THEGAYUK

Tag: Film Review

All the latest film reviews for LGBT themed films and others.

  • FILM REVIEW | Guardians of the Galaxy 2

    GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY 2 – The Fab 5 of the Marvel universe are back after the surprise huge success of part 1 – cue big laughs, huge action and a fantastic 70’s cheese pop hit soundtrack.

    Guardians of the galaxy review

    Nutshell – After saving the universe last time our heroes are now in huge demand as hired troubleshooters across the stars dispatching monsters to the songs of ELO. Groot is now Baby Groot and Rocket the gun-toting racoon is causing havoc left, right and centre. Starlord finds his father, but is everything as it seems? Soon all hell is breaking loose and the universe needs saving all over again. This time with even more comedy in the funniest Superhero film of all time.

    Running Time – 136 minutes; Certificate – 12A.

    Tagline – ‘Anyone Can Save The Galaxy Once’.

    THEGAYUK Factor – Don’t be late as right at the start Chris Pratt gets naked in two shower scenes which are wholly unnecessary except to satisfy his massive gay following that he is very aware of. You will greatly enjoy his buff muscular body and at this rate, we expect him to deliver full naked ass shots in next year’s Jurassic Park and we really hope he has to bend over to pick something up.

    Cast – Chris ‘Mr Muscles’ Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Kurt Russell, Sylvester Stallone and the returning voices of Vin Diesel and Bradley Cooper as Groot and Rocket respectively.

    Key Player – It’s a three-way split between whoever produced the great sing-a-long Awesome Mix Tape 2, James Gunn who directed but even more successfully wrote it and Bradley Cooper whose rodent gets all the very best lines.

    Budget – $200 Million which is a whopping sum but after its first week of worldwide release it has made $250 Million and it will make at least three maybe four times that in total – a new money making bandwagon has begun – sequel movies are going nowhere.

    Best Bit – 0.47 mins; Rocket Raccoon takes on a whole army of opponents in a forest with a bunch of ingenious traps that will get any cinema crowd whooping and hollering. When Rocket is on the screen this movie soars.

    Worst Bit – 1.35 mins; The characters here are great the story isn’t. This really hits home at the three-quarter mark when the big bad’s plan is revealed and you A) don’t understand it B. have no interest in it and C) don’t want it resolved by endless blinding CGI.

    Little Secret – They planned a cameo by David Bowie but his death vetoed that, Miley Cyrus, The Hoff and Howard The Duck do make it in. Don’t be late or you will miss Chris Pratt naked and certainly don’t leave early as there are a record-breaking five scenes during the end credits.

    Further Viewing – Guardians 1, Avengers 1 & 2, Thor 1 & 2, Fantastic Four movies if you really have to and everything in the Marvel cannon as all these films intertwine and we are heading fast towards Avengers Infinity War which is two films where the Guardians meet The Hulk, Captain America, Iron Man, Spiderman etc – The biggest movie or car crash of all time coming to megaplexes next year.

    Any Good – Wow, this is great fun, really really great fun, you will laugh, cry, dance, sing and yelp with excitement – go see it now. After last years endless blockbuster disasters, yes Ghostbusters/Independence Day/Batman V Superman and X-Men we are looking at you with Beauty and the Beast & Fast & Furious 8 and now this we could be in for a run of Billion dollar movies through 2017 via Pirates/Aliens/Star Wars/Apes/Transformers/Minions etc – we predict 2017 will be the biggest money making year in a Century of Hollywood movie making; Exciting times.

    Rating – 89% out of 100.

  • FILM REVIEW | Four Days in France

    ★★ | Four Days in France (Jour de France) is basically one very long advert for Grindr.

    One man uses the app to find his missing partner – in the middle of France! I can’t even find a shag in my own neighbourhood much less find someone in the middle of nowhere. But that’s the premise of this film, very far fetched and not quite durable.

