I feel like of late I have been staring my blogs by saying how this or that film is not particularly a gay film. The reason being that just because a couple of characters happen to be gay, does not make it a gay theme movie which was the original intention behind my blog. But since I happened to see this film because of the gay content, I feel the need to review it here. I dont think I would have even heard or watched this movie otherwise. This film is an emotional coming of age story of a young teenage boy. A well-acted film in which sympathetic and complex characters drive the story (which is nothing much to boast of in the first place) For financial reasons, Van is taking time off from school and taking care of his handicapped double amputee father. 2 of his close buddies also come in the countryside with beautiful lakes and stuff. Van finds out that his buddies have been stashing their break in loot and weed in the cellar of Van's mother's up for sale house. Unexpectedly a family soon moves in that house. The son of the family Doug is befriended initially by the 3 of them to get their stuff out of the basement of the house. Doug is cool when he finds out the whole story. They all start to bond really well to the extent that Doug tries his hand once with his friends to loot some stuff. Doug swims for state and his dad is his coach and Doug realizes that Van is also a great swimmer. Van and Doug become very close friends because of swimming. Doug's father comes off as a hard ass coach who snipes away at his masculinity. One night out of the blue Van discovers that Doug is gay but he is cool with that. Initially Doug is embarrassed but comes around and their friendship continues. Tired of his father's bullying and having to take care of his demanding father, Doug and Van are tired and decide to loot a house and get away. The whole incident goes wrong in which Doug dies and Van and his father finally come together for the first time to transcend mourning.
The best part of the film for me was that when the straight guy discovers that his friend is gay, they remain cool and he doesn't become gay (like we have seen in numerous films). They remain normal friends. Throughout nothing much is happening except the 4 dudes aimlessly walking with bare (good) bodies. When Doug comes in the scene, the proceedings get interesting but then again towards the climax of the film, the story completely loses its tempo. Acting from all principal characters was good. One thing that wasn't clear to me was when they show that Van has to go sleep with his dad every night. Was it because his dad gets scared in the night or something hidden for the viewers to imagine? Till the last minute I could not figure that out. The film deals with a young man's struggle to overcome the tough hand life has dealt him and about the friends he makes along the way. It shows shows how a father-son relationship progress due to various incidents in life.
A film showing 2 young men dealing with finding their own path is a little uneventful at times but slightly better than most crap out there. (5/10)
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