Boy Culture (2006)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

Q. Allan Brocka

Writers:

Q. Allan Brocka (writer)
Philip Pierce (writer)

Release Date:

31 January 2007 (France)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

sex pays. love costs.

Plot:

A successful male escort describes in a series of confessions his tangled romantic relationships with his two roommates and an older, enigmatic male client. |

Plot Keywords:

Homosexuality | Vulnerable | Marriage | Twinkie | Defense Mechanism

Awards:

7 wins

Cast

Derek Magyar	...	X
George Jonson	...	Blondie
Patrick Bauchau	...	Gregory Talbot
Darryl Stephens	...	Andrew
Peyton Hinson	...	Jill
Jonathon Trent	...	Joey
Kyle Santler	...	Scooter
Emily Brooke Hands	...	Lucy
Matt Riedy	...	Frank
Clifford Harrington	...	Renaldo
Molly Manago	...	Cheyenne
Demene E. Hall	...	Zelma (as Demene Hall)
William Hall Jr.	...	Oren
Joël René	...	Candace
Kibibi Monie	...	Phyllis (as Kibibi Monié)

Runtime:

France:90 min | USA:88 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

France:-12 | Australia:MA (2007) | Germany:16 | Netherlands:12 | Philippines:R-13 (MTRCB) | New Zealand:R16

Filming Locations:

Seattle, Washington, USA

Company:

Boy Culture LLC

Trivia:

X's rental car is a 2004 Jaguar XKR.

Goofs:

Errors in geography: When X and Andrew are heading to Portland for the wedding, the scenery of Seattle going by is heading north. Portland is south of Seattle.

Quotes:

X: [narrating] Forgive me Father, I was too lazy to do more than pretend everything would be alright.

Movie Connections:

References "Judge Judy" (1996)

Soundtrack:

Making The Grade

An Intelligent and Stylish Film That Goes Beyond Its Genre

BOY CULTURE is a very fine little film and were it being evaluated solely within the confines of gay films, it would easily rate 10 stars. It is well written, well directed, well acted and has messages that cover a fairly broad territory (racism, homophobia, hustler life style, relationships, coming out tales and tales from the closet, etc). There are some technical flaws with the film and some unresolved character problems that prevent it from being what it comes close to being, but finally here is a gay themed film that is wise, entertaining, and user-friendly for a larger population than the community for which it was made.

The story is biographical in nature: "X" (Derek Magyar) is a male hustler who lives off the income from a limited clientèle of regulars, who occupies a living space with two gay roommates - Andrew (Darryl Stephens) and Joey (Jonathon Trent) - and who has what he thinks it takes to make him happy. The missing element is love, and in several ways he comes into proximity with that missing thread: his newest client is Gregory (Patrick Bauchau in a richly nuanced performance as a elderly closeted loner) who introduces X to the finer things in life, including introspection and looking for what is missing in his world. Andrew is a conflicted African American man who still misses the caring he had with a girlfriend whose wedding he is to attend. Joey has just turned 18 and looks to X and Andrew as father figures. The problem is that X and Andrew have deeper feelings of attraction and commitment to each other than either wants to admit, and the story (as narrated by X) is about how this mutual challenging need is resolved.

Q. Allan Brocka directed and co-wrote the film with Philip Pierce and the dialog is snappy at times and gently tender at others. The cast is quite fine: the young lads are top notch eye candy while bringing solid acting skills to their roles, and the older actors bring a since of resilience to the story that keeps it grounded in style. This is a very good little film that deserves a wider audience, one that needs to see this aspect of the population once considered merely peripheral. Movies like this help understanding interpersonal relationships, and everyone needs to address that. Grady Harp