Getting Go, the Go Doc Project (2013) User Reviews

Blasts stereotypical gay themes out of the water and into reality

[ilikeimdb · 8/10 · 6 January 2015]

This is a movie more about the juxtapositioning of surface thematics than about anything else...and you have lots of them: the innocent narcissist versus the vapid sex toy; the inherent sadness of loneliness versus the snarky adulation of the crowds; indulgent hero worship versus a pure insouciance. The movie uses a lot of interspersed video which itself is a commentary on the initial fragmentation of the characters into those thematic caricatures.

Without needing a Pygmalion (Shaw) transition in either direction, the leads Go and Doc find themselves drawn towards each other on their own terms. They integrate rather than further fragment and find common ground right in the middle. The truly fabulous tour-of- NYC make-out scenes are celluloid-melting in a deeply romantic and convincing manner in the most egalitarian kissing yet filmed. They are equals and need no excuses.

In the end Doc got exactly what he sought from the beginning: To know himself better through the non-judgmental eyes of a lost (but very sexy) soul.

That was real...

[Silitonga · 7/10 · 8 June 2014]

Just saw it and better than I expected. Despite it's super limited budget, almost every aspect well done, the acting, story, editing, and photography.

Interesting to see Tanner Cohen again on screen after his last film was Were the World Mine (2008), he made reputation there, as the film too, one of the top greatest gay movies according to AfterElton. This some kind of good breakthrough. And the acting, no doubt, he's good.

No wonder, the director, Cory Krueckeberg, chose him as the lead. He was the writer of Were the World Mine (2008) and this is a great debut for him as a director.

The most interesting about this film is the story. It made like semi self-documentary, made by the 'Doc' (Tanner Cohen), who happened to be amateur fake director in a tricky way to get close to his favorite go-go dancer, 'Go' (Matthew Camp). He was very obsessed to 'Go' as he obsessed with online cam and blog. A little bit exhibitionist I say. He contacted 'Go' said that he's a director and want to make him and go-go dancing issue as the topic. Luckily, it was approved.

Then, story between the 'Doc' and the 'Go' begin. The shooting begin as their love of each other also begin to grow. Emotional build and love made, but the truth always altered the story.

Another great aspect of the film is the emotion, intimacy, and the bond between the two main actors really strong. We can felt this aspect almost at the entire film when filming the "amateur fake" documentary. At the point, I almost believe that this film was a "real" documentary starring by two "real" couple.

Some might said it's sad ending, some might said not. For me, it's fair ending and I liked it, because made less "Hollywood ending."

A very painful film...suffers from indie problems

[CubsandCulture · 8/10 · 12 March 2019]

There are too many sequences of this film that drag on past the narrative point of including them. In particular the final near silent montage of kissing delays the climax far too much. The pace of the story is killed as a result. Further, several of the montages of Go border on the hypocritical given the rest of the film's commitment to discuss the rampant objectification of people in the gay community. The film is 20 minutes too long as a result. Likewise, there is a amateurish quality to the performances that prevent a more polished film. Camp and Cohen have good chemistry but they are not great actors. Camp, especially, doesn't seem to understand what subtext is. The docudrama construction feels like a vain attempt too hide this. The film is largely experimental in its filming (They shot at Camp's actual apartment for example) and this can be rather off putting at times.

With that being said the film is quite good. The story is a painful, and a painfully accurate exploration of several major tensions present within the gay community. The notions of too much sex, the cost-benefits assimilation, how to be gay, the various "tribes" of gay men and fickle nature of the male gaze all get a hearing in the film. I related to much of it but I can't say I found it much more than hey this problem exist. A lot of it is left unresolved. That is probably a realistic viewpoint but it adds to the indie vibe of the film.

The film is quite forward in its depiction of homoeroticism. I found the sex scenes very naturalistic. I am not sure if I have seen gay sex depicted as realistic as I have seen here. The film does provide a nice counterpoint to the heteronormative depictions of the male form one usually finds.

I am glad I own this but it is a challenging film to watch.

