I don't think there was a single gay person working on this film...and it showed. This is not a gay film, it is what a straight guy, who has probably never seen a gay film, thinks a gay film should be. Like Brokeback Mountain, which was made almost entirely by straight people, I never felt the sincerity of the gay thing. However, unlike Brokeback, this didn't have the story, the scenery or the strong acting to keep me entertained (even if I never fully believe that Jake and Heath were in love.) I knew nothing about this film, or writer/director/star Pete Jones, yet after watching it I was absolutely sure that he was straight and probably not all that familiar with gay people. As it turns out, he is straight and in one interview he admitted to very limited exposure to gay people. No surprise there. But I was further disappointed to read his kissing-a-boy-is-icky interview where he talks about how nervous he and everyone else was when they filmed the kiss in bed. He talks about it like it was so difficult and it was some big deal that they made it through the scene. Ugh. You didn't cure cancer...you touched lips with a guy. Stop acting like it was some huge achievement. All of these straight actors doing gay films need to take a lesson from Patrick Swayze who did some wonderful interviews after To Wong Foo and didn't turn into a giggling fifth grader when he talked about playing gay. Also Hilary Swank -- great interviews on playing queer. So, while this is not the worst film I've ever seen (not even the worst gay film) this film did nothing for me and I do not recommend the rental.
Review of If Dad Only Knew
