The problem with gay drama is that it's so full of, well, drama. We have enough drama in our lives, why would we want to see a film about the gay experience that is loaded with it in our free time? I want movies that make me happy and remind me how joyous it is to be gay!

The problem with being a film critic in a minor film community like Austin, and by extension Texas, is that you have to ride the fine line between promoting local films and being honest in your reviews.

"Happy Birthday" is a gay drama from Dallas filmmaker Yen Tan. The film is by no means unwatchable; in fact, many of the five interrelated stories are interesting, but it's all so humorless and lifeless as to become dreary, as dreary as the black and white images which are used to make up the film.

5 stories, all featuring a character with the same birthday (hence the title) and birth year and all taking place in the same 48 hours leading up to that birthday make up the plot. There are two lesbian and three gay male dramas in the film. By far, the lesbian section are more interesting. In one, the most beautiful and subtle of the stories, a young Asian woman finds a visit from her mother (who lives overseas) both joyous and troubling. This is a "coming out" story and one of the most demure and realistic ones I've seen in a long time. Meanwhile, the lesbian storyline which opens the film (with a pretentious shot through a half-open door that is repeated throughout the film) is less interesting but still worthwhile and unique. In this plotline, a 20-something woman finds her relationship falling apart and her life placed in flux by a phone call from a female friend from her college days.

The gay male storylines range from the contrived to the depressing. The most ludicrous plot has a gay male porn star (Tan apparently knows absolutely nothing about porn) trying to work on a film while he is distracted by troubles at home. His lover, who is Pakistani, is trying to secure a visa to stay in the states but may be deported. It is sad that Tan makes such a timely and interesting idea less attractive by the ridiculously wrong-headed porn star storyline. Equally contrived is the plot about the closeted gay "minister" who heads a support group for gay men trying to change into heterosexuals. Of course, he is shown as a somewhat hypocrite, masturbating to gay porn in his home. This storyline is done well but the set-up is so obvious that the piece holds no surprises for us. It's just a depressing ode about a man who can't face his sexuality. We've seen it before.

The most interesting male storyline involves a really large gay man who works as a telemarketer. Again, this storyline would be so much more interesting and engrossing if it weren't such a downer. I mean, I'm not sure how this storyline could work without it's really maudlin and depressing tone, but just because it's done well doesn't mean it's easy to watch. Again, drama drama drama! Who needs it? As a fat, gay man, I don't need to be reminded of how dismal it all really can seem!

The acting in the film varies from the bad to the surprisingly subtle and nuanced. Benjamin Patrick is superb as Jim, the portly telemarketer. Allowing us a real insight to Jim's habits and complex emotional issues, Patrick makes Jim interesting and worth our concern. It's nice to see his character have a somewhat happy and realistic conclusion. This storyline alone, even with its depressing tone still makes the film worthwhile. It is, at least, somewhat unique.

Meanwhile, Ethel Lung and Xiao Fei Zhao create wonderful mother/daughter chemistry in their scenes, which are all spoken in Chinese tongue with subtitles. They have an excellent script to guide them and they take remarkable advantage of it. And finally, Devashish Sexena as the Pakistani Javed proves himself quite a remarkable thespian in his phone call home during the film's final reel. This storyline could have been so much more if his lover was an insurance salesman or a office worker rather than a porn star. That's the real shame here. (Tan was trying to tie the plotlines together, I guess, by having the porn that the minister watches star Javed's lover - but couldn't he have worked at the video story or something? Why did he have to be a porn star? It's all so typical - and typically contrived.)

The script can be quite contrived and typical at other times as well, such as in the connective tissue of the storylines. We learn much about Javed, for example, through an interview process much like a fake documentary. And while this does fit his storyline about possibly being deported (he is interviewed by some government social worker type), it doesn't make it any less a tired device. Likewise, Tan uses interviewees and participants of many "therapy" type sessions, from obese people to the religious gay men, to give the film texture and nuance. This technique, however, is so much a typical by-product of indie film these days that the effect is negative rather than helpful. Oft times, the film seems like thousands of other indie films out there. Tan, it is obvious from the better part of the script, is capable of

Another problem with the film is the sound mix which is just bad enough to be noticeable. The film has an excellent piano based score by Steve Whithouse but more often than not it is pushed up so loud in the mix that it obliterates some of the dialogue. This is a shame too, because the score is gorgeous. Whithouse should get lots of work in this area.

Filmed (presumably) on digital video and presented in black and white, "Happy Birthday" is one of the more watchable gay indie films in recent memory. It's all just so dismal though. I continue to look forward to the day when gay drama isn't all so sad. While all of the plotlines aren't about sexuality, really, in the film, it's no accident that the five main characters are gay. In presenting our diversity and our complexity, Tan has also pigeonholed us as dreary and nearly hopeless individuals who must struggle to attain even the most remote feeling of happiness.

I look forward to the day when a gay film comes along that doesn't make me want to slap the characters and shout, "Wake up - Be Happy, dammit!" Until then, "Happy Birthday" serves as a relevant reminder to just how far independent gay cinema has yet to go.

God knows, gay men and women understand drama more than their hetero counterparts, so they may want to check this film out when it plays their local gay and lesbian film festival. (I have a feeling it will play many). Tan's film may find an appreciative audience in those who understand the struggles all too well.

Note:

Filmed in Dallas and Houston.

Report Card Script: C+ Acting: B- Cinematography\Lighting: D+ Special Effects\Make Up: C- Music: A+ Final Grade: C+

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