    Pierre (Pascal Cervo) up and leaves his partner Paul (Arthur Igual) in the middle of the night with no explanation whatsoever – he just gets in his car and heads out of town. Pierre drives and drives and drives and uses Grindr to hook up with various men along the way – to nowhere.

    He also encounters all sorts of people, including taking a man’s photograph on the very snowy border between France and Italy, is then yelled at by a woman who is tired of gay men using her neighborhood as a cruising area, and a much older man who refuses sex because Pierre smells (he’s been sleeping in his car). What is Pierre’s motivation for doing this?

    This very long 127-minute film doesn’t give us a clue. Paul, meanwhile, is hot on the trail looking for him and narrows his search by using Grindr. It’s only a matter of time (a very long time) until the predictable happens, but before we are expected to believe that they both picked up the same woman on the side of the same road and had the same conversation with her (she tells both of them that they look depressed), and that Pierre goes out of his way to deliver a package to a woman who lives high up on a mountain because one of his shags asked him to do so. Really?

    Writer and director Jérôme Reybaud really tests the viewers’ endurance as some of the driving scenes are way too long and this film could’ve been cut by at least 45 minutes. It’s a bit of an indulgence that Reybaud puts us through this journey, it’s a journey that’s very unbelievable and the payoff it not even worth it. And while there is only one hot hookup in the film, it may be better that you spend your time looking for sex in the middle of France, because according to this film there are lots of lonely and sexually frustrated men there, and all are on Grindr.

     

  • FILM REVIEW | Heal the Living

    FILM REVIEW | Heal the Living

    ★★★★ | Heal the Living

    Heal the Living (Réparer les vivants) deals with a tragedy that changes the lives of two families – it’s very sad and very dramatic like most French films are, but it’s also well acted and well told.

    It deals with the delicacy of life, family, relationships and decisions that need to be made in a tragic time. Teenager Simon (Gabin Verdet) is experiencing his first true love, but when he and his friends get into a tragic car accident it’s up to his parents (Tahar Ramin and Emmanuelle Singer – both very good) to make a heartbreaking decision.

    Meanwhile, Claire Méjean (Ann Dorval) needs a new heart, and while she is waiting she can feel her life ticking away. She’s got two grown boys, and she loves them very much. But without a new heart, she doesn’t have much time to live. So Simon’s tragic accident has very sad consequences for one family but the opposite effect for another family – in a film that is both beautifully and delicately told. Heal the Living, directed by Katell Quillévéré, will leave you in tears. It’s hard hitting yet it comes with an excellent original story (Maylis De Kerangal and Katell Quillévéré) and superb performances all around.

     

  • FILM REVIEW | Unhung Hero

    ★★★★★ | Unhung Hero

    When Patrick Moote proposed to his girlfriend on camera at a baseball game the video of her brusque rejection went viral on YouTube within days.

    It wasn’t the fact that he had been so unceremoniously dumped in public that upset him, it was the reason she gave for her refusal. It really hit poor humiliated Patrick below the belt when she told him it was just because his penis was too small. It’s the nightmare scenario that every man, straight or gay, lives in fear of. Our genitals are after all, how we measure our manhood.

    Patrick, despite earning his living as a stand up comic in New York, didn’t find his predicament funny in the least but it did empower him to embark on a quest to discover how small is small, and what could possibly be done to make his member more memorable. Full credit for him for going so public on an issue that most men would totally shirk away from, and he started his journey by going back and re-visiting old girlfriends to get their take on his love tool.

    They only confirmed the opinions of what medical professionals he later consulted, diagnosed as a ‘smaller than average’ penis. Patrick bared his soul (not body though) to total strangers to get a pop vox on their take on what stigma this ‘affliction’ would mean to them. And in an awkward conversation, his embarrassed father admitted that it was probably a hereditary condition anyway.

