2006 NEWFEST-Sun Kissed

          How to describe SUN KISSED, which enjoyed its NYC premiere
  at NewFest? The film has a grainy quality as if it were shot on video,
  although it was actually shot in 35mm. It ostensibly is the story of
  a house in the California desert owned by a man named Crispin
  (George Stoll) who has a habit of lending the place out to aspiring
  writers like Teddy (John Ort). Taking care of the place for Crispin
  is Leo (Gregory Marcel) and it doesn't take more than five minutes
  before Teddy has developed a crush on the seemingly straight
  Leo. But then Leo confesses that he has "fooled around" with guys
  and it's not long thereafter that the two fall into bed.

          But then things get a little murky. Teddy appears to disappear
  after completing his novel called Goodbye. Then we see Leo in
  bed -- with a woman named Cheryl to whom he is married. But he
  also seems to be cheating on her with one-night stands with men.
  Leo has told Teddy that he was married and that his wife was murdered.
  But if he's with Cheryl after Teddy's novel is published, is she his
  second wife? Or what?

          SUN KISSED doesn't appear to have been made with any logic
  and the audience with whom I saw the film was confused, to say the
  least. Since it was a second showing of the film and it took place in the
  early afternoon the director was unable to attend. Too bad, because
  I'm sure there would have been a lot of questions for him.

          At first, it seemed that Ort's character was going to be the lead
  in the film but gradually Marcel's character came to dominate. As
  a critic, it was hard to assess the actor's performances because I
  had no idea what the heck was unfolding onscreen. I kept hoping that
  somehow it would all be tied together but that wasn't the case.
  Since we see a glimpse of a manuscript for a novel called Goodbye
  attributed to Leo, perhaps we are to assume that the whole movie
  is a product of that character's fevered imagination. I have no idea,
  and as such, I would be hard pressed to recommend this film for
  viewing.

                                           Rating:                D +

Sun Kissed