Review of Gay Themed Movie "Judas Kiss"
Alright, I will make this a brief review, because going into this movie, I thought I would be in love with it. It has all the elements of a movie that I should love: cute boys, steamy love triangles, science fiction plot devices (basically Back to the Future meets DK's "Do Over" without the interesting plot points), and an ex porn star.
I am not saying this was a bad film, it is an enjoyable romp about a guy meeting his past self and trying to make changes to his life for the better. However, there is a difference between just enjoying an idea and loving a movie.
My pet peeve about this movie was how the entire plot is a non-sequitor floating timeline, with a few plot twists near the end. The big issue with stories like this is that if you implement a "Twilight Zone" type story, you want the characters to grow emotionally and logically through the plot. The stories growth is completely articial and based around a premise that falls apart after looking deeper into it. Has Daniel Rhys (the main character played by Sean Lockhart aka Brent Corrigan former Twin porn star) really organically learned his lesson not to fall in love with the rich millionaire playboy, who will lead him down a road of drug addiction and constant rehab? Or, has he narcissistically realized that his best interests are with a guy that truly love him and with knowledge of the future will become a famous film maker?
Under all the pretty story points and good messages, there's a deep narcissism that just never ends.
Also, I thought the showdown scene with the father was underwhelming and non-realistic. It is a two person scene between the father and son and it looked like a canned film school short from a gay kid struggling with daddy issues. Look I get the subtext and the overt messages between showing the film within the film and the showdown of the angst he feels towards his dad, but it fell flat. Instead of showing what I had hoped was the character change to being a more assertive human being, who would reject the Hollywood fiction and live life his own way, I got a gay kid shouting at his dad for abandoning his mom. You don't need freud to explain a basic Oedipal complex.
Still, despite all its flaws and pseudo-psychological mistakes, I did enjoy the movie. It was original and the story tried to tell a simple tale that if handled better could have been a real contender. Maybe the other part of my frustration is that I am expecting way too much from Sean Lockhart's acting range, especially in this indie film. He get better in later movies, but I still see him using his porn star moves and strip teases to substitute for actual acting ability.
My rating is 7/10, decent, but nothing special. It might be worth a watch if you don't mind the problems and are a fan of Sean Lockhart's body
Watch it for yourself and disagree if you think I am a little too harsh
- 4
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