Straight-Jacket

Director(s): Richard Day
Writer(s): Richard Day
Producer(s): Andrew Trosmans, Michael Warwick
Starring: Matt Letscher, Carrie Preston, Adam Greer

Guy Stone is just like Rock Hudson: the leading Hollywood heartthrob at his time, the most documented person in the press, and of course the biggest closet case in all of entertainment. With the help of his butch female agent, Jerry, Guy's indecent promiscuity has been cleverly hidden. All shifts when a gay bar is raided by the police and Guy is captured on film. To land the part of Ben Hur in an upcoming film, Guy has to marry a longtime adoring fan and live a straight and narrow path for at least one year. Coincidentally, this is about the same time that Adam meets Rick, a writer rewriting a film Guy is starring in. The two get off to a rocky start but eventually develop deep feelings for one another. And just like that, Guy's posh and comfortable lifestyle becomes an tangled circus in deep need of untangling.

Living and working in the Hollywood Film industry, you become privy to numerous gossip about sham marriages. It seems that sham marriages between stars have been around as long as the industry itself. This film light-heartedly brings this concept to attention. It focuses on what some people do to keep their spot in the limelight. It also brings to question what some people would do to avoid being who they really are. In the case of this film, people will purposefully agree to a sham marriage in which their counterpart is completely clueless. I find it interesting that major celebrities are choosing to remain in the closet, even if that means stifling who they are and what they stand for. As actors, their careers are based on creative expression and living life outside of the normal hubbub of life. Yet by stifling themselves, they are conforming to the common man. Of the three major celebrities I know of, their commitment to remaining in the closet has been a lifetime ordeal that could easily have ended if they came out. Yet they remain to live a lie for the sake of being loved. I know, it is kinda a heavy topic, but these are just the ramblings rolling in my head at the moment.