SPOILERS SPOILERS (it's not that kind of film but I'm cautious)
There is a lot of good in this film -- the performances, the surprises, the exploration of some bold territory.
But to cut to the chase I think it chickens out in a few ways. One is by making the sex the focus of the conflict it derailed the far more nuanced and powerful emotional one. I was hoping Blacks pining for Marsden was not sexual but social, he just wants a friend, to feel valid and worthwhile. "What happened in LA" was not the sex but the connection. But the film drops this and its all about "i screwed a man, am I gay, do I love him etc". Unspoken is the loneliness and inadequacy that drove him to risk so much. The early dinner scene paints it well, then poof, it's gone.
A less egregious chicken out is although Black gets beat up pretty good he only suffers for about 1/2 a day. It's all better and forgiven by noon. Eh.
There is a lot of good in this film -- the performances, the surprises, the exploration of some bold territory.
But to cut to the chase I think it chickens out in a few ways. One is by making the sex the focus of the conflict it derailed the far more nuanced and powerful emotional one. I was hoping Blacks pining for Marsden was not sexual but social, he just wants a friend, to feel valid and worthwhile. "What happened in LA" was not the sex but the connection. But the film drops this and its all about "i screwed a man, am I gay, do I love him etc". Unspoken is the loneliness and inadequacy that drove him to risk so much. The early dinner scene paints it well, then poof, it's gone.
A less egregious chicken out is although Black gets beat up pretty good he only suffers for about 1/2 a day. It's all better and forgiven by noon. Eh.