Coming out of the same studio that gave us RuPaul's Drag Race, and stacked with a whole crew of former contestants, Stop! That! Train! plays like RuPaul basically taking a bow for the entire franchise she's built. It's not really a gay film in the traditional sense, but with so many drag stars from Ru's shows popping up alongside a few cameos from well known out gay actors, I figured it earns a spot on this blog anyway. The whole thing is completely over the top, packed with GenZ slang, loud flashy visuals, and humor that's constantly winking at you knowing how ridiculous it is. Going in you'd assume it's meant to be a laugh riot, and a lot of critics online seem to be eating it up, but I just couldn't get into it at all. I've never really been someone who vibes with campy silly stuff like this, so honestly my reaction doesn't surprise me one bit. The setup follows Tess and DeeDee, two low level stewardesses who sneak onto the fancy Glamazonian E...
Wyatt, recently broken up with his boyfriend and a financier from New York returns home to Colorado for the holidays in an effort to convince his mother, Deb to sell the family's ranch and the endearing Winter Wonderland attraction. He pretty much left it to his mom to run the place five years ago around the time his father passed away. Meanwhile, Deb has a new guy Heath working on the ranch helping her big time with trying to sustain the tradition. After initial anger, misjudging each other, Heath and Wyatt do fall for each other. But each of them is carrying their own baggage of their past, which is making it harder for both of them to give their 100% to each other. And the fact that Wyatt wants to sell the ranch while Heath wanting to save it any cost is not helping their cause. As you would expect, their romance blossoms, gets a to hurdle when Wyatt has to go back home. But a brilliant idea (was it really?) that Wyatt gets will finally save the ranch. And Maybe it will also make him stay longer in Colorado to work on his love and bring them both together.
Even though the film stays mostly a family affair, we do have the pleasure of seeing both Wyatt and Heath in their tightest of boxer underwear and appreciate their chiseled bodies and good looks. That aside, I did appreciate the fact that both men have some sort of back story of their troubled growing up teen years in a small rural town and that has shaped who they have become as men. Wyatt and Heath actually forge a real, believable connection by sharing their coming out stories—and then the movie tears them apart with a problem that is way more complex than the usual goofy mixups we get in these movies. I am not sure I liked Deb's performance though. Her expressions and reactions , according to me, were way off than whats happening on the screen. She seemed in excruciating physical pain all the time. The film is packed with scenes designed to make your heart melt, specially the homecoming dance date the two main characters go on. The location, the cinematography was very holiday like and makes you get in the mood.
Overall it is a nice gay love drama over the holiday period that unfolds in front of you on the screen. It is a pleasant and heartwarming movie, where the leads manage to sustain the audience's attention for its entire duration. (7/10)
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