DVD Reviews

The Big Gay Musical

If you’re a fan of Casper Andreas films (A Four Letter Word, Between Love & Goodbye) then you may be slightly … only slightly … disappointed in The Big Gay Musical. All of the clever, unique Andreas-isms are there except for in the script … and that’s because he didn’t write it. First-timer Fred M. Caruso’s (also co-director of the film) script is filled to the helm with cliches and shameless, shallow analogies that if Andreas was not behind the camera, this film would sink.

“It’s just sex. It doesn’t have to be special. It’s just like working out, but with someone else.” I actually cringed. And occasionally the writing is so dry and mechanical that certain scenes feel like health awareness ads.

Now on to the positives of The Big Gay Musical. Andreas and Caruso brought in mostly unknowns in the film industry, instead, Broadway stage actors, which of course makes sense. The leads, Daniel Robinson and Joey Dudding, have good chemistry on screen — this is a huge positive because it carries the film. Most of the supporting roles do actually help build substance to the film: Jeff Metzler, who plays David, is not spot-on in his performance, but he’s so adorable it’s hard not to care about the character. The Drunks at the bar (one of who happens to played by Caruso) are truly comical. The casting of pornstar Brent Corrigan as a hustler is smart irony to the genuineness of his only scene.

The film is a dramedy, built around a fictitious musical. It’s about the crossroads the two lead actors, Paul and Eddie, face while preparing for the opening night of their Off-Broadway musical Adam & Steve, Just the Way God Made ’Em, which “has been rated ‘Flaming’ by the Christian Coalition.”
Paul is happy and complacent with his new boyfriend; he thinks he’s finally found the right guy, that is until his boyfriend ends up rejecting him on a rumor. Paul takes the advice of his slutty cast members and gives up on his dream of “a husband, 2.5 kids, a house in The Hamptons and a dog.” He delves into an unnatural world of internet hookups, hustlers and steam room sex.

Eddie heralds from a tight-knit religious family, his sexuality still in the closet and his virginity in tact. He suddenly faces opening that closet door when his parents insist on seeing his show on opening night. Plus, Eddie takes the advice of his slutty cast members and gives up, with alcohol-induced ease, his virginity to the first bar whore he meets and is left with doubts and fears.

Paul and Eddie find comfort in leaning on each other’s shoulders throughout their changes, and as any Casper Andreas fan would expect, the outcome of the film is not what is suspected.

The Big Gay Musical is a sweet, feel-good movie, and as is with any musical, it makes smiles.

Release Date: April 6, $24.99, breakingglasspictures.com

Focus/Refocus: When Porn Kills
This was my first gay erotica film with a plot and in which the actors grunted more than two-syllable lines. Albeit, the acting is mostly oafish and the plot futile. And of course there’s more sex in the film then there is character development.

Starring a long list of porn stars, tagged: Hairy, Tattoo, Thugs, Orgy — Focus/Refocus: When Porn Kills is a dull murder mystery set in San Francisco. Joe (Cole Streets) is an unemployed 25-year-old with an unhealthy addiction to porn and a desire to film sexual encounters; even his new boyfriend Eddie (David Taylor) quickly becomes disenchanted by his obsessions. When Joe receives a clandestine online video of his favorite porn star, Dario Stefano (Steve Cruz), in a three-way, Joe comes to realize that Stefano’s two co-stars had been recently murdered by an unknown assailant. Joe believes Dario is the next victim, and he sets out to find the killer before it’s too late, with the help of his friend Barton (Ryan Raz) and a mysterious ex-cop.

Fans of Raging Stallion Studios graphic flicks may like this film — it’s been nominated for several Grabby Awards including Best Screenplay, Best Supporting Actor (Steve Cruz) and Best Solo (Cole Streets). But as film awards go, it’s rather obvious the bar’s not set too high, as with anything pornography.

Release Date: March 30, $24.99, breakingglasspictures.com