Unconventional and delightful

[jm10701 · 7 September 2014]

A gorgeous, early-20s gay virgin in Manhattan (if you believe there ever could be such a person), just about to graduate from Columbia and then west to Iowa for grad school, fakes a documentary film project in an attempt to meet a gorgeous gay go-go dancer he's become obsessed with online. To his surprise the dancer goes along with the idea. The fake documentary leads pretty quickly to some very real sex and a lovely, tender, sort-of relationship.

Actor and singer Tanner Cohen, the star of Were the World Mine (made by the same guys who made this one, but MUCH different), plays Doc, the almost-Columbia-grad virgin. Matthew Camp, a real live go-go dancer, plays Go, who is actually himself. The movie was shot in Camp's own apartment, gym, club, supermarket, etc, and follows his regular daily and nightly routine. The only fiction is the business with Doc.

From beginning to end, nothing about this movie is conventional or predictable. Unlike 99.9% of gay men who see this, I thought Doc was lots sexier than Go, but the nerdy type with a totally natural body appeals to me lots more than the buff, shaved, go-go boy type. But Go is very smart and has an angelic face, and inside he's ten times sweeter and more appealing than Doc is - one of the sweetest and most appealing characters ever to appear in a gay movie. Matthew Camp is thoroughly delightful. Definitely, definitely worth seeing.

Blurred Lines

[sinmora · 6/10 · 1 September 2020]

This is quite a hard movie to pin down. It blurs documentary with movie with reality, and sometimes it does so amazingly. And sometimes it does so HORRIBLY.

At times, I cringed at how stilted and dull the acting was between the two leads. It is painfully obvious when they are reciting lines from a script.

But then... the curtain is pulled back and everything feels so REAL. Did they suddenly find a burst of acting talent, bringing the script to life? Are they simply flying by the seat of their pants, every line adlibbed? Or are they simply playing "themselves", bringing their own thoughts and feelings onto the screen?

Personally, I don't know, but it gives the film this odd duality of fabricated reality. Sometimes its so painfully obvious that you're watching two subpar actors parroting lines at each other. But then not even five minutes later, the dialogue is flowing so seamlessly and the chemistry damn near jumping off the screen.

I can't understand it. It just boggles my mind and leaves me in a weird place.

I think with better actors we wouldn't have gotten some of the "real" moments that the film portrays, making the film weaker. But on the other hand, talented actors would have elevated the more obviously scripted portions of this film.

I just don't know. I say approach this film with an open mind and you'll probably be both pleasantly surprised and woefully dissapointed in equal measures.

Charming & entertaining

[justahunch-70549 · 7/10 · 11 December 2022]

This is a delightful and enjoyable lightweight film about the unusual relationship between two young gay men in NY. It's slight as the story is exactly what the synopsis here says. The little tale of a shy young man obsessed over a far from shy go-go dancer in New York who pretends to want to make a documentary about him. The go-go dancer agrees and their "work" and personal relationship begins. They are only known as Go and Doc and they are both adorable. Doc (Tanner Cohen) falls for Go (Matthew Camp), as expected, but things turn out slightly different. Once we get to the point that they are involved, the film is an endless parade of scenes of these two kissing, cuddling, talking, playing & caring about each other with plenty of skin including a long and very romantic montage of kissing scenes filmed in various parts of NY. This was filmed 9 years ago as of this writing and Cohen is so good I am surprised at the lack of more credits than he has. Camp was really a go-go dancer at this point in time and he is just a charming natural in front of a camera and perfect for this part. I could have watched these two for longer as they are so enjoyable together. Special kudos to whoever edited this as it is a major part of what makes this little movie work so well.

Ingenious and moving.

[paulcreeden · 9/10 · 28 October 2014]

I am not a fan of most American gay films. In fact, many remind me of 1980s California high school films, like "Breakfast Club". Gay cable networks certainly haven't helped to refine the quality of gay cinema in the U.S.. After seeing the French "Stranger by the Lake", for example, I was annoyed that the U.S., a leader in LGBTQ politics, still has a largely puerile gay cinema catalog.

