This screwball comedy from 1969 has a pretty wild premise: two guys try to fake being gay just to dodge the military draft. If you watched this today, it would probably come across as super offensive, and I honestly have no clue how people felt about it back when it first hit theaters. My guess is it probably wasn't a huge hit. The humor is really broad and kind of goofy, with a lot of obvious puns that actually reminded me of those cheesy sitcoms from the 80s and 90s. It makes me wonder if this movie actually inspired some of those later shows. The story follows two best friends, Danny and Elliot, who are desperate to get out of the draft. They decide the best way out is to pretend they're in a relationship, but the Army doesn't just take their word for it and puts them under surveillance. Even though they’re both young and have girlfriends, they’re forced to move into an apartment building full of gay residents to keep up the act. It’s a total mess because they’re trying ...
I am surprised that I had not heard of this movie before I saw it. It is such a fantastic movie specially about human relationships. It is not just a boxing movie as most would like to think, rather the film focuses very heavily on the protagonist and his trainer and this is what makes this film an experience to watch. Tommy Riley is a young and gifted boxer, who has completely lost his self-confidence after a mistake in Olympic trails and his relationship with his girlfriend is now at stake. Concurrently we meet Marty Goldberg, an obese, has been trainer who left the ring because of a dark demon he harbors and has turned to teaching high school English. Marty is friends with Diane whom he saved sometime ago and is now a boxing promoter. When Marty spots Tommy, he asks him to call him so that he can train him. Things are going fine and the trust and bond between the 2 is impeccable. Tommy is starting to gain back his confidence. Before one of the big fights, Tommy and Marty go to Marty's cabin in the woods to train without distractions. After several days, during a rubdown following a workout, Marty touches Tommy inappropriately. Tommy reacts strongly negatively and Marty apologizes. They agree to ignore the incident but return to the city ahead of schedule. When Tommy wins, he wants to take everyone out but a big promoter at the same time takes them out which Marty refuses to go. The same night, he ends up in hospital. This is when Diane tells Tommy that when Marty was a fighter, people threatened to expose Marty's homosexuality, so he ended his career by putting his hand through a window and damaging it. He became a teacher and his influence led Diane to make herself a success. After his big win, one of the biggest firms offer Tommy a million dollar for a title fight but they want him to leave Marty which Marty also wants so that Tommy can go further in life. Tommy refuses the deal if it means leaving Marty. Marty tries to alienate Tommy and ultimately ends up killing himself. Finally we see Tommy going for his big fight regaining his confidence after he sees an image of Marty, his inspiration wearing his old ring robe.
Both the lead characters are absolutely fantastic in their performances. Rarely as a film about sports been influenced by the presence of sexual preferences, but Marty's character does it with elan and dignity. And the manner in which Tommy finesses both the initial advances from Marty and then gradually alters his response in understanding his behavior is nothing short of miraculous acting. I loved the trainer's sense of caring and him personally, and it is one of the triumphs of this flick that Tommy Riley does too, in his own hetero way. More importantly, trust, character, and humane values are validated here as well.
There is a lesson here about intergenerational relationships, as well as how we sexualize friendships undesirably. (7/10)
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