Touches You

Just what I expected

A different way of telling a story

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

This was a good film - well acted, good cinematography, overall decent production values. Loretta Devine (sp?) as usual did an excellent job with the material..her voice and presence are so distinct she stands out in any film that she does. The direction was also solid and I enjoyed it. The storyline with the bisexual father was also something different so points to the director for originality. However, I thought the sister of Loretta's character (she's also a well known actress) was a bit over the top...and I'm sure the director wanted that but he should have massaged her performance a bit. A good film indeed. This film was a good effort.

Patrick (Rockmond Dunbar) has created a whole new back-story after leaving his Southern family. Back home after being told to take a leave of absence by his boss, Sheldon (Rockmond Dunbar) finds he has a son and his family is jumping all over him for his Northern elitism.Things get really interesting when Ryan (Joey Costello) shows up, and the family finds out why Sheldon is now Patrick. But, it is still the elitism that bothers them more than his sexual identity.I was having computer problems and tuned into this while I tried to fix them. I'm glad I did. I really enjoyed Dunbar's performance. Costello was also good, and they both managed to help out members of the family, while they united with the family.Loretta Devine was great as his momma, Terri J. Vaughn enjoyable as his sister, and Maurice Jamal did a really good job as his brother.It was funny, sweet, and what I really imagine as an accurate portrayal of Black Southern life.

I got the chance to see a rough cut of writer/director/actor Malcolm Jamal's film at the Castro Theatre during the 2006 San Francisco Gay & Lesbian Film Festival. As an openly gay black man, he lends a particularly unique and contemporary perspective on the Prodigal Son parable with this tale of a class-conscious New York-based magazine writer whose discovery of a ten-year old son leads him back to the family he left behind years ago in his hometown of Paris, Georgia. Those who have seen Cameron Crowe's "Elizabethtown" or Harvey Fierstein's "Torch Song Trilogy" will recognize the fish-out-of-water comedy that dominates the first half of the movie. However, the movie gradually congeals into a more resonant drama of acceptance and forgiveness without foregoing the humor.Despite his bare-bones production budget and a sometimes too facile approach to easy laughs, Jamal has a keen eye for his Deep South setting and especially his characters that manage to sidestep stereotypical treatment. What I particularly like about the family interactions is how Jamal chooses to emphasize the son's elitism that has alienated the family, not as much his sexual orientation. Rockmond Dunbar brings a sympathetic core to the uptight son, Patrick in his current life but Sheldon to his family. However, it's Loretta Devine who shines as his mother Evelyn, a hardened, alcoholic washerwoman who holds her own secrets and rails against her son with fervor. She seizes a great movie moment as she delivers a near-soliloquy at the dinner table near the end. With her foghorn, female-impersonator delivery, veteran scene-stealer Jenifer Lewis plays judgmental Aunt Lettuce with her usual gusto and provides the film's biggest laughs.Most of the cast is terrific - Terri J. Vaughn's supportive sister Jackie, Filipino comedian Alec Mapa as the overzealous metrosexual friend, Sommore's throaty turn as the sassy daughter-in-law, and Jamal's own performance as Sheldon's straight, dim-bulb brother who runs the local butcher shop. The one major fly in the ointment is Joey Costello who comes across far too flighty and naïve as Patrick's partner Ryan. The film has a too-pat though forgivable ending. In a concluding Q&A, Jamal said he just filmed the production in April and is touring this movie in select major cities in special showings through the summer. He hopes for a Christmas release at which point I say check it out. Jamal is a most idiosyncratic comedy talent.

I caught a screening of this movie last year in Atlanta, GA. While the depiction of the Rockmond Dunbar's character was a bit trite, that facet didn't overwhelm the story. Loretta Devine was consistent, delivering a wonderful performance as the mother, and Sommore surprised the room with (1) her appearance at the screening and (2) her dramatic performance in this movie. This film is full of laughs, awkward moments, and, hopefully, a bit of enlightenment for men who continue to live separate lives...one when with their hometown family and another life hundreds of miles away in 'the life'.The main character's stereotypical high-voiced, dainty gay man character really bugged me. In reality, most gay men do not act like this--even when you find one, there are seldom two of them in a relationship (as shown in the movie). I'm not sure why the character was written this way, but, it's not my movie...I hope this film is well received. I will be seeing it again when it is released--not with my family, of course ;)