    Now Patrick decided to visit any corner of the world where there may be a solution to his dilemma. His trips to Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and Papua New Guinea were both funny and stressful as poor Patrick witnessed all the bizarre treatments that seemed to result in no more inches but a great deal of pain. Our hearts are in our mouths as he tried lifting weights by his testicles and also when he is on the verge of actually injecting some dodgy looking serum into his balls. Ouch!

    The documentary of Patrick’s search is nothing less than a sheer delight: mainly because he has this endearing quality of naiveté and unfiltered honesty publicly exposing himself on a topic most men would never ever dream of even mentioning to their closest friends. It ends up being so much more than the size of his phallus but the importance of Patrick being comfortable with who he really is. It was a brave undertaking and one that was so worth sharing, especially as it ended on such a high note.

  • FILM REVIEW | Handsome Devil

    ★★★★ | Handsome Devil

    One of the most buzzed-about films at London’s recent Flare LGBT Film Festival is getting released this Friday.

    Handsome Devil played to sell-out crowds at the festival (though at one screening there was a power outage so all the attendees were invited back to another screening). Irish movie Handsome Devil is the charming story of an out and proud young gay man who is attending a boarding school for the first time. Fionn O’Shea plays Ned and shares a room with jock and star of the rugby team Conor (Nicholas Galitzine). The rest of the school doesn’t quite know what to make of Ned, he’s a bit of an outcast, yet he and Ned form a special bond, after a rocky start between them, they realise they have more in common with each other than being roommates. Ned’s school life is made much easier with the help of teacher Dan (Andrew Scott in a very winning and sexy performance), who also happens to be gay. But it doesn’t help Ned (and teacher Dan) that the rugby coach is on to both of them – he’s full of prejudice and lets everyone know it. And it’s just a matter of time until the rest of the school comes around and accepts Ned for who he is, especially just in time for the school’s big upcoming rugby match.

    Writer and Director John Butler’s coming of age story is a winning combination of great performances and a story that’s time and tested and that never gets old. Winning lead performances from O’Shea and Galitzine make this one to remember, but it’s Scott as the supportive English teacher that will tingle your loins. His sympathetic teacher is handsome and oh so sexy, especially when he brings his boyfriend to the rugby match outing himself on the spot to the principal. More of these kinds of roles please Mr Scott. Though at times some of the accents are a bit hard to understand, Handsome Devil is very charming and memorable.

     

     

  • Review – The Fate Of The Furious (FF8)

    Review – The Fate Of The Furious (FF8)

    FAST AND FURIOUS 8 – This record breaking, epic edition to the turbo boosted car based action franchise is the most entertaining movie of the last twelve months by a speeding mile.

    © Universal

    Nutshell – Dom (Vin Diesel) goes rogue, for unknown reasons, forcing the rest of our favourite car wrecking posse to chase across the world from Cuba to Iceland via Germany and New York to find out why he has dissed his extended ‘family’, save the world and defeat tech badass Charlize Theron. Jason Statham is now a good guy and there are two megastar surprise appearances that push this over the top to be one of the greatest popcorn movies of all time.

    Running Time – 136 minutes; Certificate – 12A; The ultimate guys movie but with something for everyone really.

    Tagline – ‘Family No More: The Ride Isn’t Over’ – It should be, ‘The best fun you can have with your clothes on’.

    TheGayUK Factor – So, so many hunks, bulging shirts and even bigger trouser bulges. Vin Diesel, The Rock and Jason Statham are three huge gay icons but you get so many other big studs including the hottest piece of new man flesh Scott Eastwood (Clint’s son) who is a pure 11 out of 10 in anyones book. So much testosterone and you just know that there is some ass action between all the motorised mayhem.

    Cast – Vin Diesel, Jason Statham, Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, Charlize Theron, Scott Eastwood, Michelle Rodriguez, Kurt Russell and loads more big names plus those two great megastar cameos in the third act that will make your chin drop to the floor and get you whooping with delight.

