Strange Fruit

The opening credits for the writer/director Kyle Schickner (Full Frontal, Rose by any other Name) film STRANGE FRUIT are eloquently beautiful camera passages down a Louisiana bayou at night, the end point being an isolated little club (the Gator) reached only by a floating raft. The mood is set for an atmospheric Southern Gothic drama: what follows is an overly complicated exploration of racism, homophobia, family dysfunction, police corruption, prejudice (racial and gender), and most important gay homophobia! Too many irons in the fire make a film that has a lot of potential come to a confusing end: too many of the subplots and motivations remain unexplained.

There is a lynching of a black gay man in the parking lot of The Gator (a gay bar where people of like minds can hide at night as long as they stay in the closet outside the bar). The mother Emma Ayers (a radiant Berlinda Tolbert) and her ne're-do-well remaining son Duane (David Raibon) are convinced the incident was a murder but the sheriff (Sam Jones) and his redneck deputies (with the exception of Deputy Conover - Jared Day) dismiss the lynching as justified because it was 'sexually motivated' and gay men deserve such an end. Emma calls the victim's childhood friend William Boyals (the fine Kent Faulcon), a successful lawyer now in New York, to come and investigate. What William discovers upon his return to his hometown is a cast of characters that includes hateful white trash, closeted black gays afraid to defend each other, 'law enforcement' that is anything but honest, the strength and devotion of his 'aunt Emma', and the mother that disowned him when he came out of the closet to be a successful gay man. The story proceeds to follow leads about the lynching and along the way there are other murders and lynchings that muddle the picture until the finale when the words of the Gator owner explain the happenings: 'Nothing is ever like it appears to be'.

The film is moody, atmospheric, and there are some fine performances by Faulcon, Tolbert, Raibon, Jared Day and Jones. The problems include a script that opts for generalities and clichés and once again a music score and recording system that buries a lot of the dialogue. But it is refreshing to see a story that views the black gay life in the South from the vantage of a handsome, successful, gay black man. Though overly long at 115 minutes, STRANGE FRUIT is still a film of interest for the chances it takes.

After the first few minutes, I figured I wouldn't give this film anything higher than a 5. The sound is atrocious. The violent scenes are beyond amateurish. Some characters, particularly the Sheriff, were parodies of themselves, and unintentionally painful to watch. And some characters had sudden changes of heart that weren't believable.

But two things hold the viewer's attention. First, Ken Faulcon in the lead role is believable and captivating. And second, the story of twin bigotries is also believable, and the plot is told in a way that the ending was a complete surprise to me, in more ways than one.

I agree with others who said this film could be better paced near 90 minutes. Get a better cast, fine-tune the script, improve the production values, and you could have something. Look what happened to those atrocious Madea videos -- some became half-decent movies. While I give this current film a 6, I'm certain that a remake could achieve a 7 or 8.

"Strange Fruit" does indeed have its flaws primarily the stereotypical redneck Sheriff. Additionally, one has to suspend believe entirely to believe a handsome African American man would come out as gay in high school in the deep south. However, getting past that, how likely is it that a homophobic self-righteous Sheriff would allow a gay bar to exist in his Parrish? Nonetheless, despite the weak plot devices and one-dimensional portrayals of some of the ancillary characters, the movie tells a story that needs to be told. That is, how difficult it is for gays - especially African American gays to find acceptance both in their families and their communities. The dead characters mother provides some telling insight into the whole "DL" phenomenon when she laments that fact that her some Kelvin "Never knew how to blend in." This is very realistic as a lot of African Americans have disdain for effeminate gays. If you're "passable" and keep your personal life hidden, everybody's OK with that. Kent Faulcon, who portrays William Boyals, alone is worth watching this movie for. He's unbelievably handsome, and gives a dignified and powerful performance. His depiction should be required viewing for black male actors who shy away from accepting gay roles. Playing gay need not require sacrificing one's manhood. Also moving is the depiction of a mother who loves her child, but cannot accept his sexual orientation therefore believes she should hold on to her hurt, anger, and bitterness rather than finding a way to deal with it. I would recommend viewing "Strange Fruit" for the social commentary it so realistically portrays.

Horrible script, ending is a non sequitur, some okay acting, mostly wooden - bad, bad, bad script. Much as I am willing to suspend disbelief in the interest of a movie about gay life this movie is beyond my ability.

Some of the relationship interactions, e.g. between Boyles and Calvin's brother, are interesting and worth watching. Duane's performance is good, the bar owner's is also. This is not the strongest cast, but no- one could do much with this script.

Surprise endings should make sense in retrospect - this one just comes out of the blue, without any reasonable build up or explanation, confusing the message of the movie and disdaining the intelligence of the audience. Also, a message movie about racism and homophobia does not need a surprise ending, it just distracts and detracts. Stupid stupid script.

Would love to see a serious movie about life as a gay black man in the South (or anywhere) - this ain't it.

I just saw this excellent film at the Asheville Fim Festival and was just stunned! The movie was so well written. The acting flawless. I was in tears at a couple of places during the movie. Mr. Faulcon was just tremendous in the lead role, especially in the last few minutes. His powerful acting was one thing that brought me to tears at the end. It kind of had the feel of "In The Heat of the Night". Very sad movie that makes you think about being gay in the South and also being black and gay in the South. As a note, Mr. Shickner was in the audience and hosted a Q&A after the movie. (I was actually sitting next to him and another producer without even knowing it. Pretty neat!)

Highly recommended, especially if you grew up gay in the South.