This is How Movies Should Be Made

This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.

My exposure to the work of Russell T Davies has been quite limited, as I never watched a lot of his stuff from years past. I watched Cucumber out of interest, as it did seem like a large 'event', although I did not watch the supporting shows of Banana or Tofu (I think the former followed minor characters and the latter was more of a discussion show around the issues). Set within the Manchester gay community, we follow older Henry as a series of moments see him and his long-term partner breaking up, and him living with a small group of much, much younger (and adventurous) gay men.From the start the show has a lot of energy, with plenty of colorful characters, excessive language, dialogue, and of course full-frontal male nudity. To some this will be enough to put them off whereas if the show had straight characters and female nudity, they would not be. I was unsure how I felt about this element of the show for some time – was it the fact that I saw this as 'alternative' the issue that meant the sexual material seemed like an issue? For me personally it was not, but for sure the show's obsession with sex was a barrier in and of itself. Perhaps it is my distance from this community that meant it felt over-the-top and a little tiresome in its constant sexual energy, however it remains that it did feel this way.It is a shame because there are some real people in here, and the show is really driven by Franklin's performance as Henry. Too often he is thrown around in the sea of sex, with its fast edits, its boundless energy, and polished presentation. However at times the script gives him space to be a person within this world, and in those moments his performances works really well. It is a shame that the same was not said for the others and too many just felt like easy caricatures without any fleshing out. Even those characters which have more to work with, they still don't really manage to fight their way through the energy and bustle to make a mark.It is a shame, because I did also quite enjoy elements of the energy, sex, and sense of lifestyle. However it does feel like these elements were always first and foremost on the agenda, and it always seems like the characters and moments of genuine feeling just came about for the purpose of having a frame for all of the main material, not the other way round.

This show is widely criticized for its stereotypical portrayal of gay characters as over-sexed, immature, sleazy and shallow. I could not agree more - the main character (as well as almost everyone on the show) is unlikeable for exactly those reasons. Nevertheless, I feel that the show (just like any other morality tale, which Cucumber basically is) uses its anti-hero to convey a message that is, in its core, a warning. What we see throughout the show, are characters who are unable to truly bond and in a desperate calling for closeness (or is it regaining lost youth, at least for some?) chase after random sex. This chase usually leads them to pathetic begging or self-commodification which, in this fictional universe, is seen as something inescapable and "normal"( like in the subplot with the video- mogul nephew). In effect, their hunger to be loved (via sexual intercourse) leads one of the characters to his death, the other to a existence of vacuous survival and endless desire. The plight of the elder generation is mirrored in the story lines of the young (in Cucumber as well as in its spin- off, Banana), who don't even consider forming any kind of durable bond, let alone expressing any kind of basic human concern (as personified in the truly repulsive character of walking "emptiness behind a pretty face" Freddie.) What I see as emblematic scene of the show is when the protagonist suggests creating a 60'-style commune, only to be met with incomprehension and laughter. The sense of togetherness that once prevailed within the gay culture has been dismantled (is it because of the embracement by the majority culture?),the social interactions take place within a strictly competitive market. Or is it a battleground?All of this might be lost on some due to the strong comic nature of the show, but to me, the light over-tone of the whole thing only makes the tragedy more approachable to general audience.

Saw the premiere for this and its counterpart, "Banana," on Logo and the channel should be ashamed for allowing this garbage on the air... especially after RuPaul's Drag Race which has started to bring in a variety of viewers of all different sexualities and backgrounds.I will readily admit that it's an interesting premise to have had 2 different shows coming at the same story from different angles. I will also admit that some of the scenes and lines were genuinely funny; but unfortunately those were the only two positives I could find. Like a St. Patrick's Day parade that features only drunk marchers stumbling down the street, you can tell the intent to be comical is there, but it comes at the cost of prolonging untrue and unflattering stereotypes in the eyes of the general public.Like too many other LGBT-oriented shows and movies, "Cucumber" shamelessly panders to the lowest common denominator. All the characters are unlikeable, vapid, and shallow. I'm no prude, and I'm also no angel, but I found it tedious and kinda offensive that every single scene revolved around sex. Whether it was talking about sex, looking to hook up via social apps, having sex, etc., it's a relentless display of one-note, shallow sexuality. The main character, Lance, is the biggest perpetrator in that he's a middle-aged man who spent the entire episode constantly ogling pretty much every person he encountered... all of which had the stereotypical gay-pretty-boy look, and some bordered on pedophilia because the guys were still teenagers!Seriously, Logo? In an age where LGBT Americans are struggling to prove that we are just like everyone else and that sex/sexuality doesn't define us, shows like this are a staggering step back. How can we make advances when a program like "Cucumber" perpetuates -- and even validates -- every negative notion that LGBT opponents have of us? I don't expect some unrealistic, whitewashed version of gay life, but at least give us some dimension and don't make us all look like we're sex-crazed deviants.Perhaps future episodes become less sex-oriented and delve deeper into characters' emotions/motivations/stories, but after that vulgar and insulting opener, I don't think I want to see any more to find out.

My husband bailed on this show ten minutes in, but I (always eager for gay stories on the screen) decided to watch the whole thing. It has been an exasperating, unpleasant, and unrewarding experience. The technical aspects and the actors are competent, but the tone is all over the place. The writing is too insipid and the character too shallow for this to work as drama. It's much too unfunny to be a comedy, even a black comedy. Nor does it work as satire; there are no moments of glittering insight. It's really a horror show, I suppose, wrenching us from one unpleasant encounter to another, climaxing with the very ugly murder in episode 6.Trying to explain this "horror show" to my husband, he put his finger on the problem. "Where's the love?" he asked. And there you have it. There is no love in this show. The two older characters, together for 8 years, clearly do not love each other, or themselves for that matter. In the mean-spirited world of "Cucumber" there is no love at all. No love of each other. No love of parents for children, or children for parents. No love of one's work. No love of the place one lives. No love of oneself. No love of sex, either, though this show pretends to be all about sex. No love of the writer for his characters, only contempt.I find it very strange that Russell T. Davies, a TV creator so successful he can surely do whatever he wants, should choose to put this particular vision on the screen. Is he really so cynical and bitter that he sees not even a glimpse of love in the "gay world" he inhabits? I remember an interview he gave when the original "Queer as Folk" was creating a buzz, and I was taken aback at how unhappy he seemed, especially for a young writer achieving international success. That unhappiness is manifest in every scene of "Cucumber."I happened to watch this series after binge-watching "TransParent" from Amazon, which blew me away with its razor-sharp observations, quirky humor, and deliciously uncomfortable but all-too-familiar movements. I was hoping "Cucumber" would be that good. Alas, no such luck.