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Tiger Orange

By Golu
What a beautiful small gem of a film ! I had never heard the name of the film, but something about the title and the cover seemed intriguing. And within few minutes i was hooked. Tiger orange, the color, is meant to be “the loudest thing on the block”. The small time setting, the silence, the acting etc. just caught my attention. A setting with 2 brothers (both being gay) though uncommon seemed very believable in this case. I think this director will be someone to watch-out for; at least in my list.

Chet and Todd are two brothers and we get to see bits and pieces of their childhood life in flash backs. We find out that they are both gay and at some point, Todd had run away to live in LA, because he though their father didn’t approve of him being gay. On the other hand, Chet decided to stay back in the small town taking over their father’s hardware store business after his death and doing his best to downplay his sexuality.. When Todd is moneyless and jobless, he comes back to town to meet his estranged brother.  Tensions rise a bit when Chet envies his brother’s freedom of life and expression, something he cannot do. And on the other hand Todd feels that Chet had their father which he did not. Even when Brandon, an ex classmate of Chet, returns back to town from NYC; he finds it difficult to go after what he wants. The two brothers work on mending their relationship and what each of them want from life. Is the small-town if so bad, do they both have right to live the life that they want to. The ending of the film is open to interpretation.

The thing that stays back with you after you watch this perfectly duration film are he performances and the sensitivity with which the film and the subject has been handled.  The story itself is simple enough, but the richness of the film comes in the themes, the characterisations, and the performances. It is very evident that it is Todd, whose character stays with us. Efficiently played by a former porn star (damn! he can act), he plays a rogue, free spirit, energetic, asshole and a dreamer with equal glance. He has a great screen presence and charisma. Had I not read online, I wouldn't have guessed that this is first film that this guy was acting in. That makers took a gamble probably with casting him, but it paid off. Todd was excellent. Compared to him, Chet feels a bit sidelined but its well explained because of the nature of his character. A shy guy who is forced to live hiding his sexuality and bit frustrated for not being able to do what he wanted to. All the supporting cast is very well fitted in. Brandon, the guy who Chet likes, is yummy and fits into the scene really well. There were small flaws with editing where clearly a scene should have been put in before a certain scene but only a major film connoisseur would be able o find it.

An intriguing contrast between its main characters, some strong performances and an unpretentious smoothly crafted film; this is a very strongly recommended. (8.5/10)
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