In the Flesh

I thought In the Flesh had great promise.

The story (surprisingly?) is excellent, and there is even some character development happening. But altogether it was very slow going. Not just in the plot though ... even the actors movements seemed to be painfully plodding.

I would have liked to see more of the heroin dependent sister and the "slow" boy playing his Nintendo. These seemed to add a really human touch to the rent boy.

More action (or even sex) scenes would have given it a nice boost along.

I gave it a 6 out of 10 mainly for the story.

This movie certainly caught and held my attention. I didn't really foresee the way the movie would end. It was a good movie with really great acting.

Dane Ritter was superb as the "full-of-it" hustler with very low self-esteem. He portrayed an incredibly complex character and gave an honest performance. He became the character "Oliver" - confused, bright, beautiful, articulate, friendless.

Ed Corbin delivered another superb performance as the closeted police officer. What impressed me most about his performance was the way he went from being closeted to being completely open about his sexuality. He, too, plays a complex character very believably, and gave a nuanced performance. He and Dane played opposite each other very well indeed.

The story is a well-known story: a hustler's street life comes to an abrupt end when a tragedy strikes, making him unable to pursue his business. In comes the cop who takes a liking to the hustler. Then comes love. This particular movie shows more than the standard story: it shows that all people are complex with secrets they must hide. However, when the secrets come out - acceptance and forgiveness follows.

Very highly recommended.

The acting was good, especially the police chief, the sister and the girlfriend. I enjoyed the fact that the gay theme wasn't over powering. It was a love story that happened to be about two men. I would have liked to see more of the two other police, they seem to disappear for long periods of time. I loved the bar scenes with all the boys, they made you want to know more about them and their lives. All in all a good film worth seeing.

After a very disheartening beginning this story moves quickly (but not quickly enough) towards what it is really all about: trust between men. Ben Taylor chose a stalking killer as a plot device, unfortunately the identity of the killer is not much of a mystery. Nevertheless the main focus really is the two male leads and their coming together is explored in ways you don't often get to see in gay-themed films. High praise to Taylor for making an effort to present us with something a little bit different. The two male leads (Ritter and Corbin) are very good together and their performances are far better than I ever expected them to be. Sometimes the script-director is to be thanked, but very often it seems to be the determination and commitment of the actors who pull the film up by its boot straps. Dane Ritter is rivetting. He seems to hit every mark that the story sets for him. All in all, a film that is well worth seeing ... if you can get past the first several minutes.

This film is by no means perfect: the script is a little loose, some of the performances are uninspired, and some of the characters are a little flat. The cinemetography is barely more than functional. But you don't see a movie like this expecting quick cuts and wacky camera angles, special affects and/or lovingly photographed scenery and people. I'm not a big fan of gritty realism, but this movie was extremely intelligent and sensetive in its handling of potentially ugly people and a potentially vulgar, trashy scenario/storyline: that alone sets it apart from about ninety percent of the "gay" cinema that I have seen. Taylor handles his subjects well, and while this is no groundbreaking work of film, it is consistently and appropriately crafted throughout. Points to the women of the film for turning in excellent performances all around, and to Ed Corbin for the way he deftly handled the moment he asks Oliver if he can just hold him: it was totally believable, and you could see everything this guy had to go through to make such a request. Also, a fantastic, beautiful, haunting soundtrack that I really wish I could find on CD. All in all, a worthy effort, worth checking out.