Strapped

For a gay themed movie, this is extremely polished and well-done; perfect acting, great editing, compelling sound-track and most of all an excellent script with on-point dialogue. Given my review is "late in the game" I won't bother with a synopsis. I will say that for a plot of the day in the life of a male prostitute, this absolutely gave the viewer something extraordinary and atypical of the genre (because yes...it's been done before, as admitted in the film itself with the references to "My Own Private Idaho"). There are many layers to this film and in fact to the lead character, as we find out through his acting AND the dialogue that he indeed takes on the personas of the people he is about to have sex with (and he could only accomplish this if he were a very polished actor...which he definitely appears to be). This film delves into the human psyche and asks the question if we are ALL pretending/trying to be someone we are not/putting on a show for others. A very well done and IMHO underrated film.

This film is about a hustler who gets into one encounter after another in an apartment building, somewhere in America.

The writer of "Strapped" put a lot of effort into making a plot that has a message. It is about a man who looks for sexual adventures continuously. He never looks back on his past encounters. Fortune has it that he has five encounters with different individuals who are wildly different from one another. These clients, and the different ways the hustler interacts with them add depth to the plot. The final encounter is the emotionally satisfying, as the hustler finally finds that special magic that transforms him. "Strapped" is a little boring at first, but steadily improves throughout the film.

I love 'gay themed' indie films. But so frequently the story line is a drag, the characters often fuel those stereotypes about folks who lead alternate lifestyles.

In addition, I often find the acting to be blasé.

Such was not the case with Strapped. This is by far, one of the most beautifully written and acted films I think I have seen in awhile.

Newcomer Ben Bonenfant does an amazing job as he plays a young hustler 'finding himself' in a crazy mixed up world called 'life.' He is sexy and tender in this film and truly breathes life to the various facades he puts on as he 'hustles' his way lost through an apartment building.

The parallel of him being lost in this building and being lost in life really weaves an amazing balance as the story unfolds.

I truly was mesmerized by this film and felt it really was very well written, directed, and acted.

In fact I would add, I truly fell in love with all of the characters who each played their roles perfectly and well acted.

An excellent sexy but tender film.

An astonishing, spectacularly good little movie - much, MUCH better than anybody has words to say. Sexy and poetic, lyrical and heartbreaking and soaring. It is as mundane as a leaking roof and as wide and glorious as the universe. To say it is about a hustler turning tricks is like saying the Odyssey is about a guy who got stuck in traffic on the way home.

Its minor flaws, so tiny they are almost insignificant - sloppy camera focus in crucial scenes, occasionally ponderous dialog, the total lack of tongues during the all-important kiss - simply make it better, realer, more human, as tiny flaws in great works of art always do.

If I could have seen only one gay movie in all my life, this is the one I would want it to be.

It kills me when someone attempts to classify a movie as "gay" and/or "straight". If it falls into either of those categories it fails at being universal. I found this one, minus some of the raunchy dialogue, to be universal. If gays can love "Leaving Las Vegas" and "Pretty Woman", why can't straights love this? Hustler pretends to be whatever/whomever his male clients need, and discovers himself along the way. Is that really so taxing? Brief nudity in the beginning, sex that focuses solely on the facial expressions for the rest of the film, and some pretty rough/real dialogue. Really, too much for straights? I don't think so. The lead is perfect, the rest of the acting can be spotty, and there's a lot of verbal exposition(redundant?) Still an awesome film no matter the genre. When I saw the term "hustler listed in the description I almost passed, as I would "Coming of Age" or "HIV Positive" themed films, but this one is different. A gay guy figuring himself out. Cool flick.