This movie is fine until the last 15 minutes.
Some people here have said that the film could never capture the subtleties of the book. That may be so but the film does stand on it's own merit...until the very end.
I found the last fifteen minutes absurd and a difficult swallow. (No pun intended.)
Are we really to believe that Ray is willing to risk everything for a blow job in close proximity to his very straight and butch comrades ?
Are we really being compelled to believe that Nathan, who has obviously suffered sexual abuse from his father now dies whilst being raped by one of Ray's butch friends. Sorry, but it looks all too ridiculous on film.
Then the ending is fudged. Do they leave the body in the house undiscovered ? Did they show it to the father ? Did anybody find out ? Does Ray realize his blow-job has cost his lover Nathan his life as well as make his straight buddy a raping murderer ?
Do we assume it's Nathan's ghost that haunts Roy in the final sequence or that everything is back to normal and nothing actually happened ?
It all gets a bit Twin-Peaks at best with a big emphasis on the subject of being haunted, very muddled and confused and unbelievable for everybody else.
That's a shame as it had a thing going for it for the first 3/4s of the movie.
Some people here have said that the film could never capture the subtleties of the book. That may be so but the film does stand on it's own merit...until the very end.
I found the last fifteen minutes absurd and a difficult swallow. (No pun intended.)
Are we really to believe that Ray is willing to risk everything for a blow job in close proximity to his very straight and butch comrades ?
Are we really being compelled to believe that Nathan, who has obviously suffered sexual abuse from his father now dies whilst being raped by one of Ray's butch friends. Sorry, but it looks all too ridiculous on film.
Then the ending is fudged. Do they leave the body in the house undiscovered ? Did they show it to the father ? Did anybody find out ? Does Ray realize his blow-job has cost his lover Nathan his life as well as make his straight buddy a raping murderer ?
Do we assume it's Nathan's ghost that haunts Roy in the final sequence or that everything is back to normal and nothing actually happened ?
It all gets a bit Twin-Peaks at best with a big emphasis on the subject of being haunted, very muddled and confused and unbelievable for everybody else.
That's a shame as it had a thing going for it for the first 3/4s of the movie.