Before I get into spoilers, of which there will be plenty, I have to say that I loved this. The cast and acting are stellar; very natural and believable for better or worse. There is so much to relate to if you're from a dead-end town, regardless of sexual orientation, and I felt Leo's want to escape by fantasy or actually leaving on a deeply personal level.
Now for spoilers territory.
Kyle, the main bully, is so well played as an absolute closet-case in love with Leo that I hate him, but my heart hurts when the two of them have their final face-off and essentially say goodbye to whatever they had been and all they'll never be together. I think Chris O'Shea did an amazing job with the role to make him so compelling and dimensional no matter how stereotypical his bullying seemed.
Diego, Leo's boss, aggravated me to no end. I love Jason Scott Lee, but his character in this is confusing. He seems like an ally and the scene toward the end implies that his son is some part of the LGBTQIA+ community, BUT why doesn't he fire Kyle???? Kyle obviously creates a hostile work environment and attacks Leo on the business property so he has plenty of grounds, but he seems happy to keep Kyle around causing problems. Is it just so Diego can scope out more potential boxers from all the fights Kyle gets into?
Matt Dallas can still play straight and his portrayal of Declan confuses me. How old is he supposed to be, for one thing? Leo and Tristen are under 21, but Declan's walking around with booze all the time and not getting carded at bars so he's an adult but he seems to have moved to Alaska with his father and he oozes teen angst and confusion. The alcohol seems to be a real issue that he might need help with. His interest in Leo is obvious from the start and made utterly confusing when he says he isn't gay and instinctively punches Leo when an excited kiss on the cheek ends up more on the lips when Leo wins his first boxing bout. Then Declan doesn't stay away from Leo like Tristen said after that punch and the three of them end up leaving together, but I don't see them as being together in the end. The ending is a little ambiguous as to whether they're leaving together as friends or a couple and it really just makes Declan's leaving with the twins kind of weird.
George, the twins' dad, could be a movie on his own. A streetside preacher with a gambling problem, he's pretty absentee in the father department. But, in the end, we learn that he's the one that sent the postcards from their mom that kept the twins' spirits up when Lucy left them all behind. We also learn he's a closet-case whose affairs with other men contributed to Lucy finally leaving the family and, it's assumed, Alaska. Dan deserves better, but I would absolutely love to see them end up together.
Now, the bars. Leo believes that Jan, played by Margaret Cho, owns the only gay bar for 100 miles, but we learn that the more popular redneck bar in town is owned and operated by a gay male couple. While I love John and Tim and want a movie about their story, the feminist in me is irked by the fact that Jan's bar is failing because she's openly or believed to be a lesbian while the guys' bar is thriving because no one has figured out that they're a couple and not just business partners?
The drinking in this is a lot. How casually it's accepted that Leo and Tristen drink while underage and how many characters seem to struggle with alcohol is concerning. There's even something of a background bit with a pair of workers from the cannery where after work each day one asks the other out for a drink, the other declines because they're in AA, but the first guy keeps asking after every shift until the second guy agrees to go get drinks and then we have a day of work end where the second guy issues the invite for drinks and the first guy says he'll be going to a meeting instead. I have family with addiction issues and that casual peer pressure is very realistic and understandable but I don't like how that plays out as something humorous.
Finally, Leo and Tristen. I am so thankful that they survived thus movie because I 100% expected a tearjerker ending with cancer killing her and/or Leo being killed in a hate crime. This movie balanced on a razor's edge between potential romcom and heartbreaking drama.
I want to know what happens to them! There is so so much story involving them and all the other characters I referenced above that this movie was just woefully inadequate to truly satisfy me. I didn't even get to Hal, the walking PSA against smoking who happens to have been a drag queen himself and his protégé, Miss Orientated, who wins the drag show. With just one viewing, I absorbed all of this and each time I watch it over I just notice more details that I could see expanded on more. Also, I have got to say, I read a LOT of gay romances set in Alaska so I would just love a show that explores that small, isolated community way of life with open and secret hostility to open and secretly queer residents. This movie does so much and I wish the cast and crew were allowed to do more. That all said, this movie is an unexpected delight for so many reasons and I don't know why I left it on my watchlist for so long before finally playing it. I highly recommend it.