    Key Player – Vin Diesel took over this dying franchise after the appalling number 3 and turned it into a James Bond crossed Heist huge star juggernaut which is starting to look like the most successful franchise of all time. With two more already in the works it should now surpass Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings in the all time earning stakes – taking it third behind Bond and Star Wars in a fraction of the time and without having to change its stars, style and look along the way.

    Budget – $250 Million. One of the biggest budgets in movie history and it went into profit in just 4 days flat – not so much a gamble as the surest bet for your cash the world has ever seen. Yes, it beat Titanic, Avatar, Jurassic World & every Star Wars in its opening week and we expect it will run and run for months.

    Best Bit – 1.02 mins. So many to choose from but one never before seen set of car stunts invoked by Theron’s bad girl Cypher who remotely takes control of hundreds of cars and makes them speed around corners in unison and then causes it to start raining automobiles from above – sensational stuff.

    Worst Bit – 0.00 mins. For the first time in TheGayUK annals we have great pleasure in saying their truly isn’t a bad bit here.

    Little Secret – Star & Exec Producer Vin Diesel had a massive bust up on set with Dwayne Johnson which resulted in an extremely pointed public tweet where Johnson said he was finished with the series for good. He called Diesel out for being a chicken shit, unprofessional and a candy ass – an urgent 6 hour meeting was called to patch things up… for now.

    Further Viewing – Fast 1’s through 7, all the Bournes, all the Bonds, Ocean’s 11 through 13, Cannonball Run, Monte Carlo Or Bust, Ronin and 25 series of Top Gear plus Clarkson’s new The Grand Tour.

    Any Good – This is a magnificently fun film. When you look up Friday night popcorn entertainment in the dictionary from now on you will see 4 words, Fast & Furious 8. Five was incredible, Seven was off the hook and this is way better, funny, exciting, jaw dropping and so much more. Yes, we are going over the top, but we cannot remember the last time we threw our hands up in the air in the movie theatre and here we did twice, there was even a round of applause at the end. This is the movie of the year period and it’s only April yet.

    Rating – 100 out of 100.

  • FILM REVIEW | Their Finest

    FILM REVIEW | Their Finest

    ★★★ | Their Finest


    A film about London in 1940 during The Blitz is finally being released in theatres – Their Finest – a year and a half after principal photography began and 6 months after it had its European premiere at the London Film Festival in October 2016.

    I’m not entirely sure why it has taken this long for the film to finally make it into the cinemas – it’s not a bad movie, but it’s also not a great movie.

    Their Finest details a motley crew of screenwriters tasked with writing a script for a film that would hopefully lift up Britain’s flagging spirits during WWII as well as inspire America to enter the war. That’s a lot of responsibility for three people to take on, in a film based on the 2009 novel by Lissa Evans. Gemma Arterton’s character Catrin Cole (based on a real woman, Diana Morgan, who wrote for Ealing Studios) actually has no screenwriting experience, but she’s basically just looking for a paycheck to help her artist husband Ellis (Jack Huston) pay the bills. But she gets more than what she bargained for when she’s hired by the British Ministry of Information to assist Tom Buckley (a very good Sam Claflin) on a film script. Winston Churchill tells them that they need to write a story that will inspire the nation, and so they write a propaganda film amidst all that is happening in Europe. But it’s Bill Nighy as the leading man of their film (playing Ambrose Hillard) who steals the movie. He’s wonderful and witty and oh so debonair when he’s on set in the making of the movie within the movie, and he’s wonderful off the set when he’s telling jokes to the rest of the cast and crew, and tender and fatherly when he is giving advice to Catrin. But all is not ok in her life, she catches her husband cheating on her on one of her few visits she makes to their home, and her and Buckley realize they have more in common with each other than just putting words to paper. Set this all against the backdrop of WWII and what you’ve got is a classic in the making.

