Rating: Not Rated
Movie Release Date: November 21, 2008
DVD Release Date: June 9, 2009
Plot 411: A gay teen creates a love potion that allows his town to live a day in his shoes.
Review: I don't even know where to start with this one. In general terms, this is a musical, a romance, a coming-of-age flick, a gay and lesbian flick, a comment on society and a homage to Shakespeare all in one. How can this be, you ask? Well, for one, this is definitely an unconventional movie in every aspect. Timothy (Tanner Cohen) is a gay teen who attends an all-boys school. He is bullied and picked on by the other kids. When his lit teacher puts on A Midsummer Night's Dream for the senior play, all the boys must try out. Timothy is selected for the role of Puck, and while he is memorizing his lines, he discovers a hidden love potion within the text. He creates this potion and accidently splashes it on his friend Max's (Ricky Goldman) face. Max immediately falls in love with Timothy, despite being heterosexual. Timothy capitalizes on this power and eventually douses his fellow cast members with the potion. For the first time, he is able to embrace his homosexuality because everyone else is like him. Ok, I think that's enough about the plot. What made this movie completely intriguing was its depth - once you saw beyond all the theater hijinks. I gotta admit, at first I thought this was a completely cheesy movie that happened to have some singing in it. I thought the acting was horrible and the plot ridiculous. It was as if the worst off-Broadway show about A Midsummer Night's Dream was captured on film or like the most inane wannabe artist cooked this movie up for his theater group. I was also disturbed by the stereotypical portrayals of homosexual boys/men. I mean, must every gay guy wear skinny jeans? Do they all have to like techno pop? However, after a while it started to grow on me. The movie is complex, mysterious, artistic and bold. Some scenes looked like they were straight out of live theater. Others looked like they were hand-picked out of late '90s music videos. All were cinematic and magical. The best part of the movie was the play within a play - or movie, in this case. The depiction of an alternate version of Shakespeare's play was great. The costumes and makeup were extraordinarily detailed. Even as I got sucked in by the movie, I was still aware that the acting is pretty iffy. But I could appreciate the movie for what it was trying to do. It was like going to an underground theater group to watch a whacked out performance that is trying to say ten different things at once while being unfathomably deep.
Watch It: With an open mind - and I'm not talking about the gay/lesbian scenes. The entire thing is just pretty out there.
Skip It: If theater going is not your thing. Watching this movie is like going to one of those plays that are more spoken word and performance art than classical acting.
Movie Release Date: November 21, 2008
DVD Release Date: June 9, 2009
Plot 411: A gay teen creates a love potion that allows his town to live a day in his shoes.
Review: I don't even know where to start with this one. In general terms, this is a musical, a romance, a coming-of-age flick, a gay and lesbian flick, a comment on society and a homage to Shakespeare all in one. How can this be, you ask? Well, for one, this is definitely an unconventional movie in every aspect. Timothy (Tanner Cohen) is a gay teen who attends an all-boys school. He is bullied and picked on by the other kids. When his lit teacher puts on A Midsummer Night's Dream for the senior play, all the boys must try out. Timothy is selected for the role of Puck, and while he is memorizing his lines, he discovers a hidden love potion within the text. He creates this potion and accidently splashes it on his friend Max's (Ricky Goldman) face. Max immediately falls in love with Timothy, despite being heterosexual. Timothy capitalizes on this power and eventually douses his fellow cast members with the potion. For the first time, he is able to embrace his homosexuality because everyone else is like him. Ok, I think that's enough about the plot. What made this movie completely intriguing was its depth - once you saw beyond all the theater hijinks. I gotta admit, at first I thought this was a completely cheesy movie that happened to have some singing in it. I thought the acting was horrible and the plot ridiculous. It was as if the worst off-Broadway show about A Midsummer Night's Dream was captured on film or like the most inane wannabe artist cooked this movie up for his theater group. I was also disturbed by the stereotypical portrayals of homosexual boys/men. I mean, must every gay guy wear skinny jeans? Do they all have to like techno pop? However, after a while it started to grow on me. The movie is complex, mysterious, artistic and bold. Some scenes looked like they were straight out of live theater. Others looked like they were hand-picked out of late '90s music videos. All were cinematic and magical. The best part of the movie was the play within a play - or movie, in this case. The depiction of an alternate version of Shakespeare's play was great. The costumes and makeup were extraordinarily detailed. Even as I got sucked in by the movie, I was still aware that the acting is pretty iffy. But I could appreciate the movie for what it was trying to do. It was like going to an underground theater group to watch a whacked out performance that is trying to say ten different things at once while being unfathomably deep.
Watch It: With an open mind - and I'm not talking about the gay/lesbian scenes. The entire thing is just pretty out there.
Skip It: If theater going is not your thing. Watching this movie is like going to one of those plays that are more spoken word and performance art than classical acting.
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