I did quite enjoy this film, with its vague homage to Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice", and cast of colourful characters. It seems to embrace gay stereotypes at the same time as mocking them. It is quite watchable, but you have to put your critical faculties into neutral.
Theres a lot of buff bodies, waxed and muscled, as you'd expect, with Torian Miller being a nice exception - I wish he could have had more screen time.
The standouts for me were Bowen Yang as Howie (based on Jane Bennet and Charlotte Lucas), and Conrad Ricamora as Will, who was the Darcy character. I thought Will's trajectory from a disapproving bystander to a smiling lover was beautifully done. And Howie's introspection was very well played.
However, the film has a confusing message. And the stereotypes it portrays are outdated. But perhaps that's part of the enjoyment: outrageous types such as played by Tomas Matos might not be the centrepieces of gay representation as once they were, but he is still great fun to watch.
So the film has both a sort of nostalgia for the hedonistic life of the past, and a more serious message about relationships, fitting in, acceptance and understanding. The trouble was that I could never be sure which was the most important, and this tension detracted from rather than enhanced the film.
A more careful editing and tighter screenplay would have made this a better film. As it is, it isn't unwatchable, but it is less than it could have been.
Theres a lot of buff bodies, waxed and muscled, as you'd expect, with Torian Miller being a nice exception - I wish he could have had more screen time.
The standouts for me were Bowen Yang as Howie (based on Jane Bennet and Charlotte Lucas), and Conrad Ricamora as Will, who was the Darcy character. I thought Will's trajectory from a disapproving bystander to a smiling lover was beautifully done. And Howie's introspection was very well played.
However, the film has a confusing message. And the stereotypes it portrays are outdated. But perhaps that's part of the enjoyment: outrageous types such as played by Tomas Matos might not be the centrepieces of gay representation as once they were, but he is still great fun to watch.
So the film has both a sort of nostalgia for the hedonistic life of the past, and a more serious message about relationships, fitting in, acceptance and understanding. The trouble was that I could never be sure which was the most important, and this tension detracted from rather than enhanced the film.
A more careful editing and tighter screenplay would have made this a better film. As it is, it isn't unwatchable, but it is less than it could have been.