Beautiful Something is a movie about a handful of gay men in Philadelphia. Each is dealing with a personal crisis (not coming-out angst or gay bashing, thank God), and their paths intersect occasionally over the course of a single night. Except for one couple (Jim and Drew) and one ex-couple (Brian and Dan), none of the men knew each other previously. The totally safe and comfortable world in which they live, where everybody is gay and very well adjusted to being gay, is slightly dream-like, but it's entirely believable.
Brian (whose story this mostly is) is a published poet suffering with both deeply unhappy relationships and writer's block. He is by far the best written and acted character I have ever seen in a gay movie -- in almost any movie. He's complex, mercurial and fascinating; every second he's on the screen I had to remind myself to breathe. I would give several years of my life to see a whole movie about only him. He's an endlessly interesting character played by an amazing actor.
I'd never heard of Brian Sheppard, but I will find every movie he's ever been in and watch it. The scene between him and Dan (the mostly straight man who's the love of his life) is one of the best scenes I have ever seen anywhere. Grant Lancaster, who plays Dan, is the only other actor who can share a scene with Brian Sheppard without disappearing into the wallpaper.
Brian's story begins and ends this movie, and it makes holding on through the really bad stuff in the middle well worthwhile. But when I watch it again (and again, and again), I'll know I can fast-forward through all the crap with Jim and Drew and Bob. Brian has a few scenes in that vast mid-movie wasteland, so I'll catch them on the way through, like oases in a desert.
Those other three characters, and the actors who play them, are like stale leftovers from a BAD gay movie, and I wish Joseph Graham (the writer-director) could have just left them out. They're boring people, and their story is dragged down by overwrought melodrama, pretentious dialog, and completely unbelievable performances. The scenes between Jim and Drew aren't all that bad (except that Jim is in them), but the horrible, endless scene between Jim and Bob in a stretch limousine and a restaurant, and afterwards at Bob's house, is unbearable. It made me want to throw up and pull all my hair out.
Jim is such an obnoxious character that any time he was on I wanted to stop the show. He's as awful as Brian is wonderful. The scene where Jim is trying to read Shakespeare is profoundly embarrassing. When the character is supposed to be an actor, the actor playing him really should be able to act. Graham definitely should have avoided Shakespeare, at least. I never could stand the character Jim, but hadn't noticed how bad Zack Ryan's performance was until that scene.
But the endless scene at Bob's house finally DID end (thank God), and Brian rushed down from heaven like an avenging angel to rescue the movie from the bottomless pit of schlocky melodrama it had nearly fallen into. The last ten minutes or so (I was loving it too much to watch the time) are stunningly, breathtakingly, achingly, gloriously beautiful -- beautifully written, beautifully directed and beautifully acted.
So Brian and his story -- and Brian Sheppard, the marvelous actor who plays him -- raise this movie way, way, way above anything else you'll see this year or any year. If he weren't so extraordinarily good, the rest of the movie might seem better. But he IS that good, and he makes it worth doing whatever you have to do to see this movie.
Despite the fact that the scenes without him are so bad they're unwatchable, Brian (the character) and Brian Sheppard are SO GOOD that I'm giving the movie ten stars. I started to average it out and give five, but Brian/Brian are just too spectacularly good to drag down.
Brian (whose story this mostly is) is a published poet suffering with both deeply unhappy relationships and writer's block. He is by far the best written and acted character I have ever seen in a gay movie -- in almost any movie. He's complex, mercurial and fascinating; every second he's on the screen I had to remind myself to breathe. I would give several years of my life to see a whole movie about only him. He's an endlessly interesting character played by an amazing actor.
I'd never heard of Brian Sheppard, but I will find every movie he's ever been in and watch it. The scene between him and Dan (the mostly straight man who's the love of his life) is one of the best scenes I have ever seen anywhere. Grant Lancaster, who plays Dan, is the only other actor who can share a scene with Brian Sheppard without disappearing into the wallpaper.
Brian's story begins and ends this movie, and it makes holding on through the really bad stuff in the middle well worthwhile. But when I watch it again (and again, and again), I'll know I can fast-forward through all the crap with Jim and Drew and Bob. Brian has a few scenes in that vast mid-movie wasteland, so I'll catch them on the way through, like oases in a desert.
Those other three characters, and the actors who play them, are like stale leftovers from a BAD gay movie, and I wish Joseph Graham (the writer-director) could have just left them out. They're boring people, and their story is dragged down by overwrought melodrama, pretentious dialog, and completely unbelievable performances. The scenes between Jim and Drew aren't all that bad (except that Jim is in them), but the horrible, endless scene between Jim and Bob in a stretch limousine and a restaurant, and afterwards at Bob's house, is unbearable. It made me want to throw up and pull all my hair out.
Jim is such an obnoxious character that any time he was on I wanted to stop the show. He's as awful as Brian is wonderful. The scene where Jim is trying to read Shakespeare is profoundly embarrassing. When the character is supposed to be an actor, the actor playing him really should be able to act. Graham definitely should have avoided Shakespeare, at least. I never could stand the character Jim, but hadn't noticed how bad Zack Ryan's performance was until that scene.
But the endless scene at Bob's house finally DID end (thank God), and Brian rushed down from heaven like an avenging angel to rescue the movie from the bottomless pit of schlocky melodrama it had nearly fallen into. The last ten minutes or so (I was loving it too much to watch the time) are stunningly, breathtakingly, achingly, gloriously beautiful -- beautifully written, beautifully directed and beautifully acted.
So Brian and his story -- and Brian Sheppard, the marvelous actor who plays him -- raise this movie way, way, way above anything else you'll see this year or any year. If he weren't so extraordinarily good, the rest of the movie might seem better. But he IS that good, and he makes it worth doing whatever you have to do to see this movie.
Despite the fact that the scenes without him are so bad they're unwatchable, Brian (the character) and Brian Sheppard are SO GOOD that I'm giving the movie ten stars. I started to average it out and give five, but Brian/Brian are just too spectacularly good to drag down.