Like It Is

This surprisingly good debut from director Paul Oremland follows the story of bare-knuckle fighter Craig (impressively acted by British amateur featherweight champion, Steve Bell) as he abandons his violent life in Blackpool's underworld and finds love and disillusionment in London's gay clubland.

As with many debuts, part of the fun of this film is trying to trace Oremland's influences. There are heavy reworkings of the "Breaking Glass" scenario (1980: Brian Gibson), with the action of "Like It Is" relying on the same devices: the buying of records from particular stores in order to make a record enter the music charts (a hideously corny nineties style boy -band); the predatory boss-figure (played with worrying believability by Roger Daltrey); and the casual drug-taking. Elsewhere, the relationship between Ian Rose's record producer and the naive Bell reminds us of that between the Gordon Warnecke and Daniel Day Lewis characters in "My Beautiful Launderette" (1985: Stephen Frears) although, like all Oremland's 'borrowings' this is given a powerful nineties twist, concerning itself not with a racial divide between the lovers, but a cultural one in the macho, 'don't call me queer' stance of the Northerner and the 'glad to be gay' hipness of the Londoner.

This is a slightly awkward film but Oremland cleverly sidesteps the usual cliches that so often marr well-intentioned yet cringe-worthy gay drama. The performances of both Bell and Daltry are absolutely first-rate, whereas Rose is satisfactory even if I couldn't quite believe someone throwing up their life to follow him across the country after a one-night stand. Behr is just plain annoying -- although, it must be said, her character is anything but likeable, so how much of this lies with the actress herself is open to debate.

As a coming-out tale, "Like It Is" is a little too sugar-coated for my tastes: I found the reaction of Bell's elder brother, on finding out his predilections ("Thank God!") rather unbelievable -- as was Rose's telling him in the first place. Surely, as an experienced gay-man, Rose would have more sense than to go into a strange man's home and out his brother -- especially when the aforementioned stranger is standing between him and the door.

But these are minor niggles -- as a debut film, this is a highly enjoyable effort and well worth seeing. Contains swearing, drug-taking, nudity and sex scenes. 3½ out of 5.

I found the plot of this film very choppy, even unbelievable. For example, a stolen car plot thread is brought up and then dropped. There is also some awkward staging such as bright lights in bedroom shots where people are supposedly asleep.

The story of a young bare-knuckles fighter who has to deal with the fact that he is gay is interesting. The point is that love wins out over money and macho. The performance by Steve Bell is what makes the movie worth seeing because he is able to project a sweet, winning personality beneath his tough-guy exterior.

Early on into the movie one becomes interested in the story and what will follow. The actors give charming performances and their conflicting interests are dealt with credibly. The film consists of a well balanced blend of drama, humour, fast paced action, and gentler quiet moments. Blackpool is visualized as bleak in comparison to brightly lit London; which symbolizes an environment of repression and brutality in contrast to a more liberal and sophisticated environment. The effect this change of setting has on the main character, is the red thread of the movie. He wants that change but, his character is still very much rooted in the Northern village mentality, albeit combined with a very appealing innocence. A straight audience that criticizes the film because the main characters are gay, and therefore cannot identify with these characters and declare it flawed, only reveal their limited imagination and intelligence. Also one must not ignore other important themes such as jealousy, the North / South divide, fast love against long term relationships.

Somewhat disjointed in continuity, Like It Is nevertheless did hold my interest. Steve Bell, who plays the young boxer Craig, is effective as the bare-knuckle fighter trying to make his way in the world with his bare fists. At the same time he is troubled by the nature of his sexuality as gay impulses begin stirring when he meets Matt, played by Ian Rose. Their first attempt at a physical relationship is a disaster, but later on they consummate their love in a scene that must have been challenging for the two young actors. The film was obviously shot on low budget but the DVD has a couple of "extras," a sign for me that the producers are aiming to capture a larger audience. Unfortunately a big obstacle is the lack of captions. Much of the film was shot in Blackpool in northern England where the regional dialect is difficult for Americans to understand. It is a "foreign language," and the viewers need a break with some interpretation.

This is a simple and enjoyable film. It shows the evolution of the sexual-love relationship of two young men in London. The total contrast of the characters and their origins, as well as the graphical elements of the characters, specially the one of Craig, demystify alot of gay stereotypes through an unusual romance.