    But Their Finest is not quite a classic. Some of the scenes look a bit staged, not very realistic for a film that relies on the portrayal of London during the Bliz. Arterton is fine and lights up the screen with her beautiful face, and Claflin is very handsome as her mentor, but director Lone Scherfing (who directed the wonderful An Education with Carey Mulligan) along with a script by Gaby Chiappe, don’t quite make it 100% believable. Production values are fine, costumes wonderful and the score very dramatic when it needs to be, but it’s Nighy that you will remember – he’s deserving of nominations for this film – but the film itself not so much.

  • FILM REVIEW | 71

    ★★★★★ | 71

    Getting left behind by your Army platoon when you go on a dangerous military mission is not exactly a novel idea in the movies, but this new version with rising star Jack O’Connell, this feature debut from TV director Yann Demange is certainly one of the best.

    Set in Belfast, Northern Ireland at the height of ‘the Troubles’ and just one year before the infamous ‘Bloody Sunday’ massacre in 1972, O’Connell plays orphan Gary Hook who had joined the Army as a route to being independent and self-sufficient. He had expected a cushy first assignment and so like the rest of his platoon is shocked to be suddenly deployed instead to be part of the peacekeeping forces in Ulster.

    The first house raid backing up the police in a hostile Catholic area of Belfast that Hook’s unit takes part in, goes dreadfully wrong and the lieutenant in charge orders a hasty retreat when the large crowd of onlookers start getting very violent. In the mayhem to hot-foot it out of there in one piece, Hook and fellow soldier Thommo are left behind. When the two men are cornered by members of the IRA, Thommo is shot dead at point blank but Hook manages to escape into the darkness.

    Totally lost in the warren of backstreets of a hostile alien city the young soldier tries to find a way back to the barracks but meanwhile he is being hunted not just by his Commanding Officer, but also by a covert British Intelligence Unit who are anxious that he doesn’t stumble into any of their operations, and also by two fractions of the IRA who are fighting amongst themselves in how to resolve the situation once they capture him.

    As Hook makes his way around avoiding flying Molotov cocktails seemingly hurled everywhere in the scary streets full of upturned vehicles set on fire, he is aware of being very much alone. He falls into the hands of a young kid who takes him to the HQ of the UDF the Protestant paramilitaries.

    It’s obvious that come to the final showdown when Hook is finally reached by one or all of the parties out to locate him that there will be more mayhem and shootings in this conflict that never shows the slightest indication that it would ever cease.

    Full marks to cinematographer Tat Redcliffe and production designer Chris Oddy for making the streets of Blackburn (in the North of the UK) standing in for Belfast, look so utterly menacing and full of fear. It’s a very impressive story and is directed with such remarkable style that it earned Demarge a British Independent Film Award for his work.

    It is, however, young Jack O’Connell’s dynamic performance as the scared young soldier immersed in a bloody struggle that he neither understood or could even relate to, that makes this movie so very compelling. His fight was for his own life and to simply ensure that he would survive and be there to support his kid brother still trapped in the Orphanage back home. O’Connell’s talents lie in convincing us with his steadfast bravado and his powerful physical presence, yet somehow at the same time never letting us forget he’s still a big kid at heart. This role follows his outstanding performance in the prison drama ‘Starred Up’ and with his starring role in Angelina Jolie’s ‘Unbroken’ about to be released, this young British actor is clearly destined to be one of THE next batch of Hollywood’s leading men.

    This review was first published in Dec 2014

  • FILM REVIEW | The Theory Of Everything

    ★★★★★ | The Theory Of Everything

    The remarkable life story of the world-renowned physicist and cosmologist Stephen Hawking who was diagnosed with motor-neurone disease at the age of 21 years and defying medical prognosis of an imminent death went on to publish world-changing theories of relativity and quantum mechanics turns out to be one of the most tender and romantic movies of the year.

