Wonderful character development!

Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

The first must-see film of the year.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

London. Giles D'Eath is a smart, serious writer living alone in his apartment. He is over 50, his wife died and he thinks he knows everything about himself. But one day he accidentally sees a stupid teen-comedy in cinema. Just as he is about to leave the theater he spots one actor in that film, Ronnie Bostock, and is somehow unexplainable fascinated by him. Suddenly he gets new energy in his life. He gets curious and starts learning all about the young Ronnie, who is not admired by critics and is forced to shot weak films. Giles is somehow sad that his new hero is stuck in trash while he is admired as an artist. As his emotions get stronger towards Ronnie, he decides to fly to the USA to meet him in his home in Long Island. He does, and a strange friendship unveils… ----------------- In 1997 „Titanic" won all the awards, including Golden Globes and Oscars. But that movie spectacle is easily overshadowed by a simple little film, the shining tragicomedy „Love and death on Long Island". I've seen „Love" about 5 times and each time I admire it more and more. It's a beautiful and subtle gay film that has emotions, humor, quirky characters and the brilliant John Hurt, who should have won an Oscar and a Golden Globe for this. One IMDb user lamented about the story, stating that it's as unrealistic as if „a writer like Joseph Heller would fall in love with Britney Spears and do everything to try to meet her". I didn't find that unrealistic. I thought that was precisely the point, showing how love doesn't have boundaries, neither in gender or culture or social status ( here the famous writer Giles doesn't look down on the trash reputation his idol Ronnie is forced to carry ). The story also questions the harsh boundaries between trash and art ( in one sequence Giles compares one scene of Ronnie lying on a table of a pizzeria in the film „Hotpants College 2" with the famous painting „The death of Chatteron". Art is subjective ) and is full of amusing moments ( i.e. Giles' farewell letter to Ronnie, send by a fax machine, is so long that his whole room is soon filled with paper! ).I liked „Brokeback Mountain" ( 7/10 ), but I thought it was too simple while this just simply overshadows it - it would be more rightful if those two films would change reputations. Every now and then a movie shows up that dares to amusingly break all social conventions and rules of life and you have a feeling that your life would be emptier without it – this is one of them.Grade: 9/10

What a wonderful piece of acting John Hurt gives us as Giles a naive English writer visiting Long Isalnd for the first time. Completely obsessed with the discovery of all the modern electronic gadgetry, he purchases TV and video equipment, shuts himself away and enters a new and exciting world.He becomes besotted with the image of a handsome young actor Ronnie Bostock (Jason Priestley) a favourite among teen-age movie-goers. It's as if he is starting a completely new life with a new warmth he has never known before.The urge to help Ronnie in his career so that he will always be close to him is the predominant theme of the film. John Hurt's performance as the older man restraining his true feelings for a handsome young man of another generation is faultless and truly absorbing. Conversations between the two men are the highlights of the film and the confession scene extremely moving.Ronnie Bostock's girl friend Audrey ( Fiona Loewi) is both charming and beautiful and adds a sweet touch to the story. She is responsible for bringing the writer and actor together. The story is punctuated with little episodes of wry humour brought about by people who live entirely different lives.Altogether a very satisfying film that shows how some of us live in a cocoon unaware of the extreme joy and subsequent disappointment that lies beyond.

"Love and Death On Long Island" has a fascinating story to tell. The hero is John Hurt as Giles De'Ath, a cultured, stuffy English writer with no grasp whatsoever on modern technology (he doesn't know you can't use a VCR without a TV!). He accidentally sees the slob comedy movie "Hotpants College II," and becomes enraptured with pretty-boy actor Ronnie Bostock, played by Jason Priestly. This inspires an obsession in Giles seen more commonly in teenage girls. This sudden burst of celebrity worship in Giles brings him to put forth the concept of finding beauty where one least expects it. The whole movie presents an intelligent story that Giles De'Ath himself would admire.

Love and Death On Long Island follows Giles (John Hurt) a semi recluse English novelist who wonders through his life with very little intense purpose, challenges or any sense of being 'alive'. That all changes when one day when he gets locked out of his house. Eventually he ends up wandering to the local cinema and mistakenly walks into Hotpants College II. "What rubbish". He's just about to leave when Ronnie Bostock (Jason Priestly) appears on screen. He's mesmerized.When he leaves the theater he's a different man. It's not long before Giles thinks and does nothing that doesn't revolve around Ronnie Bostock. He buys teeny bopper magazines featuring anything involving Ronnie. Makes a Ronnie Bostock scrapbook from hand including the pictures from the magazines and eventually he makes sure to view all of Ronnie's other movie exploits. He's a man consumed by one thought, one action. Obsession has taken over. Things get deeper as you can imagine when Giles sets out and actually meets Ronnie and befriends him.John Hurt turns in another great performance in a long list of great performances and it's nice to see Jason Priestly doing something of worth. The supporting players are apt too. Sheila Hancock as Giles housekeeper kept reminding me of the God and Monsters Lynn Redgrave as James Whale's housekeeper. Fiona Loewi as Ronnie's girlfriend is a mite refreshing. She's not stupid or naive. We can see at one point she's figured out what is going on and what the "real" story is. I guess it's a nice plus that some of the movie was shot in my home too -- Nova Scotia, Canada. I think it's always nice to see where you live in a movie. 'Hey, I know that place! That's Lawrencetown beach!' Now I suppose if you live in Los Angeles, New York or any big American city that supports motion picture filming that seeing your city/town isn't such a big deal. In any case Love and Death on Long Island is a movie bathed in human nature. It's a good watch on a rainy day.