This one falls into that darker corner of gay cinema. There was real potential buried in here, but the execution feels so flat that at points it plays out more like a filmed stage play than an actual movie. It's a dark psychological drama built around a street hustler confessing to a brutal, confusing murder of his own lover. Black and white flashback sequences do a solid job laying out the details of what happened, but the real focus stays on the dialogue and the writing itself. Right at the start, a young hustler has already killed his male lover Claude. Three days go by before he calls the police to turn himself in for the murder. But instead of just reporting it somewhere ordinary, he actually summons the police and the local press directly into a judge's private chambers. Yves has keys to the place, which tracks given what he does for a living, but having the press waiting right outside makes the whole scene look like some elaborate blackmail scheme against the judge. The ...
I had no expectations from this movie but when I started watching it, I was hooked to it primarily for 2 reasons. The whole black life style and the way they speak and "my husband". Now don't ask what that means. Just read it with the black accent.A murder happens on new years and prime suspect is Valerie and church goer and a home maker. The story then goes in flashback when she is narrating the story to the detective. Valerie and Dutch have moved to Philadelphia from Atlanta for work. Dutch is psychiatrist and has got a job here. Valerie is a photographer by profession. Dutch now works in the hospital of Kevin and Monica (a couple and his ex college friends). Things are shown in suspicion for the couple and it seems that Monica and Dutch have something going on. There is also a popular singer Ryan in the picture who happen to be an old friend and regular at these parties. After a series incidents Valerie starts suspecting of Dutch cheating on her. She gets help from her friend Zahara and a black gay guy who goes to church for all women meetings. Zahara takes pictures of Dutch and Monica and shows to Valerie. Her world collapses. Dutch tries to explain but of no avail. Meanwhile, there is this strange women in the church who never speaks but then one day she talks to Valerie and asks her to go to a hotel. When Valerie goes to hotel , she gets shock of her life. She fins Dutch and Ryan together in shower. She is shocked. Dutch turns out to be gay or bisexual. Meanwhile we are told that its Ryan who has been killed and all proofs lead to suspect being Valerie. In the end the cops get a confession dvd in which they show Ryan confessing to having spread HIV to who evr he has sex with and then they show that the strange woman from the church had killed him. She apparently was Ryan's ex wife. Dutch and Valerie split and thankfully neither of them have been affected by the virus.
Acting by Valerie was superb. The whole premise and the direction and the sequencing of events of interrogation and he narrative going back and forth was very interesting. The twist in the plot comes as a shock because no one expects Dutch to be gay. I cant find any fault in the film. It was a pleasant experience although it would be wrong to term it as a gay film.
Definitely watch it for good cinema although the movie is not typically gay themed. (7/10)
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