    This new biopic from James Marsh (Oscar Winning Director of the documentary Man On The Wire) is based on the second biography written by Stephen Hawkins ex-wife Jane and focuses very much on how she enabled him to lead a full and rich life in spite of his crippling illness. Their story really starts when Hawkins, having won a First Honors Degree at Oxford University, chooses to transfer to Cambridge to do his post-graduate doctorate. Here he meets and immediately falls in love with Jane despite the fact that they seem like total opposites: she is studying poetry and is a devout churchgoer. When Hawkins discovers this last point he dryly remarks that he has a problem ‘with the whole celestial-dictator premise’. Somehow their marked differences seem to actually unify them, partly because one of the Hawkins’s strongest traits is his ability to be open to changing his opinions. None so more apparent when later on in life when he contradicted one of his most important theories and did a complete U-turn and actually proved that he got it wrong the first time around.

    When Hawkins is forced to realise that all his clumsy physical missteps that culminate with him hitting his head during a sidewalk fall are because of the fact that he has this debilitating illness, it’s Jane who has the inner strength to push Hawkins into both marriages and also into not giving up. Despite the fact the Doctors have declared that he will be dead in two years, the couple starts a family whilst Hawkins finally starts his Dissertation.

    Hawkins rapid physical deterioration makes him completely dependent on Jane for even the most basic daily bodily functions. The only parts that seem untouched by this particularly pernicious illness are his brain and his wit, both of which sustain and enable him to be the brilliant and very funny quick-witted man that he is. However, with both her husband needing 24/7 help and two children to bring up too, Jane needs some support and relief. She finds this in her local Church after joining the choir led by a handsome newly widowed man. Jonathan, still bereft after his recent loss, is at a loose end so is happy to help Jane out with some of the tougher tasks keeping her family functioning which inevitably draws the two of them closer. So much so that when she later gives birth to another son, there is talk about who the real father is.

    By the time that Jane hires a nurse to help Stephen after he can no longer speak, their marriage which had finally been strained to near breaking point, now slowly moves to a separation and eventually divorce just as the movie reaches its end. There is one final scene of a graceful reconciliation when Hawkins is invited to Buckingham Palace to receive his Order of Merit from the Queen, which seems a fitting finish.

    Marsh doesn’t discount the vast body of Hawkins’s work in the story but he places it a context that makes it easier to understand for those of us that cannot comprehend the many complexities of ‘A Brief History of Time’ and all his subsequent intellectual theories. He clearly shows the vast importance of Hawkins findings on black holes and the boundaries of the universe with the reactions of the academic world and the acclaim and fame that accompanies all of this.

    By focusing on the highly personal story of this remarkable man who could never have any of his achievements without the unselfish love and devotion of the exceptional woman, he gives us one of the most unique and compelling behind-the-scenes biopics ever. What raises it to be such an awe-inspiring movie, however, is the electrifying impassioned performance of young Eddie Redmayne as Hawkins.The defining trait of how brilliant he is in this role is that he has captured the very essence and soul of this great man as his body stops functioning. Without even realising it, you quickly appreciate that he has gone way beyond just capturing Hawkins’s physical decline in this deeply thoughtful career-defining performance that is nothing short of breath-taking. He is so wonderfully brilliant that the images of him lighting up the screen remain with you for days after. He should start practising his acceptance speech for the many Awards that he will now be showered with.

    Felicity Jones gives a quiet and powerful performance as Jane Hawkins, and there is an impressive list of talented supporting actors like Charlie Cox, David Thewlis, Emily Watson and Simon McBurney.

    The script by writer (and novelist) Antony McCarten is peppered with some perfect moments of real humour and wit and it makes this such an uplifting tale even in the darker moments of the story. Evidently, Jane Hawkin’s first biography was written immediately after the divorce was not quite so full of sweetness and light, so it’s probably a good thing they passed on to the happier, and presumably the truer, version of this story.

    First published in Dec, 2014

  • Film REVIEW | I Am Michael

    ✭✭✭✭ | I Am Michael

    I Am Michael Review
    CREDIT:

    James Franco is very convincing as a man who renounces his homosexuality to lead a religious straight life in the film I Am Michael.

