Love Thing...the last American Musical Comedy.
A real cult film like an episode of I Love Lucy done by The Twilight Zone as a Hollywood musical...
Channels change on an old television set. Are we watching a nostalgic TV show or a funny American movie musical? Yes, it is reality TV from the past. Your average Latina housewife, Chi-Chi, is suffering from a sexless marriage while husband, Bill, is annoyed by their lack of communication. Their middle-class suburban life begins to unravel through musical fantasies and flashbacks. The gay son, Junior, suggests she call a self-help guru, Mr. Loveboy, who guarantees to transform her into an ultimate woman, fabulous housewife. After-work in a bar, Bill has a strange daydream that awakens his manhood and returns home for a big surprise. But is this family living in the real world or on TV, for an audience or themselves?
Love Thing captures the emerging multicultural spirit and personal freedom of the late 1970s with an outrageous attitude and experimental style. Prophetic, it travels through memories as scenes of American family life are filtered through the changing channels of an old TV set. The family relationships go beyond what is apparent on the surface because this mix of racial, sexual and gender identity has no reference in that past era. Now finally completed it could be considered the last musical comedy from that time. A first feature film by director, Mike Mannetta, it stars Joaquin La Habana in a gender reversal role plus a new music score by composer, Joel Diamond. With digitally enhanced fantasy and dance scenes, its vision has now been realized. Making an appearance in this outrageous musical comedy is the legendary performance artist and filmmaker, Jack Smith.