Too much of everything

the audience applauded

Good movie but grossly overrated

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

This hyper low-budget, rough edged study of a friendship between two men, one straight, one gay is unusual for the honesty with which it shows the layers that men place over their feelings, between each others and even within themselves. The need for love, the use of sex as a distancing device instead of a way of being closer, the confusion of vulnerability and weakness, the use of humor to mask deeper feelings, these traits are rarely examined with much honesty. The same could be said for how male friendship in general functions (and doesn't) as well. Made in the rough edged, improvised tradition of Casavettes and Mike Leigh, this deserves points for trying. The difference is, both Casavettes and Leigh had access to some of the best actors of their respective days, and while the actors here are willing,they're simply not at that level of depth or talent, meaning that while this has some wonderful moments, there are also some repetitive, or even awkwardly 'acted' ones as well. But I'd rather see a film that aims high and doesn't always make it, than one that tries for nothing and succeeds.

I watched this for the second time yesterday. The first time I thought it was a little drawn out, but this time it stuck. I especially liked the scene where Jack is laying in the dry bathtub with all his clothes on drinking Jack Daniels smoking Lucky Strikes and coming out to his Mom on the phone. That scene makes it worth viewing this film. Nobody is cute in this film, everyone has some problem they are trying to work out. There is no fuzzy warm feeling ever. If you need that watch Meg Ryan and/or Tom Hanks, this film is not for you. This film is not deep or exciting. It reminds me a little bit of the films Andy Warhol used to do.

Straightman is not without its merits, first and foremost the fact that it shows a kind of gay man not usually seen on the screen, a blue collar, scruffy, fashion-clueless everyman. It also depicts a friendship between a straight man and a gay man which doesn't unravel when the gay friend comes out, but is instead greeted with a matter-of-factness that hopefully happens more often in real life than movies would have you believe. Both Bens are well cast and the real life bond between them is obvious.What I find hard to believe is that this film won the Best Screenplay award at Outfest, my "local" gay/lesbian film festival. Why? Because there is no screenplay, just I would guess a brief description of what each scene is to be about and the words: Improvise.That improvisation is the same as real conversation is a huge fallacy. Improv sounds like improv, and is no substitute for well written dialog performed by talented actors who make the audience believe that their words are spontaneous.Had the writers/director/stars used improvisation as a starting off point, and then written carefully thought out dialog, this film would have avoided the many boring and repetitive moments that others on this site have criticized.Memo to filmmakers: Get a script, have your actors learn their lines, rehearse, and say the words. You'll end up with a much realer film than this one.

I have read comments and reviews that compare this to movies by John Cassavetes and Mike Leigh. It is, and by far, in a totally different league. I believe it takes incredible talent, even genius, to pull off near reality when you let your actors improvise. Cassavetes and Leigh have (had) such talent and I find many of their movies admirable.Unfortunately, it is my opinion that neither the director, the writers nor the actors who gave birth to Straightman had what it takes to pull it off. The dialogs were painfully empty, incoherent and led nowhere. The characters were not developed, the ending a cop-out. I found the whole thing rather pretentious, posing as "rough trade chic".Are the reviewers indulgent because of the gay theme? I'm gay and have seen many gay movies. In Straightman, the theme does not redeem the film. Maybe, as Liz Braun (reviewer, Toronto Sun) said: "Straightman is the sort of film people tend to either love or hate." Well, I hated it, except for a few moments, and gave it a 2/10.