Adam & Steve

What a fun, funny, sharp-witted, incisive film about the rocky road to romance. And how brilliant that it's about a gay couple-- a committed, monogamous gay couple who look very much like real gay human beings (as opposed to the broad caricatures usually seen in film and television). Is it possible that this will be the first "gay" date movie that straight couples will go to and laugh with?

Maybe that's hoping for an America more open-minded than it is, but certainly the open minded heterosexual partners are in for a good time.

Kudos to writer/directer Chester for creating what is an impressive mosaic of styles. In lesser hands the film, with everything from emotional honesty to slapstick comedy to over-the-top (and I do mean WAAYYYY over-the-top) camp, should be a mess. But somehow scenes of first love are actually made sweeter all the more by the slapstick running gag that accompanies them (sorry, no spoilers here!).

The leads are extremely appealing, the dialog is well-realized, and the realities of dating are sharply realized in a film that walks the fine line between maudlin and frank but rarely feels dishonest. That's going to sound ridiculous in the context of a film that includes a choreographed dance-off featuring a drag queen, but the movie is wise to use broad strokes of humor to help otherwise clichéd movie devices go down easier. Additional kudos to Parker Posey, who becomes the heterosexual equivalent of the "Jack" character on "Will & Grace." Her comic contributions are note-perfect.

Chester has commented that the use of comedy has a role in helping straight audiences better accept a budding romance between men. I hope that's true, because this film deserves better than the "cult" or "gay/lesbian" dungeon in your local video store.

Nothing more here than a standard, cliché, romantic comedy that you would find in a dozen Adam Sandler films or poorly written African American comedies except for that it focuses on a homoesexual relationship. None of the characters are believable, the tone is mostly a farce but there is not a lot of intelligence behind it.

I believe this film is getting a decent buzz, primarily because the two leads are actually gay and rarely do we see supposed "real-life" portrayal of gays in romantic comedies.

The filmmakers intent was to show what it is really like to be in a homosexual relationship and that they have the same feelings, concerns, desires, etc as heterosexual couples. The main problem is that the tone is so absurd and light and none of it seems like real life at all, you don't believe or engage in the characters at all so the message is lost. I am not gay and did not leave the film feeling any more informed about the difficulties of gay relationships or anything even close.

There are some funny scenes and lines but also many awkward moments and irrelevant scenes just thrown in, and dialouge that just doesn't work. Many parts tried to be over the top and absurd just for the sake of doing so, nothing real or organic about them. The acting and pacing also needed work. I just didn't engage or become interested in the characters at any level.

It didn't need to be as heavy or shocking as Queer as Folk or other gay films but moving the tone more toward Kissing Jessica Stein would have served it much better. Beleiving in the characters as actual people instead of over the to characatures would have let me empathize and allowed me to learn a lot more than I did

The 9-11 references were empty and useless. I lived in NY at the time and if your're going to try to capture it at least give it some time, attention, and drama.

Any I don't mean to focus on the gay aspect, it fails as a film period, straight, gay or other, but the producers/filmmakers are promoting it this way so that will inevitably be the focus.

I'd be interested in hearing any opinions from anyone gay who saw the film to see if they felt it represented their struggles properly or if they were maybe just happy to see a light comedy focused on gay life.

Will be interesting to see what happens if/when it is released

Craig Chester wrote, directed and stars in this comic love story between two men: a New York City shrink and a klutzy Jewish tour guide who meet and fall in love--but will the recollection of a disastrous date 17 years ago ultimately come between them? Chester is brash and brave and goes out on a limb here, resulting in a gay-comedy better than most. The movie has fun being outré, with ballsy, bitchy humor and an occasional moment of seriousness (a good balance), yet its imagination is stunted, with a fantasy hoedown bit right out of "Jeffrey" and far too many lapses of taste and judgment. Chester's slapstick scenes needed to be reined in, particularly a hopeless sequence with his "cursed" Jewish family and also the poorly-staged gross-out scene 10-minutes in. The film has funny elements and performances (by a most curious cast) and some of it is very sweet. ** from ****

Adam (Craig Chester) and Steve (Malcolm Gets) have an embarrassing one night stand in the late 80s. Then the movie fast forwards to 2005. They meet again but have no recollection of their earlier encounter. They fall madly in love...but then Steve remembers. Can they survive this? Also Adam's best friend (Parker Posey) falls in love with Steve's best friend (Chris Kattan).

This is no masterpiece. It has its dead moments and there are some painfully unfunny moments--and where the hell did that two-stepping sequence at the end come from? Still it works more often than it doesn't and is easily one of the best movies I've ever seen dealing with a gay couple. When it's funny it's hysterical and some of the observations Adam and Steve make about being gay and in love are VERY accurate (Chester and Gets are gay in real life so it adds more to the lines--they speak from experience). Also Chester wrote the script AND directed it as well as starring in it--this guy is very talented.

Acting is good all around. Gets and Chester are just great and perfectly believable. It's always great to see Parker Posey and she's just wonderful (catch her outfit at the two-stepping). Even Kattan is good--he annoyed me totally in SNL. And the supporting cast includes Julie Hagerty, Sally Kirkland and Melinda Dillon--all are just great.

I saw this at a sold out viewing at the Provincetown Film Festival. The demand for this was so great they had to ADD an extra showing! This is the most truthful movie I've seen so far about gay life and love. Not perfect but damn close. A must-see for gay men.

Okay, so this movie had some funny moments, but most of it just left me cold--like it was trying too hard and somehow ended up being too artificial and too phony. I thought the love story was cute, for what it was worth, but some of the subplots left me scratching my head. For example, I find it hard to believe that there are a great many red-Becky Jersey boys (and hillbillies, apparently) in the Village who are going to throw beer bottles at gay men who express affection towards one another. I've been to the Village before and think the bottle throwers would definitely be bashed back. Not to mention the harassment from the window...omg....is this a lame attempt at humor or seriousness towards the fact that hate still exists? Either way, it felt very out of place.

And Adam's family (ba ha ha--just got that one...!) seemed nothing but a one line lame joke. Did we have to cross over into 3rd rate physical comedy to make some point about a curse? The movie did have its highlights--Parker Posey and Chris Kattan had their moments, the dance off was funny and it did make some interesting points about the human condition and relationships: I liked it when Adam asked Steve what he wanted, and he blurts out: "I don't know!!" Not an easy thing to admit.

All in all, "Adam and Steve" has given me a little bit of hope that someone out there might make a gay-themed movie that won't insult my intelligence.