Daddy

Colin is one of those gay guys who seems to have it all – great job, loads of money and he gets all the young men he wants. His best mate, Stew, lives next door and is the polar opposite but they have been inseparable since college. Then one day an intern starts work at Colin's office.

What first starts out as an overly keen employee soon becomes something much more intense, but when something is too good to be true.... well you know how it goes.

Now this is from TLA and yet is one of theirs that raises the bar. It is well made, acted. Scripted, filmed and everything else. The story is believable and engaging and the twist I never saw coming. It is also an indie and stars Gerald McCulloch as Colin who also directed this, he is a seasoned actor and the calibre shone through, but Jamie Cepero as Thaddeus was brilliant too and all the part players never let the side down. This is a TLA release I am happy to recommend.

I thought this film was great; a pleasant surprise! The acting and writing were great, the directing was excellent, and I was definitely shocked (in a good way) where the story goes. I was very pleased to see a film that positively portrays a older/younger gay relationship with real depth and heart. But then I was even more pleased with the how the complicated the relationship becomes, it made the story/relationship more real and grounded. I was a fan of Mr. McCullouch from the Bear City movies and his acting is pretty great in each of these films. But I really hope he will be doing more directing in the future. It was some pretty impressive work for his first feature length movie. Dan Via also displays some great acting work for only having a handful of acting credits to his name. Very impressive! I wish I caught the stage version. Looking forward to seeing more from Dan as well. Bravo and congrats to the cast and crew!

The concept of this film could have actually been interesting and even profound on a couple of levels. As is, it was poorly acted, scripted and cast (with the ONE notable exception of Jaime Cepero, who was the one actor who actually brought a deeper humanity and meaning to his role). The main character of "Collin" simply comes off as a gay white, self-entitled Alpha male who no one cares to sympathize with. He gets what he wants regardless of consequence. And even when bad things happen, he blames those around him for it. The "gay friend" was even worse than the typical stereotype and more whiny. The fact that he felt he needed to give the "big reveal" either shows he is an incurable drama-queen or just vicious to the point that one wonders just why the lead has him as a friend to begin with. Messy, sloppy and bad...not worth watching.

The story itself might have been interesting but the acting was beyond mediocrity and was sad to watch. May work as a play but definitely not as a movie.

So I have been following this film from the gofundme phase of its production and brought it once available on DVD. Now I will say this film is not Oscar winning but I think it's worthy of awards for the film. Actor gerald McCullouch gives a performance that feels very authentic for a middle aged gay male character that we all have seen from time to time but with a heart. The other characters match this well and add to the film in simple crafted moments. The ending is a little out there but is very possible in this day and age. I gave this film 8 stars because with the calibre of low budget gay films out there this one seems very polished and complete but also very well made and acted.

Looking forward to seeing some other great work from gerald. It's worth seeing