Writer(s): Greg Berlanti
Producer(s): Sam Irvin, Mickey Liddell, Joseph Middleton, Julie Plec
Starring: Timothy Olyphant, Dean Cain, Zach Braff, Andrew Keegan
The seam that bonds a handful of West Hollywood friends together is tested as the group deals with love, loss, and the uncertain future. Dennis is a late 20s gay man living in the gayest part of Los Angeles, West Hollywood. He has a great group of friends that get him through life. Together the lot experience the trials and tribulations of love in the gay community. While some struggle to make relationships work, others find themselves yearning for something they think they will never get. In the end the group understands that being gay is not just about loving men, its about loving yourself and knowing what you want in life. 
Do i even need to begin yet another blog with my definition of friendship? To challenge myself from the obvious thematic strings that weave themselves through this film, I'll focus on some that seem hidden. I think this movie attempts to state that a gay man is hard to define. While there are numerous stereotypes that can be applied to the homosexual variety, there are always those that stand at the edge of these stereotypes.
I love the eclectic group of friends who seem to have nothing in common except for their love of men. In putting together this rag-tag group, the filmmaker is trying to show all walks of life in the gay community. Sure the majority of the friends (Okay, all but one) are white. But putting race aside, we can analyze the each character's behavior as a different subset of the gay community. We have queeny characters, gym bunnies, the older generation, the newbies, the ones that are partnered, the ones that aesthetically don't fit in, the ones that are intelligent, the ones that lack intelligence but rely on beauty. They are all present in this film. I have to say as a person who writes in his hobby, tying together a group of friends with little to nothing in common is hard to do but Berlanti pulls it off. 
I think this film has had a huge presence on the gay community, particularly those just coming to terms with their sexuality. With a very notable star-studded cast, gay men are often inclined to choose this film over the numerous others. With great production value and witty dialogue, this film seems as mainstream as the next. I could not think of another gay film that would be a better choice to break into gay cinema viewing. This provides the fun and sex at the right moments but also has superb timing when it comes time for a lesson to be learned. While it has many of the gay cinema cliches, it definitely promotes them in a rather unconventional way. This is one of those movies that you can pop in and watch over and over again, whether you're paying attention or not. 
No comments:
Post a Comment