"Getting Go, The Go Doc Project" is a big step in the right direction. The artistry of this film and its excellent acting by Tanner Cohen and Matthew Camp is seductive. It presents as a documentary and is totally believable as such. In fact, I felt voyeuristic in the sex scenes because they were so convincingly human and genuine.

The interactions between Doc and Go transported me back 45 years to my own experiences with first infatuation and sexual exploration in friendship. The mattress discussions between Doc and Go about present-day gay male issues were more candid and pertinent than many pages of published gay observers, and in fewer words. The serial public kissing scenes around Manhattan, despite mimicking Warhol, struck me as passionate, intensely erotic and profoundly political, all at once.

I didn't expect to become engrossed in Doc's and Go's world, but I did. Partly because I was revisiting a real urban gay world in which I once lived myself. Since my life hasn't been one of a suburban marriage with children, I found this tremendously moving and encouraging. This movie asserts that there is still a gay male culture aside from heterosexual-lite.

Interesting and different with some issues

[davidpuckartist · 7/10 · 11 March 2020]

The story follows the protagonist vlogging and making an amateur documentary about a gogo boy he obsesses over and wants to get close to. So the actual film is this footage - webcams, cell phones, shaky, naturalistic, real locations not sets etc I really enjoyed this style as it felt much more authentic than traditional filming and invested me more deeply in the world than hollywood-esque dramatics. And to me it was more creatively interesting to watch just for being something different, whilst still having sections of more organised artistic cinematography (mostly thru Warhol homages). The naturalistic style was to me the most interesting part of the film.

Where it then stumbled was when this authenticity conflicted with other more contrived elements of the film like the plot, dialogue and character arcs. Plot wise it is unlikely - the protagonist is creepy af, stalking this boy and making up a film just to get near him, consistently judgemental and selfish, but it works out well for him with no repercussions at all, he is even the one to dump Go in the end.... If the actor wasn't cute there's no way this character would be likeable... I wondered if he was based on the Writer/Director himself and therefore avoided the harsh scrutiny he deserves... The characters are often used as puppets for academic-esque commentary on queer culture, which makes for unrealistic dialogue. The points are interesting but just quite clunkily added in, especially for Go, as his brains, depth and wisdom are never acknowledged by the film - in the end he is still presented as a reduced gogo stereotype which doesnt fit with what he says. (That whole ending was a mess and completely undermined Go's character development and many points in the film. It felt like it was written/shot first. Go is described as narcissistic, needy and shallow - but he consistently showed himself in the film to not be any of those things...). I was very aware that this was the writer of the film speaking about queer culture in general in these moments and not really about or reflecting the characters themselves.

Perhaps the point of the film is that the protagonist was never able to move past his own insecurities, prejudices and fantasies in order to really see and therefore love Go (and queer culture in general) accurately - and instead regresses to the isolated heteronorm countryside of his childhood. That would excuse a lot. But the film doesn't suggest that, it seems to frame the protagonist's arc positively.

Acting wise the lead is good, but Go is often wooden and it again made me very aware that he was reading a script. But he has some wonderful moments of endearing authenticity and I wondered if those were the parts more closely based on his actual self.

Overall I enjoyed it and especially by queer cinema standards it was refreshing and interesting to watch.

Great film, True to life...well, at least mine.

[emerald-294-746620 · 10/10 · 3 January 2015]

This film didn't turn out to be what I thought it was going to be...it was better.

As an old fart it took me a short while to adjust to the style of the film making. It's truly wonderful how affordable and accessible film making has become these days....Thanks Apple. Just start watching and let it all wash over you. Be patient.

The young actors were superb. I had seen Tanner Cohen in Were The World Mine. He was very good in that as well. Mathew Camp seems to have made his debut in this film. Very competent and naturalistic in his performance. Amazing in his complete, complex character portrayal. Who knows? Maybe he is so similar to and comfortable in his characters skin. I don't really care. He was just a pleasure to watch as was Tanner.

I believed both of those boys characters.

The arc was just as it should have been. Realism to the core.

Don't know if the dialogue was improvised or loosely scripted. It seemed so spontaneous and natural that either those two boys are extraordinary actors or the writing is excellent or all of the above.

