Happiness Adjacent

A VERY rocky start. The lead actor's role seems to have been written as a tiny gay Woody Allen clone, complete with endless, grating neurotic ramblings that normally only a paid shrink would listen to. As a viewer, you have to quickly get used to Hank's quirky delivery, the iPhone camera-work, and the endless wandering around the cruise ship. When he encounters (married closeted bi-sexual) hunky ginger Kurt, gears shift, and things start to heat up, including several surprisingly steamy sex-scenes. Then some pretty heavy drama ensues, involving compassion, heart, and emotions coming into play. In the end they've returned to port in L.A., a lot has happened in a week, and their lives are never going to be quite the same.

If you are able to consume a low budget film with not the best sound, where they probably filmed in real time during a cruise and probably didn't have hours to take and retake and retake and retake scenes to get the best acting performances, they probably also didn't have much time to rehearse.... then this is really a remarkable feature.... all shot on an iPhone 6S (so they said in the opening titles (or was it the closing titles?).... During the film you really get invested in the two characters... especially Ian Dick (yes that is really his name :-D ).... creates a character you really feel.... the connection between the two men you feel also.... then it is almost like you are watching something filmed in real life (which in fact is true) and not a produced slick film.... the editing is really good also... one scene they had to use subtitles because they weren't using microphones and the sound of water was too loud.... All in all a lovely sweet film with two endearing GOOD actors who know to translates emotions well to us viewers.... Lovely...

This was obviously filmed on a very low budget, and maybe edited on a home computer. However, it was watchable and the story was quite sweet and true to form. The whole "Jewish humor" seemed a bit out of place at times but guess it played some sort of role in defining the character. Since these relationships usually end the same way, it was not a surprising ending.

I agree with some of the other reviews that I went into this one with super low expectations. In the end it actually did have a little substance. There were humorous parts and some sexy scenes that did help make the whole romance seem real and not forced. I definitely agree that the Jewish humor is a little much. I think the kind of charming part of this movie is it seems like they just booked a cruise and filmed rogue. It was a little awkward at first but I kind of appreciated that it did make it feel a bit more organic. It does definitely look like it was shot on a iPhone 6s, but it definitely works with the whole low-budget charm this has. The takeaway for me was that I always wasted so much time chasing unavailable and confused guys and I think the movie does a good job of reminding us gay boys to seek out guys who will 100% show up for us and the movie didn't preach it to me like many other gay movies do.

First: the entire film was shot on an iPhone. The production equipment cost was $799.99. This is the future of film-making, and that makes titles like this possible. Second: I've wasted more time on worse movies from big studios. This wasn't a waste. The story was told tightly. The characters made as much sense as they could, and are people I'd probably want to know (although the couple would be at a few backyard barbecues, or for run-ins at the neighborhood farmers' markets). Hank, though.....a version of Woody Allen's everysinglecharacter with whom I could actually enjoy a conversation. I worked at sea for a cruise line for years, and yes, this script could've been lifted almost word for word from the very similar encounters I saw between gay guys and a male-female couples while plying the Briny Deep. I'd watch this again. Unrequited Love is never an out-of-date subject. Unfortunately.