I wanted to like Papi Chulo. I really did. I mean, Matt Bomer is flat-out adorable, whether he's trying playing a butch mountain man in Walking Out or flashing his gay credentials in The Normal Heart. In fact, I thought I'd be fine with Matt Bomer playing every gay role in Hollywood until his looks finally fade. But Papi Chulo has changed my mind. Matty has now done so many gay roles that he's clearly having trouble finding the challenge in them. So as Sean in Papi Chulo he goes for fey gay and incorporates a mincey little walk. It's unnecessary and kind of annoying, but actors will be versatile (ahem), even when it would be better that they weren't. Unfortunately, the swish Matty adds here only makes Sean more of a stereotype and less likeable. I see there are those who have found Papi Chulo both hilariously funny and a touchingly real human story about grief and the need for human connection. But is it really? Struggling with his lover's death, Sean seizes on an immigrant worker and somewhat bizarrely uses him as both a shoulder to cry on and a substitute companion, even though they poor guy has virtually no English. He takes him hiking, rowing on a lake and to a gay party. This is where the film is supposedly both touching and hilarious. But whatever humour there is in these set-ups is undercut by how weirdly unbelievable they are. The situations are all extremely awkward for poor Ernesto, who just wants to earn his money painting Sean's deck. And Sean is spectacularly insensitive for not seeing this. There's also nothing to really justify why Sean is so utterly oblivious, or why he's unable to find a more appropriate shoulder to cry on. Like the friends who knew his deceased partner. Or one or other of his perfectly sympathetic co-workers. Never mind. Papi Chulo forgoes all character logic in order to escalate into full-blown farce before Sean finally comes to his senses. Bomer is fine, as always, and as relatable as the dumb script allows. But I'm pretty sure I'm not alone in losing the will to summon the level of suspension of disbelief necessary to be engaged and moved by this extremely odd little movie.
Review of Papi Chulo
