gphgrm01 Review of Those People

Those People (2015)

Beautiful scenes and sound but no other qualities

[4/10 · 6 February 2018]

All credits in this film go to the visual and musical side. Literally all characters in the film are physically over-beautiful (even Charles's mother). Everything is wrapped in some decadent opera-like theatrical style of talking, moving, drinking, etc. The main character is Charles who is unexpectedly boyish and naive (too much for a 26 year old man), and who hangs around his theatrical constantly drunk friend, son of a scandalous businessman, with some vague expectations that something will happen one day between them. However, while it could have been good a la Tennessee Williams drama plot, the film is actually lacking in some basic relations to reality, real people, real behaviors, etc. The worst part in the film is cheesy naive romance between main character and exotic looking pianist with the body of wrestler, who immediately delivers him his all passion, heart, etc, like they are 13 year old school kids. Everything in the film is overly dramatic and romantic and it ruins a potentially interesting plot. The film would have been much better if Charles did not do so much sobbing and deep-breathing, and did not cry in every second scene over his positive and negative emotions. This could have been a real expensive gay drama, but it stayed an expensive upper Manhattan gay bed-time story.