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Billy's Hollywood Screen KissRating:
Release Date: 05 February, 2002 Retail Price: $14.98 OUR Price: $13.48 You SAVE: $1.50! Cast: Complete Cast (12 total) |
Billy's Hollywood Screen Kiss Reviews
A Different Kind of L.A. Story
A touching, funny, and sad story about a young photographer ("Will & Grace" star Sean P. Hayes) and the object of his desire (Brad Rowe), "Billy's Hollywood Screen Kiss," is an impressive feature-film debut for director O'Haver. Set in Los Angeles (and concluding on Santa Catalina island) Billy's infatuation with coffee-serving Gabriel allows the viewer to grasp the idea of an ideal friendship in the gay 90's. Gabriel's sexual ambiguity disturbs Billy's so called "gaydar" that Billy sets up a series of photographs inspired by classic films like "From Here to Eternity" to see whether-or-not Gabriel is gay.
The film serves a visionary eye palette of colors that gives the film a catchy look. Utilizing methods to watch Nicholas Ray used in "Rebel Without A Cause," and what Pedro Almodovar utilized in "Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown," (both films used a technicolor red hue to give the protagonist a unique look) O'Haver successfully incorporates great color schemes and excellent lighting.
The film has many sad points especially when Billy tells Gabriel the significance of his Polaroid and especially the heartbreaking ending (reminscent of the ending of "Splendor in the Grass"). I was fascinated my the creative use of the Polaroids in the telling of the story.
Overall, both characters are cute, the supporting characters are excellent, and the film's script is an original escape from today's unoriginal recycled film scripts. An excellent film for all, regardless of someone's sexual orientation.
A Bittersweet Tale of Unrequited Love
Although this film is marketed as a comedy, I found it to be more of a bittersweet, almost traditional tale of unrequited love. Although, in this case, the man in love is Billy, a gay photographer portrayed by Sean Hayes (prior to his Will and Grace success) and the object of his affection is a sexually ambivalent hunk named Gabriel, played by Brad Rowe.
Billy is old-fashioned in his passion for Gabriel, not only because he is not sure whether or not Gabriel is gay or shares his affection, but also because Billy is a gentleman, who prefers old-time movies and screen kisses. He uses Gabriel as a model in a series of photographs, re-creating famous screen kisses, but using two men as the stars.
The relationship between Billy and Gabriel is both sweet and frustrating. Their sexual tension is palpable, and it is incredibly erotic seeing them tentatively express affection, rather than seeing anything explicit. Sean Hayes is very good as Billy, and he plays a very low-key, somewhat shy character. He proves he is much more than, well, "Just Jack"!
There are also the usual dream sequences, and supporting characters typical of many gay films, such as the straight female best friend, and the older, wiser gay mentor. There are also some very unattractive drag queens lip synching Petula Clark songs. However, this is an atypical "gay film" that is really very much like an old-fashioned romance, the kind that Billy enjoys. The acting is very good all-around, the production quality is high, even though it must have been filmed on a small budget. It doesn't look or feel like a low-budget independent, and it is sad and sweet and worthy of repeat viewings.
The DVD version contains director commentary by writer/director Tommy O'Haver that is almost as entertaining as the movie. He explains how he was able to make this movie look so good on such a small budget, about the friends and relatives who helped out, and about why he chooses not to make this film a gay fantasy, but rather a realtistic love story. It's really incredibly good and entertaining, and you can also see that he saw a true talent in Sean Hayes long before everyone else did.
More Customer Reviews (12 total)
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