Loverboy

Kevin Bacon's sophomore effort behind the camera—as the director of Loverboy—is anything but sophomoric. The actor shows some real style and verve directing this elegant, loosely-based adaptation of the Victoria Redel novel.

Bacon's wife, Kyra Sedgwick, stars as Emily, a woman whose only goal in life is to have and love a child. The film has great fun in the first 20 minutes showing her going about this mission by seducing various men in libraries, and hotel rooms before she finally gets pregnant. Then Loverboy turns more than a bit creepy.

You see, Emily is a smothering mother, threatened by anyone trying to come between her and her son Paul (Dominic Scott Kay). She insists on being with him alone, always, meaning that Paul will be home schooled, have no friends his age, and absolutely no father figures. Of course, this causes trouble when Paul wants to be “a normal kid.”

Loverboy is an absorbing film, comprised of several narrative threads, all of which explain or illustrate Emily's behavior, but they also compete for attention. While some of the episodes are better than others—Sandra Bullock's soft-focus cameo as young Emily's “perfect” mom is heartbreaking—Bacon's most noticeable problem as a director is the film's consistently shifting tone. Loverboy whips back and forth between vignettes explicating the characters' motivations, but never quite building the dramatic tension. The impact of Emily's ultimate action, when it is finally revealed, is diluted.

Yet Bacon coaxes such a captivating performance out of his wife Sedgwick, the storytelling shortfalls can be forgiven. In support, Bacon assembled a fine cast, including Marisa Tomei, Campbell Scott, Matt Dillon, Blair Brown, and Oliver Platt in minor roles, while Bacon himself plays Emily's dad with noticeable élan.

Loverboy may be uneven, but it shows Bacon clearly has promise as a filmmaker. -- Gary M. Kramer

Say Uncle

Peter Paige, in his first outing as writer/director, skims the surface of a major problem Americans are facing with pedophilia—namely, hysteria. But instead of creating a story centering on the seriousness of the dilemma, Paige focuses on a character that is so unbelievably unaware of his own unstable mentality that he comes off more hateful than likable.

Paul (Paige) is a 30-something gay man thrown into an isolated world when his only visible family, his best friend Sarah (Lisa Edelstein) and her young son, Morgan, whom Paul is acting uncle to, move to Japan. Disheartened, Paul wanders around aimlessly in the rain and falls asleep in donut shops, mournful of having lost his beloved nephew. In hopes of filling the void, he becomes fixated on other children, hanging around playgrounds and playing with no regard for their parents' consent.

His behavior eventually makes a parent extremely wary. Maggie (Kathy Najimy, the film's saving grace) is a housewife who, along with friend and fellow mother, Susan (Melanie Lynskey), starts a neighborhood awareness campaign about child molesters that specifically targets Paul. A manchild, Paul remains oblivious to the brewing hysteria (unwittingly fanning the fire, he posts babysitter flyers featuring the slogan “I know what your child needs!”), even when best friend Russell (Anthony Clark) tries to bang it into his skull. “People are weird when it comes to their kids,” says Russell. “What do they think I'm going to do, eat them?” asks Paul. Well, Paul, yes, for a lack of better words.

There's an interesting subplot involving a budding relationship between Paul and Russell, but it's never fully realized, and neither is Maggie's troubled marriage. These obstacles wouldn't have been such a problem had Paige written Paul as a more functional human being instead of a scatterbrained dope. Attempts to be visually creative—by depicting Paul's habit of imagining people with painted faces—are occasionally nifty and further establish the childlike mind of the character (as does the alt-pop soundtrack). And Paige does demonstrate that there's more to him than Queer as Folk's swishy Emmet. But the moral of this directorial debut seems to be it's okay to remain a clueless loafer when you're 30 years old and float through life and if you happen to be mistaken for a pedophile, it'll all somehow work itself out. As it is, Say Uncle just might have you saying “uncle” before it's over. -- Matt Dalton

The Mostly Unfabulous Social Life of Ethan Green

Based on the popular underground gay comic strip by Eric Orner, The Mostly Unfabulous Social Life of Ethan Green is like an ill-advised one-night stand. Sure, the guy seemed hot at the time, and you enjoyed the hook-up. But the next morning you wake up with a sinking, unsatisfied feeling and nursing a nasty hangover.

While Ethan Green offers a fizzy cocktail of kitschy humor and sexy, outrageous fun that captures the quirky, raunchy tone of Orner's comic strip, what the film lacks is a true subversive sensibility, which is also one of the drawbacks of the comic strip. And while Daniel Letterle (Camp) makes for an adorable and satisfying lead, the character, as written in the film, is missing Ethan's luckless/outsider charm.

For the uninitiated, Ethan Green is a 26-year-old professional assistant on a never-ending quest for the perfect “dream date.” Although he likes to think of himself as unlucky in love, his friends and family know the real problem: Ethan has unrealistic standards and is afraid to let down his guard and allow himself to truly fall for a guy.

However, in the film, Ethan has stumbled upon the holy grail of single gay men: former big league baseball player Kyle Underhill (Diego Serrano), who's fresh out of the closet. After dating for a few months, Ethan is hoping that the hunky jock will ask him to shack up. When he doesn't, Ethan gets cold feet and kicks Kyle to the curb. Making matters worse, Ethan's ex-boyfriend/best bud, Leo (David Monahan), wants to sell the house where Ethan lives so he can move in with his new doltish Republican boyfriend.

In an attempt to avoid eviction, Ethan starts fooling around with cute but impish party boy Punch (Dean Shelton), a real estate assistant and pile of raging hormones who agrees to help prevent Leo from unloading the house.

From there, the plot devolves into utter silliness. Of course, realism isn't exactly the point. But instead of offering obvious one-liners and unfunny sight gags about sex with power tools, it would have been nice to see the filmmakers aim for the truly anarchic spirit that pops up from time to time in the comic.

What the film does deliver is Family Ties matriarch Meredith Baxter as Ethan's gay wedding planner mom in a funny and nuanced performance. And there are flashes of the subversive in the scenes with the campy Hat Sisters, a couple of old queens who serve as Ethan's watchful protectors/brunch buddies. Although their shtick grows tiresome, they manage to get in a few wicked, laugh-out-loud one-liners.

Despite these setbacks, screenwriter David Vernon and director George Bamber have crafted an enjoyable, madcap romp that boasts enough offbeat charm to appeal to gay moviegoers looking for a lighthearted summertime popcorn flick devoid of exploding cars, sinking ships, or superheroes in spandex. --Christopher Wallenberg