    Franco is one of Hollywood’s busiest actors. One look at his IMDB page shows an incredible 21 upcoming projects with a mix of indie and blockbuster films. He also likes to mix up his repertoire (and keep his fans guessing) by playing gay characters. He was a gay porn producer in King Cobra, and he directed and produced the 2013 controversial film Interior. Leather Bar. And now in I Am Michael, Franco has his gayest role yet.

    It’s based on the true story of Michael Glatze, who claimed he was no longer gay and became a straight pastor. But in 1999, Michael was in a gay relationship with boyfriend Bennett (Zachary Quinto) and was the editor of the successful real-life XY Magazine, while at the same time living in San Francisco – it was the ultimate gay life and gay lifestyle. But Bennett’s father has a job for him in Halifax, Canada, so they relocate there – it’s a city with not much to do, but they end up hooking up with the young good looking Tyler (Charlie Carver). But after a few panic attacks, and memories of his late father and mother, Michael starts to question his homosexuality – he starts to re-evaluate his life, loves, and takes up to reading the bible for answers, until one day he leaves it all behind for a new life.

    Shot in just 20 days in New York, on a budget of $2.5 million, I Am Michael didn’t get the proper cinema release that it deserved. It’s done the film festival circuit and it’s only now being released, on video on demand. Writer and Director Justin Kelly keeps the movie flowing, and it never once loses the faith of its subject matter. Franco superbly carries this film (though his hairstyle seems to change in every scene) and the rest of the cast excellently support him. It’s a highly recommended watch not just for it being a gay film – it’s Franco’s performance that is more than worth the watch.

    I Am Michael is out now.

     

  • FILM REVIEW | My Straight Son

    ★★★★ | My Straight Son

    Diego a successful fashion photographer in Caracas has commitment phobia but the very night he is about to tell Fabrizio his Doctor boyfriend that he will move in with him after all, is the same night that Fabrizio is the victim of a vicious fatal gay bashing. It is also the same night that Armando, his estranged teenage son, turns up from Spain to stay with him for a few months whilst his mother goes to London to study for a Masters degree.

    This very melodramatic first 24 hours sets the tone for a hectic story packed full of characters that deliberately sets out to tug at your heartstrings for the next two hours. Father and son are like strangers and must learn how to adapt to each other. Armando to the unknown homosexual world of a father grieving for his partner that he had never met, and Diego to the closed attitude of his adolescent son.

    Added to the mix are both Diego’s own parents and Fabrizio’s too who are completely homophobic and are obsessed with watching Venezuela’s most popular TV Chat Show with its buxom bigoted host who loves to stir up fear of the unknown with her inflammatory remarks. Plus Diego’s female assistant/friend that keeps going back to her abusive boyfriend who beats her up most days, and the penniless transsexual choreographer who has to subsidise her modern dance troupe by still doing her lip-syncing drag act at a gay club at night to pay the rent. Between them all director/writer Miguel Ferrari insures that he covers the whole gamut of social issues from gay parenting and partners rights to gender identity.

    Despite its (too) many layers and all its plot complications there is something very compelling about the unraveling of the relationship between the father and son that ensures our investment in watching to the end to see how its all going to turn out. Maybe it’s the sonorous tones of the orchestra’s lush string section that pervades the dramatic soundtrack, or just seeing a cute nervous Armando mastering the art of the Tango so that he can win the heart of his new Internet girlfriend?

    It’s sweet and funny and immensely moving with some very fine performances from this handsome and talented cast, plus there is more than a hint of Almodovar about the whole thing. The movie has been wowing audiences already and in Spain it won the Best Foreign Picture Goya (their Oscars) when it still had the original and much better title of ‘Azul y No Tan Rosa’ which literally translates into ‘Blue, and Not So Pink’, and it should do just as well as here even with its newer clumsier title.

    Highly recommended.