The Boys Are Back In Town

Maybe I still have Oscar Wilde on my mind that's why I wanted to write about a gay movies I saw recently. It's LITTLE BOY BIG BOY, which is one of Jojo's gifts to me from the Philippines. Just like any modern Filipino movie, there are parts from it that really infuriate me. However, there are a lot of good things about this movie that I thought it was mostly worth my while: i.e. I did not feel like my time was wasted. First of all, the movie was pretty focused: it needed to tell a simple story, and it did, simply. There were no extraneous story lines that distract. A rom-com by heart, I liked that the tone was light. In most Filipino movies, melodrama can be on the overwrought side. There's still a little bit here, but it is tempered comparatively. I seem to be now mostly an outsider to Filipino nowadays, but do I sense a bit of relaxation on gay acceptability? The general attitude here seems to be mostly progressive, and if this movie is a reflection of the now over there, then I say good for them. Are Filipino children really that open-minded about gays? I would tend to think so, because American kids are so blase about these things - only the adults really make a bigger deal out of them.

I wish the acting was stronger. Both Paolo Rivero and Douglas Robinson were adequate, but I still feel a stiffness in their acting, especially in the earlier scenes. The kid, Renz Valero, mostly plays along. I don't know if I completely believed Rivero and Robinson as a gay couple, although the sex scenes try hard to convince me. I struggle with them - they are borderline gratuitous for me. But then again, this may be because I am an old fogey. And I also wish the dialogue was more Tagalog, as I cringe when the actors are trying desperately to have an accent. As with most Filipinos, the focus is more on the accent than the proper pronunciation of the words. I wonder if their performances would have been better if they were able to verbally communicate their dialogues? This movie is a light frothy drink, and I gobbled it up.