Reviewing Movies

Greg Araki is a gay activist noted for nihilistic movies such as Doom Generation and The Living End however here he has made a movie with a definite message. This is still an Araki production admittedly bearing all his usual trademarks of explicit gay sex, sexual fondling and brutal violence therefore making this a film not intended for mainstream audiences.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays Neil a male hustler all lean muscularity and boney backbone who is haunted by the victimization he suffered at the hands of his coach, a sexual predator. Fellow team mate Brian Lackey with a geeky four-eyes look about him and the same history of abuse believes he was abducted by aliens and has blacked out his memories. While Brian seeks to uncover his past Neil embarks on a self-destructive round of encounters as a sex-for-hire male prostitute ultimately moving to New York City to be with his girl friend. Uncertain of his sexuality he finds hustling an easy way to make a living until he runs into that inevitable trick who likes his sex violent and bruising.

Bearing the physical scars of his encounter Neil returns home for Christmas where he meets up with Brian and together the two engage in a therapeutic airing of their past history of abuse. Facing up to the past seems to have a healing effect on both. Neil's girlfriend warns him repeatedly of the dangers of the path down which he has headed and warns his buddy back home of dark recesses in their friend where he should not tread. To drive the message home he meets a trick who is obviously infected with advanced symptoms of AIDS.

Having just written of the self-destructive path down which another young actor, Lillo Brancato, has embarked it is gratifying to remark that Gordon-Levitt has successfully made the transition from child to mature actor while keeping himself grounded in reality. He manages to play the parts of characters who go off the deep end without carrying that malaise into his everyday life. Indeed he took a hiatus from acting to attend Columbia University.