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Release Date: August 18th, 2006 (Quad Cinema) by Regent Releasing/Here! Films. The Cast: Jack Noseworthy, Valerie Geffner, Matt Newton, Ian Reed Kesler, Austin Lysy, Michael Lerner, Karen Allen. Directed by Zak Tucker. BASIC PREMISE: Henry (Newton) comes out of the closet just in time for the re-election of his conservative father (Lerner) in the U.S. Senate. ENTERTAINMENT VALUE: Poster Boy fails to be engaging with its formulaic, unsurprising plot, dull characters and a stilted script. The premise of a conservative senator’s son coming out of the closet sounds somewhat promising and definitely makes the conflict quite clear. However, the plot and the conflict never really go anywhere interesting, even when Henry confronts his mother (Allen) and father—this scene should have been much longer. Soon, he meets Anthony (Noseworthy) at a club and they have a one-night-stand which seemingly means more to Anthony than it does to Henry. Anthony and his HIV-positive best friend Izzy (Geffner) quickly see this relationship as an opportunity to promote gay rights through Henry’s political ties. At Valerie Geffner manages to provide a little charm and humor to this dull, lifeless film. Everyone else, even Karen Allen, comes across as simply one-dimensional and boring. Director Zak Tucker awkwardly alternates between Henry speaking to a homophobic psychoanalyst about his experiences with Anthony and actual scenes from those experiences. The psychoanalysis doesn’t add much in terms of character development and just states the obvious. Tucker does do a great job in terms of choosing an appropriate musical score and makes the most of out the cinematography with a digital medium. The main problem, though, comes derives from co-screenwriters Lecia Rosenthal and Ryan Shiraki who include contrived, melodramatic dialogue without any scenes that feel true-to-life. Too many scenes get dragged out and feel redundant. A more focused script with livelier characters and less melodrama would have helped to make this much more entertaining and absorbing. SPIRITUAL VALUE: Unfortunately, none. INSULT TO YOUR INTELLIGENCE: Formulaic, contrived, unfocused and too melodramatic. NUMBER OF TIMES I CHECKED MY WATCH: 6 IN A NUTSHELL: Awkwardly directed with a formulaic, stilted and unfocused script, mediocre performances as well as many contrived scenes. RECOMMENDED WAY TO WATCH: TV Main Page Alphabetical Menu Chronological Menu The "P" Menu ______________________________________________________ |
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