Home Media Magazine - October 21-27, 2007 - (Page 21)

www.homemediamagazine.com REVIEWS “Firefly”) and Internet-porn-addicted Connor (Westmoreland) — are loutish goofs who can’t have a good time without beer and sexist jokes. The eldest brother, Jack (Kennedy), is a Catholic priest. Suffice it to say, coming out to these traditionalists isn’t an easy move. Jones turns the coming-out story on its head by recognizing that coming out is about relationships, family and acceptance as much as it’s about sexuality. By playing Bobby as a man whose homosexuality shocks everyone not because they’re in denial but because he exhibits no stereotypical behavior, Jones makes the excellent point that Bobby IS a regular guy, regardless of his sexual orientation. He takes the “us vs. them” out of the homophobia equation. And while this film is extremely easygoing, Jones doesn’t shy away from the fact that there aren’t easy solutions to life’s problems. Outing Riley is an accomplishment Jones can be proud of. It’s a comingout film for fans of gay cinema or anyone just in the mood for a quirky family film along the lines of My Big Fat Greek Wedding, The Family Stone or The Daytrippers. — Laura Tiffany I OUTING RILEY Street 10/30 Wolfe, Comedy, $24.95 DVD, NR. Stars Pete Jones, Nathan Fillion, Michael McDonald, Julie Pearl, Stoney Westmoreland, Dev Kennedy. P eter Jones’ first film, Stolen Summer, couldn’t have been released in a more ironically difficult environment. As the first winner of Project Greenlight, he should’ve had the opening to die for (all that free publicity!). But after a volatile first season, Jones film was set up to fail, regardless of its quality. And fail it did. For Jones’ second outing (no pun intended), he continues to stick close to his Chicago Catholic roots. Jones, as a triple-threat director, screenwriter and star, has created a warmhearted film that proves his realityTV 15 minutes of fame should last longer. Jones plays Bobby, a nice IrishCatholic guy from Chicago who is close with his three brothers and one sister. After his father dies, his sister Maggie (Pearl) urges Bobby to finally come out of the closet. But two of his brothers — pothead Luke (Fillion of I I DON’T WANT TO SLEEP ALONE Street 11/6 Strand, Drama, B.O. $0.02 million, $27.99 DVD, Unrated. In Chinese, Mandarin, Malay and Bengali with English subtitles. A s a first-time introduction to renowned Taiwanese director Tsai Ming-liang, I Don’t Want to Sleep Alone is perhaps not the best choice; it’s not as celebrated as What Time Is It There? or Vive L’Amour. But it is shot in Ming-liang’s signature style: It’s a snail’s-pace, poetic film that takes patience and inspires daydreaming that isn’t conducive to following the slim plot, but it does reward those who stay with it. In a dire neighborhood of Kuala Lumpur, a Bangladeshi worker takes pity on a homeless man who has been beaten by street gamblers. He takes him home — a mattress pulled from a dump, covered in mosquito netting — and nurses him back to health. Nearby, a young waitress also plays nurse to her boss’s comatose son. As the homeless man returns to health, he and the waitress begin a silent flirtation. Their relationship places the isolation, hunger and desire of the other characters, such as the foreign worker, the waitress’ boss, in sharp relief. The first half of the film sometimes feels like a long slog to nowhere, the action almost solely the juxtaposition between the near sensual care the homeless man receives and the rough, workaday care of the comatose man. But for patient viewers, the second half features some startlingly beautiful shots and an ending both enigmatic and satisfying. Ming-liang’s hallmark style of long shots, minimal dialogue and gorgeous framing works best after you know and care for the characters. It begins to feel natural to let Mandarin melodies on a radio do the talking, and be swept away by the decaying beauty of Ming-liang’s Malaysia — particularly an abandoned, half-constructed building full of Escher-like stairways made all the more otherworldly by an ash storm engulfing the city. For fans of Ming-liang’s work or those who like their foreign cinema on the meditative, starkly beautiful side, I Don’t Want to Sleep Alone will sate their appetite and leave them discussing the implications of the film for days to come. Ming-liang’s imagery and themes are the stuff that film student theses are made of. — Laura Tiffany October 21–27, 2007 Home Media Magazine 21 http://www.homemediamagazine.com

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Home Media Magazine - October 21-27, 2007

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