guymfoster Review of From Zero to I Love You

From Zero to I Love You (2019)

A complex love story for complex (unloving) times

[9/10 · 7 February 2020]

I've been waiting for this film ever since I first heard it was in production two or three years ago. I'm happy to report that it did not disappoint. Spearman has crafted a film that tackles a familiar subject but updates it with wonderful touches. A white man married to a woman struggles to affirm his same-sex desires by having furtive encounters with other men until he finally meets one man who inspires him to make a dramatic change in his life. And this man is black. The interracial nature of this relationship gives Spearman the chance to explore other topics that aren't often addressed in such storylines. To cite one example: I loved the close but tough love relationship between the erstwhile homewrecker Pete (portrayed with great sensitivity and smoldering charm by Darryl Stephens) and his father (the stately Richard Lawson). Contemporary reviewers aren't used to seeing filmic treatments of black fathers who accept their gay sons in this way. Indeed, Lawson's character is so invested in his son's happiness that he ultimately plays a central role in helping to bring about the HEA ending that Spearman's film motors toward. And while From Zero to I Love You touches on the fact that Pete's friend group is mostly comprised of white rather than black people (implying perhaps that Pete is partial to white men as partners, though not exclusively so), it doesn't allow such concerns (concerns which the film is hardly indifferent to), to get in the way of the love story that is clearly Spearman's main focus. Put differently, Spearman has crafted a contemporary film that recognizes his characters' racial and not just their gender identities. And while it is clearly important to the film that Pete is black and Jack (portrayed with wide-eyed sexiness and forgivable confusion by Scott Bailey) is white, these specific elements add texture and authenticity to the story itself rather than simply present the characters as interchangeable and generic racially. I'm a black gay man and I for one appreciated Spearman's willingness to make racial diversity something more than a visual element in his film but also a structuring element at the level of his script/story. And did I mention that the film has a black man as the principle love interest? Certainly in this day and age we need more black men to be loved rather than hated and feared. That said, I found this film to be satisfying on multiple levels.