That's what I liked about the film....believability and accurate portrayal of those two individual's humanity. Served to show that love, especially young and fresh love, never changes. It's a blissful state of insanity. I have experienced the situations and feelings of both these characters back in the days of innocence, youthful optimism and raging testosterone.

This film reflected all of that.

I have been vague with details of the film because discovering it as one goes along is an important part of the pleasure.

Here's how much I was impressed, mesmerized, entertained and stimulated....I just bought the film from Wolfe Video.

It's available on NetflixStreaming, clips on YouTube, VOD from Wolfe Video.

I'm in love with both of those boys.

Great job.

Getting Go, the Doc project

[CinemaSerf · 7/10 · 23 November 2023]

My initial thoughts of this were not great. The iPhone arms-length POV style of juddery photography made me think it was going to be an amateur effort. Well it is, but it isn't... The gorgeously charismatic Tanner Cohen is the younger than his years, inexperienced - on all levels - ("Doc") who falls for an erotic dancer online whom he calls "Go" (Matthew Camp) and comes up with a ruse to get to meet him and explore how he lives his life. Surprisingly, "Go" accepts the proposals and we end up with a love story told in a mix of cinematographic styles with one of the most erotically charged sex scenes I think I've ever seen from US gay cinema. Not raw sex with noise and sweat; but based on intimacy and a genuine affection for each other. Occasionally the scenes may linger a little too long; the pace of the editing could certainly have been tighter - but then maybe it would have lost some of it's authenticity and the characterisations some of their depth. Sometimes real life meanders a bit - we all have plenty of pointless times/conversations in our lives - adds to the richness. I hated the ending; but that's because all I wanted for the pair simply wasn't what they wanted for each other. In a world of largely frothy, contrived plastic drama, this is a stand out piece of creative, observational cinema with two really good, fun, engaging performances.

Bad Movie

[brianpetty · 2/10 · 16 May 2015]

Good Lord, another dreary tale of a guilt-ridden Jewish boy pursuing his elusive goy dream-boy. And Doc thinks himself a virgin although he had lots of oral sex in high school and college (???!). This is one of the most retrograde gay-themed movies I've ever seen, despite its millennial pretensions. The go-go dancer has his act together, and can do much better than this sad-sack. The soundtrack is appealing, but the dialog is often just silly. The premise is promising, that of anonymous virtual sex transitioning to real live contact. But Doc's infantile preconceptions about "saving himself" for his one and only sound more like that of a girl circa 1950.

Great film, a different point of view about gay stereotypes.

[amheba · 8/10 · 21 August 2021]

This film breaks all the rules of stereotypes. So many times we get to see the not so sexy but very smart and moral guy win over the sexy but troubled. This story is not about stereotypes, it's the story of two real people, each unique and not predefined by their outside appearance.

Doc is a very introverted man who's only desire is to fit in, to be like everyone else. But precisely this unacceptance of who he is blocks him from truly loving.

Go is a gorgeous looking guy full of love. He wants to make people happy, as he says making people's interaction with him a pleasant one. He believes in freedom to be who you are regardless of the acceptance of others. And it is his freedom what makes him so capable of loving.

When they meet what happens between them doesn't have to do with what they look like on the outside, where the gorgeous one won't easily commit to the normal one, but with who they are inside, the guy who doesn't like who he is will turn down the love from the guy who feels free to love whoever he wants.

One thing that struck me was the couple of times Doc asked Go about what he likes about himself and other men. When his reply was about inner things he was asked to change his answer to physical traits. Later on Doc says he doesn't want Go to be other people's object, just his own. That led me to think just how lonely such a gorgeous person can feel when people can't get past his looks. Overall it's what ended up happening to him. He was turned down, I found quite cruelly, being told that his looks will fade and he won't have anything to hold on to.

I absolutely fell in love with Go (who wouldn't?, well Doc, I guess). At they beginning when we only got to see how pictures naked and him dancing I just saw one more of the thousands of bodies we see everywhere, hot but nothing I would pay much attention to. But the moment he started talking and smiling I was completely smitten, which I guess reminds us just how important inner beauty is in this visual world.

