The Sum Of Us

The Sum Of Us

NOW ON NETFLIX STREAMING!

I always look for gay films that speak from a far more “blue collar”, or well, more “realistic” (to me anyway) day to day frame of reference about REAL gay relationships with REAL gay people who are not in some type of messed up self realization quandary. It seems the only way gay people generate any interest is by coming out or dying some tragic death.

This is not my only complaint about gay movies really. You have seen me go on and on about AIDS “two hanky” formula flicks or about the over abundance of New York oriented gay movies when San Francisco was the gayest city by far for a long time.

The thing I have about gay comedy films that come to mind… Can there be films out there that do not depend solely on the main character’s homosexuality or inability to accept his/her homosexuality or maybe the added bonus inability to hook up with other homosexuals being the whole reason for the “COMEDY” we are watching in any given film? Can there be gay movies that do not end up looking like a self absorbed Woody Allen “analysis and self realization as comedy shtick”?

Don’t get me wrong, there have been numerous over-the-top plays made into films that I have loved like Torch Song Trilogy or Priscilla Queen of the Desert that discuss these things but that is not their real focus. They are also not extremely realistic but at least they have heart and something to say about the gay perspective.

Unfortunately as it usually happens when I sit down to watch gay comedy flicks I find I end up with crap like Big Eden or that equally nauseous In & Out. BLAH! It’s like watching a 30-minute Jeff Foxworthy or Tim Allen monologue. You start to really rethink your whole viewpoint on Capital Punishment or strengthen your Pro-Abortion stance even if you originally felt very different on the issues before the the movie began.

The Sum of Us was filmed in 1994 by Geoff Burton and Kevin Dowling who managed to get the funds together to put out what I consider to be a close-to-acceptable gay comedy film.

With excellent performances of both Russell Crowe as Jeff Mitchell the very normal gay son of Jack Thompson playing his father Harry Mitchell. Damn if they ain’t the butchest pair of manly Australian men I have seen on film together. The testosterone generated by Russell Crowe in a pair of Rugby shorts is enough to make the most jaded queen in the room swoon.

Russell Crowe as Jeff Mitchell does a beautiful job as a young, gay PLUMBER… Imagine that! So he’s a blue-collar worker, he gets depressed, he drinks, he smokes pot, he yells at his father about the lack of clean clothes and looks for love in all the wrong places. He even wears cologne to impress a prissy queen he decides to date.

None of the issues he faces come about simply because he is gay, they happen because he is a guy. This is great, hell it’s even almost touching, Crowe comes across as a capable actor and more importantly as a character you would like to have as a friend even if you were straight and could care less what he looks like in Rugby shorts.

Jack Thompson playing the father Harry Mitchell is a bit more than I could handle. I mean he is obviously a loving father, but… Gawd blimey! I would have some serious issues with his behavior. As far as acting goes he comes across realistic and likable, these guys are two really fair dinkum blokes.

I can’t blame any of them for the writing.

Now for the writing… The third act of this movie sucks. With all the other characters that start piling up, with all the potential conflicts they bring to the life of Jeff and Harry, you would think the writer would have kept it simple. He creates a perfect realistic setup and then, AND THEN he fucks it up. The whole beginning story gave a lot more interesting possibilities for where the movie could have gone.

There was just no need for what David Stevens went and did to force the BIG DRAMATIC finale, taking the easiest way out in a in-your-face bid to stir up the emotions of the viewers. Remember how I hate gay AIDS flicks trying to milk the melodrama? Yeah, he kinda goes there.

The final part of the movie leaves me cold. It is here that the whole thing starts to look like a poorly thought out soap opera instead of a damn good movie it started as. Unrealistic situations start creeping in and spoiling a film I was really rooting for from the start

In summary I guess you can’t have everything.

Subtle acting and realistic situations provide a wonderful father and gay son movie in this Australian import. Did I mention Russell Crowe in a pair of Rugby shorts?

Uh huh!

It is now on the Netflix streaming service so go try it out.

Tags: Movie