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Sticks And Stones

By Golu
I knew this was too good to be true. I was watching one good film after another and sooner or later this was gonna change and hey, it happened, with this film. Now, in all honesty, we need to remember that I am talking about a film that came in 1970. Thats almost 48 years ago, so its a long long time and hence my reviews would not evaluate on a lot of things which I normally do, but I am not discount the story, which is the heart and soul of a lot of films.

Story-wise there is nothing much to offer. Peter and Buddy are a gay couple and are hosting a 4th of July party at their summer house in Fire Island. They are a couple who bitch and complain and torment each other with their issues. Peter is the nice guy with god job in city and supposedly the responsible one but he is a bit dull. Meanwhile Buddy is this outgoing person , but ever since his last theatre failure, he has become an alcoholic mess. So all that happens in the film is introduction to some of the characters who will attend this party. We have a young guru who talks and talk and talks non-stop constantly stroking things of a new kid on the block. Another young man from the city joins two older guys, one of which is into leather, a blond queen with his friend and finally a token lesbian couple. And everybody knows the history and predicts the future of everybody else. The party happens, dancing, drinking, carelessness, getting nude, more smoking and booze; by the end of which Peter has completely lost it and cant take it anymore. The film ends with a bizarre fight/wrestling that happens between him and Buddy.

The adventures of various couples and groups on their way to Cherry Grove for a great party, scenic views of the island and even a fair share of community sociology fill much of the movie. It was lovely to see some of the places, restaurants and locations in a film that I have personally visited a few times, so in that sense there was a sense of nostalgia. But the film avoids drama completely. There are lots of closeups of tanned male bodies. The way it was shot, I could see microphones being pushed in character’s faces. The look on by standers faces on manhattan streets and train station (where the film was shot in real locations) was priceless. Acting was everyone was OTT, and after a while I couldn’t take the unending preaching from the young guru. I mean whatever he was saying didn’t even make any sense but I think a good 15-20 minutes of the film is wasted on him speaking random views. On a plus side, given that the film came out just around the time of Stonewall riots, This is an interesting representation of the time when the gay community was young, happy, carefree and life had a completely different outlook on life.

This film provides an interesting portrait of what Fire Island was like in the 1970s, but it's pretty dull viewing and you feel that this needs to end very fast. (3.5/10)
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