Overall I felt like I was watching real people with their own whole inner world and not just caricatures which is what we usually find in films. The acting was very natural and the story was not predictable. A very satisfying film that stays with you after the credits roll. Please, more like this!!

enjoyed it! better than expected. (minor spoilers)

[ksf-2 · 7/10 · 6 December 2022]

I liked this better than i thought i was going to. Uni student "doc" comes across go-go boy "go" on a dating/sexting web site, and is now obsessed with him. They meet at go's workplace, a hot bar in nyc. We know that this is all a trick to spend time with the dancer, but go does not. At first. Good stuff. Some interesting ideas presented; discussion of now that the lgbtqia community is gaining the rights others have, they are losing their uniqueness, and radical spirit. This was made ten years ago, but it still totally holds up. Go has some real words of wisdom, for a go-go boy dancer. He's worldly in many ways that doc is not...he knows warhol, and the art world. And is an accomplished painter. Even makes his own clothes. It's got some minor flaws...a very very long kissing scene. I think that go's reactions sometimes weren't realistic; most people would have been much more upset when they had the blowup about an hour in. A script issue, or was go really that low key? Maybe go had more feelings for doc than he let on. And when doc has online sex with the social media group, he acts like he knows go isn't watching... but i'd guess that go was watching or reading his blog. And very aware. He totally let doc off the hook at the end, when doc was judging him, and trying to "save" him. Go was happy, and certainly didn't need saving. Doc never gave go a chance to respond. Was the name "doc" a reference to trying to heal go ? Or is it just short for documentary? It's mostly very good, but the writer lets doc be selfish, and doesn't give go a chance to say his piece. Some weirdness when doc is dumping go... the mouths don't match what we're hearing. But i enjoyed it. I was upset when i saw all the video files being trashed. Doc had his documentary just about completed, and ended up deleting it, apparently out of anger at seeing go with another guy. Doc had gottten what he wanted, and then bailed without a fair discussion. I guess that's the irony of his own beliefs. Written and directed by cory krueckeberg. And it won a bunch of film fest awards.

A crude and antisocial response to love

[Quinoa_Chris_Kirk · 2/10 · 5 December 2014]

I knew nothing about this film and believed, while watching it, that it was really a documentary made by the protagonist. Upon discovering that it was actually made by a filmmaker, I become rather confused as to its intentions. Why is the film so crudely and unimaginatively shot?

I guess my belief in it as a documentary is a credit to the performances. And specifically not a credit to the production, which did look like it was made by the talentless and obsessive protagonist.

The story is one of an antisocial and self-obsessed young man, Doc, who focuses his attention on the image of a go-go dancer he has never met, Go, concocts a plan to "get" him and succeeds. Upon discovering that he is a real person, kind, intelligent and loving, Doc withdraws and blames Go for his own fear and superficiality.

Why would we want to follow such a morally and emotionally lacking protagonist through a film he has made in his own image, where he seeks a sexy ass, discovers a sexy person, and then hysterically justifies his rejection of real emotion and affection.

Surprisingly good

[Red_Identity · 14 September 2014]

I really didn't expect this to be very good. I watched it because the guys looked hot. And one of them was, and it has a lot of very sexy, erotic scenes, but it's also a pretty good story underneath. It's nothing incredibly original, but the two leads have an undeniable chemistry and the writing and dialogue is mostly on point. it's a pretty good LGBT film dealing with issues, and in that respect it reminds me of a more aesthetically energetic Weekend, even if it doesn't hit that film's deeper themes. Overall, for those with low expectations, this will be very surprising in quality. As a film, it really works. I definitely recommend it.

bad DVD cover, very emotional top gay film.

[Hunky Stud · 10/10 · 20 January 2015]

The DVD cover looked really uninteresting and ugly. i thought that it was just another gay film with some hot almost naked guys talking and doing something funny. I was planning to watch it in two nights, but once I started, I can't stop.

It feels as if those two boys were really in love. I wasn't sure if Tanner Cohen was really gay, but he looked like that he was really enjoying gay sex. hehe. both of them seemed to be good actors, they should do more films. they are totally talented.

