Trick

Director(s): Jim Fall
Writer(s): Jason Schafer
Producer(s): Eric d'Arbeloff, Jim Fall, Ross Katz
Starring: Christian Campbell, John Paul Pitoc, Tori Spelling

Gabriel is a struggling musical writer who happens to meet the man of his dreams, a go-go boy named Mark. The unlikely pair hit it off and try desperately to find a place to be alone. With a sex-a-holic roommate, an overbearing best friend, and a mess of friends with issues of their own, it seems like Gabriel's night of bliss is just a pipe dream. But when the night provides Gabriel and Mark to truly get to know each other, it becomes one of the best nights in this one man's life.

What can I say about Trick? It has to be one of my favorite cutesy gay films. I recently rewatched this film the other day with my friend, Stephen. Now I'm used to analyzing film on a film theory and film studies viewpoint. This allows me to view a film as a snooty, pretentious critic to see if a film is truly an effective composite of film theory, production, and emotion worth writing and talking about. But one very effective way to tell whether a film is good is to watch the way Stephen reacts to a movie. This particular morning, we watched two flicks. The first was Trick, which kept him engrossed and reaching for the remote to pause every time he had to leave the room. In short, he liked it. The second however must have fallen short of his expectations because in less than ten minutes he pulled out his laptop and started multi-tasking. If anything this is a reflection of how Trick is a movie that many can relate to. In all of my pretentious analysis, I can easily look beyond a film to see if it is actually enjoyable to viewers. this film however draw average viewers and film analyzers alike.

I have to say that Tori Spelling's character was the most comedic part of the film. She easily falls into the role of a ditzy struggling actor dealing with her own issues of living in NYC. In close second we have the numerous scenes of half-nude Jean Paul Pitoc who slowly reveals his emotional side. And finally we have an adorable Christian Campbell playing a character that is adorably dopey. The trio form a unique dialogue triangle in many scenes that provide hilarious awkward moments and laugh out loud one-liners. So for those looking for a good escape from reality, this film is definitely worth checking out.