgin in Manhattan (if you believe there ever could be such a person), just about to graduate from Columbia and then west to Iowa for grad school, fakes a documentary film project in an attempt to meet a gorgeous gay go-go dancer he's become obsessed with online. To his surprise the dancer goes along with the idea. The fake documentary leads pretty quickly to some very real sex and a lovely, tender, sort-of relationship.

Actor and singer Tanner Cohen, the star of Were the World Mine (made by the same guys who made this one, but MUCH different), plays Doc, the almost-Columbia-grad virgin. Matthew Camp, a real live go-go dancer, plays Go, who is actually himself. The movie was shot in Camp's own apartment, gym, club, supermarket, etc, and follows his regular daily and nightly routine. The only fiction is the business with Doc.

From beginning to end, nothing about this movie is conventional or predictable. Unlike 99.9% of gay men who see this, I thought Doc was lots sexier than Go, but the nerdy type with a totally natural body appeals to me lots more than the buff, shaved, go-go boy type. But Go is very smart and has an angelic face, and inside he's ten times sweeter and more appealing than Doc is - one of the sweetest and most appealing characters ever to appear in a gay movie. Matthew Camp is thoroughly delightful. Definitely, definitely worth seeing.

I really didn't expect this to be very good. I watched it because the guys looked hot. And one of them was, and it has a lot of very sexy, erotic scenes, but it's also a pretty good story underneath. It's nothing incredibly original, but the two leads have an undeniable chemistry and the writing and dialogue is mostly on point. it's a pretty good LGBT film dealing with issues, and in that respect it reminds me of a more aesthetically energetic Weekend, even if it doesn't hit that film's deeper themes. Overall, for those with low expectations, this will be very surprising in quality. As a film, it really works. I definitely recommend it.

My initial thoughts of this were not great. The iPhone arms-length POV style of juddery photography made me think it was going to be an amateur effort. Well it is, but it isn't... The gorgeously charismatic Tanner Cohen is the younger than his years, inexperienced - on all levels - ("Doc") who falls for an erotic dancer online whom he calls "Go" (Matthew Camp) and comes up with a ruse to get to meet him and explore how he lives his life. Surprisingly, "Go" accepts the proposals and we end up with a love story told in a mix of cinematographic styles with one of the most erotically charged sex scenes I think I've ever seen from US gay cinema. Not raw sex with noise and sweat; but based on intimacy and a genuine affection for each other. Occasionally the scenes may linger a little too long; the pace of the editing could certainly have been tighter - but then maybe it would have lost some of it's authenticity and the characterisations some of their depth. Sometimes real life meanders a bit - we all have plenty of pointless times/conversations in our lives - adds to the richness. I hated the ending; but that's because all I wanted for the pair simply wasn't what they wanted for each other. In a world of largely frothy, contrived plastic drama, this is a stand out piece of creative, observational cinema with two really good, fun, engaging performances.