ANOTHER GAY MOVIE

     As I've written elsewhere, I really had hoped to like this motion picture. It came with a very
promising pedigree: writer-director Todd Stephens. I had been a fan of his earlier work,
especially his autobiographical screenplay for EDGE OF 17. Although I did not review his
directorial debut, GYPSY '83, I had admired the film and, in particular, the performance of lead
actress Sara Rue, when I watched the movie on DVD. Also I had heard relatively good things
about ANOTHER GAY MOVIE going into it. In 2004, there had been a staged reading of the
script, and the buzz was that the screenplay was hilarious. So I anxiously awaited the finished
feature. I was disappointed that the original screening at the Tribeca Film Festival was delayed,
but pleased that I was finally going to see this film.

     And then I actually viewed ANOTHER GAY MOVIE.

     I don't know if I can adequately articulate just how disappointed I was. I did approach the
movie with an open mind. I was completely unaware that ANOTHER GAY MOVIE was meant
to be a satirical take on the teen sex comedy genre that has been a staple of heterosexual films
for what seems to be eons. Really, in this climate of political repression and anti-gay sentiment,
the need for a good laugh is paramount. And what better genre to tweak that of the teen romp.
Maybe now was the time for a gay version of PORKY'S or AMERICAN PIE. In execution,
however, ANOTHER GAY MOVIE proved to be a an all-out disaster. I hadn't seen a sex
comedy this awful since TOMCATS, which in my years as a reviewer ranks as one of the worst
movies I had ever seen.

     The plot, such as it is, follows along the tried and true formula -- four gay high school
seniors who make a pact to lose their respective virginities before heading off to college in the
fall. There's the director's stand-in Andy (Michael Carbonaro), the jock Jarod (Jonathan Case),
the bookish Griff (Mitch Morris) who harbors a secret crush on Jarod, and the rather overly
effeminate Nico (Jonah Blechman, perhaps recalled as the "body" in the weird 2000 Sundance
movie TREASURE ISLAND). Spurring them on is the local Casanova and dyke Muffler (Ashlie
Atkinson), playing a role not unlike that essayed by Lea DeLaria in ED GE OF SEVENTEEN.

     Sounds like a promising idea so far, right? I have no idea what occurred but what was
on screen was horrendous. The acting was amateurish at best (except for reality TV star James
Getzlaff who actually managed to emerge with his dignity in tact and exhibited signs of star quality
and acting talent). The script included the lowest humor possible (including a terribly long toilet
sequence that wasn't funny in the least). The film's meant to be parodied or satirized in
ANOTHER GAY MOVIE actually had a modicum of wit. This film, sadly, wouldn't know wit if it
bit it in the ass.

     After watching FABULOUS! THE STORY OF QUEER CINEMA it's clear that there are
many viable and talented filmmakers out there who might be capable of producing a brilliant
gay-themed parody of teen sex comedies. It really pains me to say that ANOTHER GAY MOVIE
just doesn't live up to the hype. In my estimation, it actually sets Queer Cinema back some forty
or fifty years.

                                                 Rating:                F

Another Gay Movie