Jeffrey

Contrary to most viewers, I found "Jeffrey" to be a singularly pleasant experience all the way through. It sags a bit in the middle, but then, please name a movie that doesn't?

It starts off like a protracted confessional; gay waiter Jeffrey (Steven Weber) waxing neurotic (in some telling vignettes) about the danger of having sex in the age of AIDS. He decides to work out instead. Meeting Mr. Exactly Right in the gym gives him pause, though. Especially when the guy is the delectable Steve (Michael T.Weiss), all muscle and chiseled grin. Jeffrey's friends advise him to reconsider his celibacy, and give it a go. It takes Jeffrey around 1 hour and 20 minutes of screen-time to do so. Had he succumbed to Steve right away, there would have been no movie! There is a sitcom-like feel to this story; obstructions and cracks are neatly wall-papered over in the name of light-hearted comedy. Darius' angelic reappearance towards the end smacks of opting for the easy way out. How else would Jeffrey have seen the error of his ways? It's the least convincing scene in the movie. Still, everything else is both funny and touching. The fantasy game-show is nice, the "Hoe- Down for AIDS" is a scathingly funny piss-take on charity-events, while Sterling's banter and relentless quips are wonderful:

"Martha Stewart says that as long as you can make a nice, dried flower arrangement - nothing else matters!!

Darius is a believable character, Steve is the hunk of the year, and although Steven Weber doesn't set the room on fire as Jeffrey, I found him to be exactly in character. After all, Jeffrey is SUPPOSED to be a rather ordinary guy. Why Steve would go for him, though, is a bit of a mystery. Their subsequent affair would make for an interesting sequel. It would probably all turn sour in the end. Then again...

I first saw this film on TV, and was gobsmacked (a British expression!) at Patrick Stewart's performance- this is totally unlike anything else I have seen him in.

However, I soon discovered that there many more superb performances in Jeffrey... from the smallest roles (usually played by bigger names than you'd expect!) to the main roles entrusted to Stephen Weber & Michael Weiss. I managed to have a marvelous time just star spotting!

I found this so hilariously funny in some scenes, and yet full of pathos in others that I ended up laughing & crying at the same time. In the end I just had to buy it, so I can watch it as often as I want. Be broadminded, and give this film a go... it won't disappoint.

I like this movie-- I liked it when it came out and I still enjoy it today-- however, many people watching it nowadays have no idea it's been vandalized-- censored-- edited for "family" consumption.

I remember well the fantasy sequence at the "Hoedown for AIDS" benefit party when the "cowboys" and "indians" dance; it was a completely over-the-top burlesque romp with the square-dance caller announcing positively obscene moves. This blast of color and action was in counterpoint to the rather staid, boring benefit party and it was marvelously conceived and executed.

It is now a drab remnant of its former self with all its verve and hilarity removed-- as though someone had cut off parts of a man's anatomy.

Why?

We get fairly explicit material verbally during the movie-- like the hilarious fantasy phone call Jeffrey has with his parents-- but for some reason we no longer are allowed to see suggestions of gay sex-- even those presented in the spirit of fun and fantasy. This is wrong.

I just thought people should know.

I watched "Jeffrey" with my Husband earlier tonight. I had meant to watch it for years, but it was a "gay" film, a genre which I love, but often eschew because these films always make me think--even "La Cage aux Folles" had a deep and abiding lesson or two hidden inside.) The themes often involve intolerance, and the traumatic impact of AIDS on the entire gay community; even if the film is a comedy, I find these themes fill me with empathic pain and frustration. I decided to brave those themes despite my female tear ducts this evening, and I was glad I did.

This film was silly. This film was witty. The dialogue is sparkling. All those things made it wonderful to watch. The characters we meet are intriguing, and though the 2-dimensional stereotypes are made for laughs, we get the feeling that we are laughing at the strange mix of truth and falsehood many of the stereotypes possess; we are laughing not at people who are "flaming" but at characters who are exuberant, joyous people, trying to squeeze every bit of joy and delight that they can out of every moment.

I won't spoil the journey through this story with any specifics, let's just say that Jeffrey doesn't quite get it. It is both painful and joyful at turns watching the character navigate through a turning point in his life. I laughed, I got choked up, and then I laughed again, and again ad infinitum. This is not a "gay" movie. It's a character driven story that we can all identify with, if our minds and hearts are open.

Seeing and writing a review of Jeffrey 23 years after the film came out and now having the perspective of history I can only come to the conclusion that life is truly a lottery. Some people I knew who were diagnosed with AIDS in the early 80s are still here to tell the tale. Others are in the HIV+ status and have never developed the disease. And others I knew were diagnosed and went in weeks. They're all part of fabric of our lives, there stories should be remembered and told.

Jeffrey is a mostly comic film that turns serious in the last 20 minutes or so. Steven Weber in the title role is a 30 something gay man who has met the man of his dreams as so many did in the gym. Michael T. Weiss however has just been diagnosed as HIV+. For those unfamiliar he's been exposed the antibodies to the HIV virus have been discovered and he could develop the disease. Could, but that's the crapshoot of life.

Anyway he's decided to be celibate and fill his life with other things. But could it be too late romantically because HIV+ status or not, these two look fated to be mated.

Patrick Stewart looks like he's having a ball camping it up as Weber's older gay friend Jeffrey. Then Stewart gets deadly serious as he faces burying his young partner Bryan Batt. His scene with Weber in the hospital is just classic.

I have to give mention to Nathan Lane who chooses to practice his art mostly for the stage. He has a great part as a not so celibate priest. His scene as Weber seeks some spiritual guidance is also quite classic.

I think the moral of the story is that when you find a soulmate grab that person of whatever gender and hold on as tight as you can. That's Jeffrey's story and it's well told.