Soft Lad

This has got to be one of the worst films I've seen. It is so badly made, I was actually shouting "this is so bad!!" at my laptop. The camera work is so bad it's annoying; I don't know what type of tone or feel they were going for but the result is a mess of awkward angles, moving pointlessly back and forth and getting in the faces of the actors with absolutely no sense of framing.

The sound design is non-existent and the few attempts at scoring are generic 'sad'/piano music, that not only add absolutely no sentiment at all, they also sound really bad. And that also applies to dialogue as well, which makes the whole thing look and sound very amateur.

The script is so bad I can't stop thinking how it got approved or how people thought this kind of writing is good! To sum it up, it goes like this: -I just feel stressed and tired from it all -Why? -I don't know

The repetition of lines like "where is this coming from?" and "why are you being like this?" only makes things worst and adds to an already messed up and poor script that sounds so basic and forced and fake that makes the whole thing really annoying to watch.

In terms of plot, after one or so hours of the character's emotional ups and downs, it boils down to the consequences of unprotected sex and the use of condoms, which in this day and age is just old news.

The actors do try their best and they are some genuine moments that unfortunately don't last for more than a few seconds. Massively let down by a script that simply does not work, they end up trying to convince you how sad they are, or how confused with lines like...well, see above.

I can go on and on as I still can't believe how badly made this is and how amateur it looks and sounds; OK, maybe they didn't have the biggest budget ever and I get that but still, that's not an excuse for the complete and utter lack of a convincing narrative, emotional investment and quality of film making.

Soft Lad is the latest piece of work from Director Leon Lopez.You may remember Leon from his days on shows such as Brookside and Hollyoaks and after directing a couple of shorts, he makes his feature film directorial debut with Soft Lad, a film that not only did he direct but also wrote, edited, produced and was the sole camera operator on. Quite a feat in itself and one where you could forgive the occasional mistake that may occur throughout the feature. With the exception of a couple of moments in the sound department, there were no such mistakes and in my view Leon deserves the highest level of praise for the excellent editing of the film. So what is the film about? It's basically a love story but not your normal run of the mill love story. Jules and Jane are a happily married couple with one daughter living in a nice house in a nice area and in decent jobs. All appears good but Jules is hiding a terrible secret from his wife. He is having an affair with Jane's brother David. No longer able to handle lying to his family and in particular his sister, David decides to end the affair and instead turns to new love Sam. David's feelings for Sam soon turn to love and life appears to be pretty good for him. Jules however must wrestle with his conscience and his feelings for David. Putting his marriage at risk he must decide whether or not to come clean about the affair or accept that it is over and move on. A simple check up at the hospital changes everything. Who is affected? Well you will have to watch the movie to find but believe me it results in one of the best scenes in the movie and one that though quite intense, also has one of the funniest lines. For a first time feature film director and with a modest budget of approx £17,000, Leon Lopez has done an exceptional job and after seeing what he can do with such a small budget, one wonders what he could do with a budget of millions. No one performance can be singled out as all the cast members give outstanding performances. Daniel Brocklebank (Coronation Street, Doctors, Emmerdale) as Jules makes you really believe he is struggling to accept his homosexuality yet also manages to pull off a dangerous side of Jules's personality. There is one scene where Daniel is delivering his lines to Stacey (Laura Ainsworth) and with such a look on his face that I actually believed his character was going to attack her. Suzanne Collins (Brookside) as Jane is superb as the totally oblivious wife who believes she is the cause of Jules's increasing moods and stands out in the life changing scene. Jonny Labey (Eastenders) as David is a pure revelation in this film and definitely an actor destined for more. You really feel for his character even though what he has done is wrong. Having watched him in Eastenders, I believe that it is in this film that he shines and acts his socks off.

At one point in this film, a character says "If I never see you again it will be too soon!". The sentiment also applies to this film.

The film follows an aspiring dancer and his complicated family relationship, but somehow manages to include every stereotype of gay cinema, from the best-friend-he-would-love-if-only-he-were-straight ("I'm gay, remember?" he says at one point, because that's just the kind of thing best friends forget about each other) to the closeted family man having it off on the side. There isn't even any suspense to this - most of the main characters are so bluntly drawn in the first 5 minutes that you could fall asleep until the climax, and if you do I envy you. Of course there is a 'twist' - inverted commas because it's so clearly signposted it might as well be London - but by then the oddly distant directing style had drained all engagement from me.

I know that as a genre, LGBT cinema suffers by not having the history and money behind it available to other films, but even compared to some of the ropier stuff out there this is lacking.

The word that best sums up the plot, the directing, the cinematography, is: dull.

In theory this could have made for quite an intriguing story of cheating and naughtiness. Instead, it turned out to be a really disappointing melodrama showcasing the mediocre acting talents of a few handsome men and the writing of someone who had the vision for the story, but no real idea how to turn it into anything particularly compelling. It's all about the young and attractive dancer "David" (Jonny Labey) who is secretly having an affair with his brother-in-law "Jules" (Daniel Brocklebank). It's a bit tempestuous and after a row, the younger man seeks comfort in the arms of "Sam" (Craig Stein) but that just causes even more ructions and you can now see just what's going to happen, and anticipate the fall out that is looming large for all concerned. So much more could have been done to develop the characters; the sex scenes are ridiculously sterile and there is just way too much petulant dialogue making the whole thing feel much longer than just ninety minutes. It's gay theme gives it a slightly distinctive edge, but otherwise this is forgettable stuff, sorry.

Directing style made it feel like a soap. Also the sound engineer got the music levels very off, sometimes annoyingly dominating dialogue. Technical aside, it's a passable storyline, the acting is ok if a little melodramatic.