talltale-1 Review of I Love You Baby

I Love You Baby (2001)

A gentle and surprising movie about the hetero/homo sexual continuum

[10/10 · 9 February 2004]

I LOVE YOU BABY takes you places you don't expect in its own quiet way, never pushing, just coaxing you along via the four charming lead characters. Though its description (on both the IMDB and on netflix--where I rented the DVD) sounds Almodovarian, I LOVE YOU BABY is a gentle, wise, beautifully performed story of love in its many facets--gay, straight, parental, friendship--with particular emphasis on exploring the continuum from hetero to homosexuality. (The falling disco ball, rather than offering some magical means of transformation, simply shows how easily we can fall in or out of sexual attraction.) Set yourself up, not for a rolling-in-the-aisles comedy, but a sweetly believable story of four people whose connections withstand surprising complications, including one of the most engaging and credible cross-dressing stints in a long while. Santiago Magill (from the fine Peruvian film "Don't Tell Anybody"), Jorge Sanz and Veronica Forque (both quite different here from the funny "Why Do They Call it Love When They Mean Sex?") and the lovely, young Tiare Scanda all give lustrous performances that go deeper than most romantic comedies. Most surprising, given the bizarre events, there is not a false step in the entire film because everyone plays each moment for real. I LOVE YOU BABY is highly recommended to anyone interested in (or struggling with) issues of sexual preference, commitment, and the meaning of love (and who doesn't struggle now and again with one of those themes?). An added bonus is the interesting look at the Dominican community in Spain. Oh, yes--there's a special treat here for Boy George fans, too. Though I don't know the work of the two directors, I am going to search out their other films--fast!