Drift

Not good. Not the worst thing I've ever seen, either. It's just a dull, amateurish effort, where the writer thought that the most realistic the dialogue, the better. (Not true. Try leaving a tape recorder on for a couple of hours when you're having a heart-to-heart with a friend. Just don't make me listen to the result.) Drift has a couple of fresh points--first, it deals with the pain of breakup, and avoids the horrible cliché of "coming out" stories or overly sunny romantic discovery. It's very realistic, and prefers understatement to emotional shouting.

But that latter point is also its downfall. It is dull. The gambit of three possible endings cannot save it. The main character is a self-pitying neurotic, and as time went on, I lost all interest in him. Save your money.

Do gay-themed movies get any more self-consciously awful than this garbage?

What the filmmakers didn't realize is that all those trite avant garde movie cliches are bearable only if you have characters that one actually cares about. Otherwise, the constant juxtaposition of old scenes with new ones becomes as obnoxious as the characters and equally hard to love.

As I watched with my friends we tried to amuse ourselves by coming up with more fitting film titles (between snores, of course). I think the one that fits best is "Groundhog Drift."

I gave it a 3 but am wondering if that wasn't too high?

The dialog is fresh, original, and on a much higher level than most commercial and indie films. Sure, the cinematography is pretty lame, especially on extreme facial close-ups. But the story surprises--Ryan has many illusions and many alternative stories that he lives, and we're not quite certain what's real. This Canadian import survives because of its superior screenplay, as well as some good acting performances. I gave it an 8/10.

_Drift_ is an independent movie about a Canadian Asian guy living in L.A. who decides to break up with his boyfriend of 3 years to find his "soul mate." The movie shows 3 possible paths his life could take. I found the first 30 minutes to be reminiscent of film school productions I've seen, with unoriginal dialogue and earnest but amateur performances. I'm glad I stuck with it, though, because the writing and the acting got much better during the 3 different variations of the protagonist's destiny. In the end, the movie rises above its gimmick.

I liked a lot about the movie. It's earnest and well-intentioned. The execution is a bit uneven, and as others have said, some dialog does not ring true.

I was startled when, well into the movie, scenes seemed to repeat. For a moment I wondered if the DVD was stuck. I had no clue previously that I was about to see alternative versions of the storyline. I'm not sure if this was a good thing or a bad thing. Generally, I like to be surprised, but this sudden shift was a little confusing. Again, not entirely a bad thing. I've never read the Dogma manifesto (and this is shot Dogma-style) so I don't know if this movie follows those rules to the letter. However, I think my surprise stemmed from not expecting to see alternate realities depicted realistically (Dogma-ish), if that makes sense.

Overall I think it's worth seeing, if for no other reason than, well, how many gay Dogma movies are there? I think if you approach it as something impressionistic rather than realistic, you'll be more likely to enjoy it.