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GAY
FILM REVIEWS BY MICHAEL D. KLEMM
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Testosterone Strand Releasing,
Director:
Screenplay: Starring:
Rated R, 105 minutes
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My
Boyfriend's Back
"I'm just a faggot with a gun who needs a chainsaw." Sexual obsession can be a dangerous thing. Just ask Dean (David Sutcliffe), a published artist/author of gay-themed graphic novels. He is the hero of Testosterone - a new film from David Moreton, the director of Edge of Seventeen. He is smitten with his new Latin boyfriend Pablo Alesandro (Antonio Sabato, Jr.). One night, Pablo caps their affair of unbridled passion and spectacular sex by going out for cigarettes and never returning. Dean's hormones are in overdrive and he is obsessed with finding his lost lover, risking his career in the process. His desperate search leads him to Argentina. He discovers that Pablo is the scion of a very wealthy and powerful family. Ruling the roost is a stern Mother who could be a distant cousin of the Matriarch from Federico Lorcas' The House of Bernada Alba. "He's done with you!" she snarls at Dean and slams the door in his face. Dean soon finds himself on the run from the police, Mrs. Alesandro's goon squad, and a handsome admirer named Marco who has been sent to kill him but falls in love with him instead.
If only the film's script lived up to its premise. While it is sexy, and it tries to be smart, the filmmakers constantly take the wrong road. Dean and Pablo's hot steamy relationship is distilled into a series of cartoon panels during the credits, thus depriving the audience of seeing their romance (aside from a few flashbacks). Dean's obsession might have resonated had we been allowed to experience their passion. Instead, the audience is left wondering what all the fuss is about. When they finally meet again - well, don't expect anything like the ultimate meeting between Joseph Cotton and Orson Welles in The Third Man. In between, the plot becomes too convoluted, with way too many coincidences. When Dean finally snaps, and becomes hell-bent on revenge, the film unravels. A twist involving a machete was just too much.
On the other hand, everything about the film's production is top notch. The cinematography is lush and very European, many images reminiscent of Bertolucci and Truffaut. The background score is a delightful mix of minimalist piano ala Eric Satie with a touch of salsa; a nice change from the usual techno music. David Sutcliffe has a lot of charisma as Dean. Unshaven and hairy, he is a far cry from the buff twinks seen in most gay films. Sonia Braga (Kiss of the Spider Woman) is wonderfully bitchy as Pablo's Mother. All of the acting is very good, with the exception of Sabato, whom the video box features as if he were the star of the film when he actually appears for perhaps only ten minutes. His exaggerated accent is annoying and makes Ricardo Montalban sound like he came from the Bronx. Though the end result is very mixed, I applaud everyone involved for attempting to do something different. I loved the first half; Testosterone has flashes of brilliance, but the parts do not connect to a coherent whole. Still, I found the film to be a welcome change from the usual coming out and Generation X movies that make up most of current queer cinema. One thing I can't say about Testosterone is "been there done that."
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