Then the ending is a little bit sad. I guess that most of viewers probably want to scream at Tanner for making such a bad decision. And at the end, probably everyone wishes that they can really following this gay boy's online account. Too bad, it is only a film. This story is not real.

The sex scenes were a little too graphic for regular non-gay audiences. And the kissing at different places seem to be a little too much as if to fill the time for this film. If the director changed those two parts, I am sure that it could be an even better film just like the brokeback mountain.

Transcending a romcom setup

[charlesem · 8/10 · 10 September 2022]

A small surprise: an extremely low budget movie, much of it shot on an iPhone, that manages to explore issues like objectification and heteronormativity with intelligence and wit and even some tenderness. It takes a romcom setup and transcends it, turning stock figures - the nerd and the hunk - into real people, thanks to shrewd performances by its leads, Tanner Cohen and Matthew Camp, who improvised a good deal of their dialogue. Cohen plays a college student and aspiring writer whose sex life is almost entirely online, jerking off to images of men, particularly a go-go dancer in a gay bar. He becomes obsessed with the dancer, and one drunken night emails him, claiming to be a documentary filmmaker who wants to do a film about the life of a dancer in a bar. To his surprise, the dancer responds, and he finds himself rounding up the necessary camera equipment. The dancer, known in the film as Go, wants to know if he'll be paid, and the student, whom Go calls Doc, agrees to give him five percent of any profits the film might make - although he knows full well that there will probably never be a real film. And then they fall into a real relationship, which, in conventional romcom fashion, we know will be damaged when Go finds out the truth. Except that it doesn't quite work the way, a smart reversal of our expectations. Getting Go doesn't seem to have found much of an audience beyond LGBTQ film festivals, but its attractive performances and intelligent dialogue make it a film that should be more widely known.

Weird and Rambling

[hjames-97822 · 2/10 · 12 July 2015]

What starts as a sort of pretend documentary finally morphs into a rambling series of shopping trips and fake interviews that leads to a sort of Beauty and the Beast sex romp that just left me wondering "Why?" One of the problems with any film that has anything to do with strippers and go-go dancers is that if you've seen one, you've basically seen them all. So here we have Camp, a real life dancer, who is supposedly being stalked (yes stalked) by Tanner Cohen's character.

Instead of being concerned about this little geek chasing him, we are to believe he takes him shopping, to the gym and them home for a sort of carry out dinner. Naturally, in a total leap we are to believe that the hot dancer finds himself in lust with the nerd and now wants to have sex with him. And not just any sex, but to bottom for him too boot. (In an interview Camp confessed the director got them both drunk to do these scenes. If you have to get loaded, are you really much of an actor?) Anyway, this all trolls on for what seems an unusually long period of time before finally sinking like a giant lead balloon running out of gas. The film is badly, badly edited. Chopped up and presented with these dreadfully annoying split screen sequences like something out of Directing 101. It's all pretty lame.

Just my opinion, but Camp is nice to look at if you go in for the muscle boy with lots of tats look. Cohen should reconsider and keep his clothes on.

Adorable

[vlado-77879 · 10/10 · 22 January 2022]

It was a movie filled me in with emotions and thoughts. Out of the scale, out of the frame. Totally recommended. Do not expect. It is about humanity, true love and the cliches. Great acting.

True Love with a go go boy

[bkoganbing · 5/10 · 4 February 2021]

Tanner Cohen and Matthew Camp play a young soon to be college graduate and a go go boy who struts his stuff at a local gay bar. Young Cohen is looking for true love nd he's looking on social media here he spots Camp doing his thing at a nearby club.

It's lust at first sight but Cohen won't admit it. . He contrives a story that he's looking to make a documentary on the life of a go go boy and Camp he's decided is the perfect subject.

After this you get more angst and self questioning than you would find in a Woody Allen movie. If Woody sees this he may put Cohen in one of his future projects.

The two men are good in their parts and sinere in their performances. It's a pleasant film tht veers ever so gently into soft core gay porn.

Mediocre

[apollon-17262 · 5/10 · 1 December 2018]

Ok, a good story which is never going to happen. Never though. The end is so bad