Nana's Boys

You know, for some odd reason I had my doubts before I started watching this film. I somehow knew that this may fall into the category of the show that I used to watch from Signal TV, a few of them reviewed here, but thankfully it didn't disappoint as much. But in all sincerity, it's the kind of story  that has its heart in the right place, but, unfortunately, the writing is so implausible and unconvincing that it's difficult to believe that this is a couple potentially on the verge of collapse, despite the alleged sensitivity it's trying to convey. Maybe it would have been better suited as a play.

Q and Amaris are a gay black couple. Q is 35, a lawyer, looking to become a partner and who is a meticulous and practically anal planner. However, Amari is feeling aimless and without purpose, frustrated that he doesn't know what he wants to do with his life. Amari's 30th birthday has him feeling old and wanting to reevaluate things. A blast incident forces them to get virtually locked in their apartment on the day of Amaris 30th birthday forcing them both to confront their true feelings for one another. They spend time together till Q throws a bomb and tells Amaris that he cheated on him on their trip in Mexico and that he is positive. Shocked Amaris, locks himself up; but the duo continue to converse. They remember the good old days when they met and how the main bond between them was they were e both raised by their grandma (hence the title). But by the end, Amaris decides he needs a break and reevaluate his life.

The difficulty of crafting a film like this is finding ways to make it visually interesting or make the dialogue as compelling as possible. When you have a film that's basically two characters trapped in one location with nothing but their words to sustain the piece, it becomes crucial that the dialogue is enough to keep one engaged. The characters sound more like they're reciting scripted dialogue than engaging in believable conversation. No one talks like these people do in real life, it all feels very rehearsed. As the two men open up about their relationship, they discuss old memories and it soon becomes clear that they haven’t had the same experience in the relationship. Warning signs have been missed or ignored, unhappiness has been suppressed in the hope things will improve and vitally the two men have been unable to tell each other what they need. The stuff that was being addressed is usually messy and more often than not involves some drama, raising of voice etc, but none of this happens here. Surely, we don't wanna see over the top histrionics making the film a soap opera; but in contrast, here it is way too sanitized, glossy and polite. In fact, I kept wondering how is this couple even together. They are so mechanical in everything they did or said. Their chemistry is lacking, which does make the inevitable fallout easier to accept. As actors, the two leads are good looking and strictly average. It's good to see gay black men being represented more in American cinema, but how I wished someone made something good with it, not this run-of-mill average content. And as an audience, if I do not connect with my characters and don't much care about what's happening in their life, I think the film has already lost the purpose. (4/10)