Hard Pill

A film that Strats off a bit light hearted and funny showing us every characters witty homo/hetero scale, it soon end sup becoming a provocative drama about a very unhappy gay man, who is so frustrated falling for wrong men and being single that he volunteers to be the experimental subject of a new pill destined to change gay men to straight.

Tim, a single man in his 30s is surrounded by some very loving co-workers but is still always single and desperately looking for love. He has a crush on the new office hire Matt, who it turns out has a girlfriend. Best Tim gets is the occasional quickies with his straight bet friend Don, bisexual and married. His best friend from school is Joey, who means well , is always happy and content and goes partying, wants to take Tim out to live a little but that not Tim's scene and all he wants is to find love. Then there is a girl Sally who has always loved Tim but knows she can never have him. So when a company announces this new experimental drug, Tim volunteers himself, much to the shock and disgust of every person and friend he knows. Joey feels especially betrayed for the whole gay cause. After about 4-6 weeks when Tim returns, he jumps into bed with Sally but walks away soon since they are not allowed to be emotionally involved but also Tim says "she is not my type". He meets another girl Tanya and before you know they start dating. Meanwhile the straight friend Don is bewildered as to why Tim has completely cut him off, just because he can't have quickie with him, but he is still his best friend. He goes into severe depression and harms himself which sort of wakes up Tm. Tanya breaks up with him and finally his friends and well wishers end up putting some sense into his silly brain. He even gets a full on kiss from his office crush Matt, who apparently is now single, but probably not ready to come out yet.

It was an interesting and clever idea to show the shades of gay and straight in each character though it wears out its welcome a bit by the time the entire cast is introduced. Tim is so wrapped up in finding love and wanting to have a boyfriend, what he doesn't seem to realize is that each of his friends and neighbors has problems as bad or worse than his own, they just have ways to deal. We see a bits and hints of problems that all of these individuals are facing and they are covered well, but somehow Tim never want to see beyond himself. In that sense, as a character I have no sympathy or love for Tim because he seems very selfish. Even his friendship with Don seemed just for convenience, and he uses and dumps Don just as easy. When I started to watch the film, I had my reservations because of the plot and the dated nature of the film, but surprisingly I actually found myself liking it a bit, of course with my usual issues with many films of such nature. Tim lacks in self confidence and just wants to believe in fooling himself that becoming straight will find him love. As an actor , guy playing Tim does a good job of being this anti-hero of the film. Joey as the promiscuous gay friend was well cast, and he knew what he wanted for himself and also he just wants to look out for his best friend. The ending felt bit rushed, just like Tim/Tanya dating story, but overall, even though a very questionable scenario of conversion, the film has a heart even though it may feel amateurish and naive at places; it is an affirmation of self- acceptance, without pretending that is always an easy thing. (6/10)