I vaguely, vaguely knew the premise before I popped in the tape and to my delight the "premise" that would have taken most mainstream films 90 minutes to build up to instead was made very clear to the main characters in the first 7 minutes. This was no "idiot plot", no, this was about some deeper themes, things that need some time to ruminate on.
I guess I'd have to call it a soulful film. Much was left unsaid, there was alot of space in which to think and percolate and just float through it all.
****SPOILER-STOP READING IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN IT YET*** I'd agree that the very end ending was wrapped up a bit too neatly, but I have to take issue with some other reviewers who thought that Chuck's sleeping with Buck was out of character and unbelievable, it struck me a bit oddly at first as well, but one of the key components of Chuck & Buck's friendship is that Chuck has all the power, he's older, obviously Buck has something going on mentally too, so Chuck chose to have that best friendship with Buck in the first place, he chose to be sexual with Buck, Buck had little to do with it, other than acquiesce.
Anytime you have that much power it's going to feel very safe to experiment or do anything else you like with that person, that is one of the draws of a relationship like that. So here is Chuck, who has turned out to be a real a*****e as an adult (maybe he was as a kid too), and he's living the rat-maze life, pursuing power and money and beauty and collecting them along the way, but he also obviously has sexual desires that he can't express in the cultural world he's living in and so he takes the opportunity given to him with Buck, after all, I don't think he really feels that threatened by Buck, we as a viewer don't know Buck that well and with the haunting music and the set-ups by the writer and director I think he comes off a whole lot more scary and creepy at times than he really is.
Another very interesting reaction is by Chuck's fiancee, when Buck tells him what happened in their childhood sexually she just blows by it, "everyone experiments as kids, that natural", that response shocked me more than Chuck sleeping with Buck, but again if you look at her character and the world they are living in, both Chuck and his fiancee just want to sweep this under the rug and move on with their script-perfect lives...and that is just what they do.
I almost wonder if Buck kind of figures that out in the end. Marriage cake is sweet indeed.
I guess I'd have to call it a soulful film. Much was left unsaid, there was alot of space in which to think and percolate and just float through it all.
****SPOILER-STOP READING IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN IT YET*** I'd agree that the very end ending was wrapped up a bit too neatly, but I have to take issue with some other reviewers who thought that Chuck's sleeping with Buck was out of character and unbelievable, it struck me a bit oddly at first as well, but one of the key components of Chuck & Buck's friendship is that Chuck has all the power, he's older, obviously Buck has something going on mentally too, so Chuck chose to have that best friendship with Buck in the first place, he chose to be sexual with Buck, Buck had little to do with it, other than acquiesce.
Anytime you have that much power it's going to feel very safe to experiment or do anything else you like with that person, that is one of the draws of a relationship like that. So here is Chuck, who has turned out to be a real a*****e as an adult (maybe he was as a kid too), and he's living the rat-maze life, pursuing power and money and beauty and collecting them along the way, but he also obviously has sexual desires that he can't express in the cultural world he's living in and so he takes the opportunity given to him with Buck, after all, I don't think he really feels that threatened by Buck, we as a viewer don't know Buck that well and with the haunting music and the set-ups by the writer and director I think he comes off a whole lot more scary and creepy at times than he really is.
Another very interesting reaction is by Chuck's fiancee, when Buck tells him what happened in their childhood sexually she just blows by it, "everyone experiments as kids, that natural", that response shocked me more than Chuck sleeping with Buck, but again if you look at her character and the world they are living in, both Chuck and his fiancee just want to sweep this under the rug and move on with their script-perfect lives...and that is just what they do.
I almost wonder if Buck kind of figures that out in the end. Marriage cake is sweet indeed.