Just perfect...

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

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.

I quite don't get the negative reviews. Sure, it's an ultra-low budget movie, as too many of independent LGBT movies are. It's clunky at some point, some actors are horrendous, way too long for its storyline. Some parts have nothing to do with the main plot line (as for the couple with Luzandra). It's one subplot too many. But... it offers people you can relate to, not your average gay-themed movie with unthinkable twinks and gym queens running all over the place. It's about real people. It covers perhaps way too much ground for its own good (HIV, lesbian clichés, coming out, etc.). Predictable at some point and a bit preachy but it's sincere and earnest. And for that, it was quite nice to watch an indie movie not sacrificing itself for the LGBT market.

If there was an awards committee searching for the most horrendous gay-themed film of all time, this would be the only nomination. There are no redeeming qualities about the script, the acting or the directing. The previous post, giving this film such rave reviews has to be from the director or a friend of the director because even TLAvideo (who gets a pick chunk of its revenue from gay films of varying qualities) can't recommend it.Back to the drawing board for these obviously amateur filmmakers. Better luck next time.

I acquire gay-themed movies and watch them alone. Not because I don't want to watch with other people, but only because everyone knows that most independent films suck. Sometimes you find a real gem, but often you stumble across a real stinker. This movie starts off terribly. The sound editing is just awful. The actors are amateurs, which isn't the real problem. The real problem with this movie is that the story line is preposterous, and the stilted scenes are completely unbelievable. Like when the guy finds out he has HIV, takes ecstasy, spits out the ecstasy, tells his boyfriend, and his boyfriend is like "I'm leaving." His boyfriend does some soul searching, and they screw, and then they're like hunky-dory. They go to tell their friends that the guy has HIV -- their friends are like "oh really? that's too bad. better not transmit it to anyone else!" and then the kids w/ HIV are like "You're right. Hey, so, what's going on with you? give me details about your love-life!" Like, they guy has just been diagnosed with some terrible life-threatening infection, and then everyone's like "ah, well, forget about it. let's talk about my new boyfriend!" And like, the guy he randomly meets at a stream in Alabama turns out to be his dead lover's secret previously unseen son?And like, you live with someone for 12 years and you don't realize he's got daily journal entries from when he was 16 years old?*sigh*just awful.

My partner and I were pleasantly surprised by the entertaining elements of this movie, "Books of John." The music was, in our opinion, perfect. The selections made, added an extra artistic flair that made us melt into the movie even more.To attempt to make a movie that tells a "realistic" story about gay lifestyle, hardships, and relationships - is hard to pull off. Books of John did just that.Every movie has some sort of message that they want, or attempt to portray to the viewer. Books of John has a "new twist" that leaves you questioning several situations in your own life, and possibly others you've known along the way. We won't spoil it, you'll have to find out...