Now for spoilers territory.
Kyle, the main bully, is so well played as an absolute closet-case in love with Leo that I hate him, but my heart hurts when the two of them have their final face-off and essentially say goodbye to whatever they had been and all they'll never be together. I think Chris O'Shea did an amazing job with the role to make him so compelling and dimensional no matter how stereotypical his bullying seemed.
Diego, Leo's boss, aggravated me to no end. I love Jason Scott Lee, but his character in this is confusing. He seems like an ally and the scene toward the end implies that his son is some part of the LGBTQIA+ community, BUT why doesn't he fire Kyle???? Kyle obviously creates a hostile work environment and attacks Leo on the business property so he has plenty of grounds, but he seems happy to keep Kyle around causing problems. Is it just so Diego can scope out more potential boxers from all the fights Kyle gets into?
Matt Dallas can still play straight and his portrayal of Declan confuses me. How old is he supposed to be, for one thing? Leo and Tristen are under 21, but Declan's walking around with booze all the time and not getting carded at bars so he's an adult but he seems to have moved to Alaska with his father and he oozes teen angst and confusion. The alcohol seems to be a real issue that he might need help with. His interest in Leo is obvious from the start and made utterly confusing when he says he isn't gay and instinctively punches Leo when an excited kiss on the cheek ends up more on the lips when Leo wins his first boxing bout. Then Declan doesn't stay away from Leo like Tristen said after that punch and the three of them end up leaving together, but I don't see them as being together in the end. The ending is a little ambiguous as to whether they're leaving together as friends or a couple and it really just makes Declan's leaving with the twins kind of weird.
George, the twins' dad, could be a movie on his own. A streetside preacher with a gambling problem, he's pretty absentee in the father department. But, in the end, we learn that he's the one that sent the postcards from their mom that kept the twins' spirits up when Lucy left them all behind. We also learn he's a closet-case whose affairs with other men contributed to Lucy finally leaving the family and, it's assumed, Alaska. Dan deserves better, but I would absolutely love to see them end up together.
Now, the bars. Leo believes that Jan, played by Margaret Cho, owns the only gay bar for 100 miles, but we learn that the more popular redneck bar in town is owned and operated by a gay male couple. While I love John and Tim and want a movie about their story, the feminist in me is irked by the fact that Jan's bar is failing because she's openly or believed to be a lesbian while the guys' bar is thriving because no one has figured out that they're a couple and not just business partners?
The drinking in this is a lot. How casually it's accepted that Leo and Tristen drink while underage and how many characters seem to struggle with alcohol is concerning. There's even something of a background bit with a pair of workers from the cannery where after work each day one asks the other out for a drink, the other declines because they're in AA, but the first guy keeps asking after every shift until the second guy agrees to go get drinks and then we have a day of work end where the second guy issues the invite for drinks and the first guy says he'll be going to a meeting instead. I have family with addiction issues and that casual peer pressure is very realistic and understandable but I don't like how that plays out as something humorous.
Finally, Leo and Tristen. I am so thankful that they survived thus movie because I 100% expected a tearjerker ending with cancer killing her and/or Leo being killed in a hate crime. This movie balanced on a razor's edge between potential romcom and heartbreaking drama.
I want to know what happens to them! There is so so much story involving them and all the other characters I referenced above that this movie was just woefully inadequate to truly satisfy me. I didn't even get to Hal, the walking PSA against smoking who happens to have been a drag queen himself and his protégé, Miss Orientated, who wins the drag show. With just one viewing, I absorbed all of this and each time I watch it over I just notice more details that I could see expanded on more. Also, I have got to say, I read a LOT of gay romances set in Alaska so I would just love a show that explores that small, isolated community way of life with open and secret hostility to open and secretly queer residents. This movie does so much and I wish the cast and crew were allowed to do more. That all said, this movie is an unexpected delight for so many reasons and I don't know why I left it on my watchlist for so long before finally playing it. I highly recommend it.