"Straight Jacket" is an adaptation of a stage play but unfortunately too much of it has been left stagebound. The overacting, exaggerated gestures, cutesy dialogue may work on stage but it all seems rather clunky and forced as a movie. The writers and director should have streamlined it a bit more for film. One of the worst, cringe-inducing parts comes early when the main character hops around chanting, "I'm gonna be Ben Hur..."; talk about awkwardly placed. The entire movie suffers from similar supposed-to-be-funny-but-not-really antics.
There are two stand-outs in the cast: Jack Plotnick is as funny as ever, and I enjoy seeing Veronica Cartwright in anything.
Not as much fun as "Girls will be Girls."
Kept Me Laughing!
I highly recommend this film. I especially loved the relationship between the lead and his agent. I watched it with my three best friends, who just happen to be gay, and...as their "hag", I can say we laughed all the way through it. It's funny, tender AND it makes you wonder...what would it be like to have to live an untrue life? To have to hurt someone to conform to other people's sense of normal? This movie will make you laugh and, hopefully,....think.
clever social satire
"Straight-Jacket" is a very funny satire showing what it must have been like for closeted homosexual actors living and working in Hollywood in the 1950`s (and who`s to say it`s really that much better now?). Matt Letscher stars as Guy Stone, a matinee idol along the lines of Rock Hudson, who leads a tricky double life. To the public at large he's a macho superstar heartthrob, the fantasy love object of women the world over, all of whom dream of being the one to finally strip him of his status as filmdom`s "most eligible young bachelor." In his private life, he spends most of his time prowling the bar scene for the next available hunk. In fact, Guy is so shallow that he doesn't even bother to learn the names of the star-struck men he sleeps with. Desperate to get the lead role in the upcoming epic "Ben-Hur," Guy agrees to enter into a sham marriage with a naïve young secretary working at the studio (she is unaware of Guy`s sexuality and believes he actually loves her). Soon we're deep into a laugh-filled version of "Far From Heaven," with Guy struggling to maintain interest in his new heterosexual lifestyle, a charade that becomes even more difficult after he meets the man of his dreams, an idealistic young writer named Rick Foster, who makes Guy think twice about the life of deceit he's leading.
Director Richard Day has written a script (based on his own stage play) filled with lacerating wit, hilarious puns (starting with the title of the movie and the name of the main character) and absurdist situations. He casts a scathing eye not only on anti-gay prejudice but on Tinsel Town phoniness, Red-baiting and superficial relationships as well. The movie shimmers with the bright, shiny look of `50's films, while the sets and costumes capture the period with rib-tickling fidelity (Guy`s peeling himself off a plastic, slip-covered sofa is priceless). The actors are all wonderful in their roles, particularly Letscher as Guy, Carrie Preston as his perfect little wife, Victor Raider-Wexler as the studio head and, above all, Veronica Cartwright (the young girl in "The Birds"), absolutely hilarious as Guy's understanding but pragmatic agent whose job it is to make sure Guy's career and hers don't suddenly come crashing down in flames around them.
"Straight-Jacket" is really a story about a man's coming to terms with reality, accepting himself for who he is, and changing society a little bit for the better in the process - with the Red Scare references serving mainly as allegorical allusions to the homophobia of today. This thematic layering is what makes "Straight-Jacket" one of the sharpest and most thoughtful movie comedies in a long time.
This is a quality movie, superb in every way, theme, character, pace, settings, and truly wonderful acting. Don't miss it! More Info about this DVD Director(s): Christian Faure DVD Release Date: Released the 24 May 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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I saw this film many months ago at the Seattle Lesbian and Gay Film Festival. Yes the guys are very hot! But the film is also a lot of fun. Director and writer Q. Allan Brocka has a way of making films with twists and turns and not merely predictable plots with ending you would expect 10 minutes into the film. This film is at times sweet and endearing, but it still has Brocka's dark and caustic edges too, producing some quite stinging and sharp lines. Numerous times I was howling with laughter after what some character said. Great film! More Info about this DVD DVD Release Date: 26 July 2005
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This movie was not all that great at all. I bought it because I have a passionate love for Mark Hildreth and that should be the only reason anyone should see this movie. The plot was flawed, the acting was lacking, the dialogue was slow, and the characters were extremely under-developed. I was extremely disappointed in this product and would not recommend anyone buy it. Rent it if you want to see it, but it is definately not worth purchasing. More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Katherine Billings DVD Release Date: Released the 10 May 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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This warm little film bills itself as a comedy but does not offer much that is clever or new -- some rattletrap humour about non-resident Indians, a perky Kyle Mclachlan playing Cary Grant's spirit spewing quips in an on-screen homage to the thespian, and such.
Yet, it's like that favourite dish your mom prepares when you head home for summer - not a highfalutin recipe, but its loving predictability is the very reason you want it.
Several of the plot's turns and twists labor away at pat stereotypes. Jimi Mistry plays Alim, a culturally conflicted Canadian-born Indian expat living in London with his British boyfriend. They make a jovial young couple except that Alim is uptight and lives a life of carefully partitioned half-truths, having not 'come out' to his... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Jimi Mistry - Sue Mathew - Kristen Holden-Reid Director(s): Ian Iqbal Rashid DVD Release Date: Released the 11 January 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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This was such a good movie the characters are interesting and charming. It does a good job showing what its like being on your own for the first time and in the city; and the unlikely trouble and friends you can find along the way, and when your really lucky you might find yourself as well. Don't miss this movie! It is well worth the price and share it with someone special friend lover or family they will thak you for it More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Michael Legge DVD Release Date: Released the 15 February 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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