This one's a beautiful, tender, quiet romantic drama with a moody atmosphere, set in a tight knit Welsh fishing community. It's a touching story about a man waking up sexually in the middle of his life, and how he, his family, and everyone around him deal with it, which makes it emotional and sentimental without ever getting over the top. The slow burn plays out against a landscape that's as bleak as it is gorgeous, where quiet, closed off men are stuck inside rigid ideas of what masculinity should be. Some people might be reminded of "God's Own Country," but I think both films are lovely in their own way. Jack is a middle aged guy who co-owns a mussel farm with his rough around the edges brother Dyfan, and the tension between the two of them is simmering under the surface right from the start. Dyfan's three sons all help out with the work, while Jack's sulky teenage son Tom keeps skipping out. Jack's been with his wife since they were both 16, and...
Adam is a young garage mechanic who spends most of his time with his longtime best friend Chris. The other 2 of the quartet are Nick and Ortu and they do everything that you can think of stereotypical straight guys doing at evenings in a small american town including beer, games, chicks and gay jokes. On his birthday Adam break the news that he is gay. Chris tries to act cool and ok but others are haplessly frank in their bafflement. Upon realizing how vulnerable his best friend may feel in light of coming out, Nick devises a plan to help everyone acclimate to Adam’s sexuality by helping him find a man all his own. This leads the friends down several paths of self-discovery, some more entertaining than others, as well as overused genre territory such as gay clubs and dating apps. In between all this, Adam also comes out to his family. On one such occasion, when his double date ends bad, an honest misunderstanding happens between Adam and Chris that threatens to ruin the friendship. Thankfully without much melodrama, things get back to normal. The friends are there for each other and like a happy ending for everyone, they all find their lovers on July 4th weekend and eve Adam may finally find a suitor that he likes.
Saying that anything you see in this film, you haven’t seen before would be a lie. There is absolutely nothing new. Even the one scene of sexual tension between Adam and Chris was so obvious. I saw that coming right since the film started. Having said that, I can also say that performances from every individual was quite good and the rapport that the four guys saved was also really good. I am glad that the makers kept the film very light-hearted without too much of a melodrama and that was the only thing worked for me. I was tired of rolling my eyes otherwise seeing all the cliches of a gay film. All the side stories of a nosy neighbour, Nick’s girlfriend etc. were also alright. And oh! What’s up with the really poor choice of actors to play Nick’s mom-dad and sister. The actors had absolutely zero chemistry with each other that you would expect from a family. It was really odd.
Overall I think the weaknesses of the film overpowers the strengths and thats where I think this film failed to leave a much better impression for me. (5.5/10)
Comments
I will have to check it out soon.