Play
Dead (2001)
The gay, teenage "Weekend at Bernie's"
God. What do you do with a film like "Play Dead?"
I mean, come on, this film, a comedy, has a gay teenager
raping a corpse for Chrissakes.
The film itself is funny as hell. Dealing with repressed
homosexuality in small town America, unrequited love
and teenage hormones, the film finds humor every time
it says something. It's wacky, zany and yet seemingly
realistic and sweet. I just don't know what to make
of it.
Granted one of the film's biggest selling points is
its star Nathan Bexton. As the cute, fey, blonde in
Gregg Araki's "Nowhere," Bexton made James Duvall and
the entire viewing audience fall madly, deeply in love
with him. He was the quintessential gay, teenage object
of desire. Here, in "Play Dead," Bexton plays Dale Spitler,
a drama "fag" who is so obvious we can easily relate
to him. When Dale babysits trailer trash Darlene's daughter,
a morbid little redheaded girl named Dustine (the hilarious
Jessica Stone), we immediately see how different he
is from those around him. Bexton is perfect here, jittery,
awkward and, well, very, very gay. He doesn't ham it
up per se, but his mannerisms and squirrellyness would
easily target him for much teenager peer abuse. We like
Dale, however. We easily relate to him.
And watching the awkward and unsure Dale juxtaposed
against the hardened and in control Dustine (who is
about 10) is just funny. Stone is a natural talent and
one of those child actors that seems much, much wiser
than her years. Her chemistry with Bexton is remarkable.
Shortly into "Play Dead," Dale invites the object
of his affection, the wrestling hero of the school,
Raymond Haver (Jason Hall of "Buffy"), over to Darlene's
when he comes upon a plan to seduce his hero. He finds
a full bottle of vodka and calls the jock over for a
drink. Through much of a to-do, the plot finds Raymond
dead in a car accident, Dale's friend, a drama lesbian,
guilty of causing the accident, and Raymond's corpse
brought home for some crazy reason. This all a set up
to get to the comic gem that is the centerpiece of the
film: Dale making love to the corpse of the boy whom
he hero-worshipped. Now I suppose one could suggest
that this is just a very far-out tangent expressing
the power of unrequited teenage homosexual love in a
repressed society. I suppose one could suggest that
this is an absurdist take on coming to terms with one's
own homosexual lust when hormones are raging. I suppose....
Oh fuck it! I don't know. It seems totally out of character
for Dale and yet Bexton surely makes it believable.
Here's one of the things that bugged me: When we do
see Dale fucking the corpse he is doing exactly that,
fucking the corpse (in the ass). Dale is obviously a
bottom. This guy would not be doing that. I didn't believe
it for a second. If they showed him kissing the corpse
and suggest that he was going down on the corpse, that
I would believe. That would be in character. But the
giddy and girly Bexton as a top. Nope, sorry. Not in
this role.
"Play Dead" has really funny moments, it has cutie
Bexton in every scene and in his boxers for about 15
minutes of the movie. It has hottie Hall in various
states of undress throughout the film. It has Frank
Zappa's daughter Diva in the lead teen female role.
And I really found moments of it amusing.
But its ideals are all wrong. The film's plot is so
over the top as to be unbelievable. And to have a teenage
gay boy engage in necrophilia on a supposedly straight
boy's corpse is just not right. It sends a repulsive
message to anyone who wants to negate the gay teenage
experience as simply "hormonal" and provides ample ammunition
for haters who want to see gays as sick perverts. It
is hard enough to find positive gay teenage role models
in films, even with things getting better every year.
This film send us back three steps.
Note:
Directed by Jeff Jenkins.
|
Report
Card
Script:
C+
Acting:
A-
Cinematography\Lighting: C+
Special Effects\Make Up: B+
Music: C
Final
Grade: C+
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