This is pitched as the first gay love story from a major Hollywood studio. I don't know how true that claim is - but I do know this is a funny and sweet movie.
When I was at University at the turn of the century, there was a guy in our halls named "Big Gay Gareth"0. He was my go-to guy when I had questions about the insidious homosexualist agenda1. He was instrumental in helping me understand what was, at the time, termed the QUILTBAG world. There were such a bewildering array of terms, customs, and issues - it was like being suddenly exposed to a whole new dimension.
Anyway, we live in a different world now. Love and attraction aren't "adult-only issues". There is such a bittersweet moment in the film when one character complains about the younger generation with the line "We got AIDS. They got Glee."
It's a story about frustration - both at the progress made in society, and the progress made in ourselves. It's about finding a way to let love into your life and letting the rage out of your heart. It's a silly movie about orgy etiquette and post-shenanigan clean-up. Oh, and whether Abe Lincoln was gay (maybe?)
You'd need a heart of stone not to find it hilarious.
The only slight negative is that it is - as many movies are - primarily focused on cis, white, and rich people. It's very open about its limitations and spends a lot of time poking fun at itself.
Amusingly, for a movie so focussed on sex, it isn't particularly explicit. While there's a lot of toplessness, there isn't a single buttock to be seen. Although, that said, I watched this on an aeroplane - so I've no idea how much (if any) was cut from the version I saw!
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We already had a Gareth, and a Big Gareth. Turns out Gareth was a popular name in our demographic. Of course, one day we met Big Gay Ginger Gareth. Honestly, we could have started a boyband with the amount of Gareths we knew. ↩︎
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Which, as it turned out, mostly involved going to the one gay club in the city, organising pride marches with a bunch of disorganised students, and answering stupid questions from ignorant people wanting to know what their agenda was. ↩︎
