Totally Sexy Loser (2003)
Totally Awesome Movie.
This movie is one of the funniest,
wittiest, and most edgy films I've ever seen at a
gay film festival! And it all comes first and foremost
from a decidedly smart script. Centering on a dysfunctional
gay couple, the film has lines of dialogue that are
outrageous and politically incorrect at times but
always tinged with realism. And the icing on the cake
is that they are continually delivered by actors who
amazes us with their talent.
I have to spoil a couple of funny
lines of dialogue for you because they are just too
damn hilarious to keep to myself. At one point a character
actually delivers the line:
"I just don't know if I can spend
the rest of my life with someone who shaves his asshole."
C'mon dude, that's fucking funny!
And how about this one:
"If a relationship ended every time
someone brought home an STD there'd be a lot less
gay couples."
Yes, it's is politically incorrect
but it made me laugh so hard.
The "loser" of the title could be
either Jeremy or Chip, a couple who have been together
for about two years. Jeremy wants to leave Chip but
doesn't know how. Chip, meanwhile, is only happier
lately because he's on new medications. The two of
them seem continually on the edge of breaking up throughout
the film yet never really reach a point where a break
can take place. While they do argue somewhat, there
are no really annoying catty scenes. This film never
seems to be like the gay "Who's Afraid of Virginia
Woolf?" or anything like that. Nor is it an homage
to Tennessee Williams or other intelligent and witty
writers of the past. This is a thoroughly fresh and
modern script. Rather than archaic references or homages,
the humor here evolves out of the realism of the tensions
in the relationship we are seeing. And although it
is often underscored with sadness, frustration, ignorance,
idiocy and even absurdity, the dialogue is most often
simply witty and intelligent.
In fact, the film's dialogue generally
seems highly stylized when considered purely on its
own merits. Often the script reminded me of Hal Hartley's
work behind the typewriter. It felt like there could
have been a decision here by writer/director Jason
Schafer to go with a highly theatrical and stagy film.
But with consummate lead actors like Chad Lindsey
and Mark DeWitt, Schafer found performers who could
take his twisted, unique and edgy dialogue and make
it their own, exuding a relaxed comfort and familiarity
(with one and other and the characters) that puts
the film on a higher plane of realism. Everything
simply clicks into place here.
Schafer has never directed before
but he has written for "Queer as Folk" and penned
the remarkably fresh "Trick" a few years ago. (This
script again proves he is possibly the most unique
and compelling voice working in gay cinema today).
Perhaps because he is free behind the camera with
no producers or other filmmakers looking over his
shoulder, Schafer opts to create a film that bounces
around chronologically without really giving his audience
clues as to what point in the relationship we are
observing. It doesn't always work as well as it should,
but then again, it doesn't seem to matter. Many of
the dysfunctional events we witness between the couple
would be just as upsetting whether they were two months
or two years into their cohabitation.
Filmed on video in and around L.A.
on a minuscule budget, "Totally Sexy Loser" is a work
that is so good, I actually wished it had been captured
on film. Not because I'm a cinematic snob who insists
that real film constitutes a higher quality than video
but because it seems the rest of the world fells that
way. This is a film that I want other people to see
and the video quality here seems a bit lacking for
the piece to ever get picked up or shown theatrically.
This is a great film about a gay
relationship in flux. What is great about the script
is that none of the drama truly revolves around the
problems (real, perceived or cliched) of being gay.
Sure, this same script would not have worked if the
main characters were a man and a woman even though
most of the sexual problems discussed here would have
been the same. Some of the problems here may be some
that are inherent to gay relations only but that doesn't
mean, necessarily, that the problem is about being
gay. There's absolutely no drama which is simply about
being gay here at all. In fact, if the characters
are comfortable about anything here, it is their sexuality.
Instead, it is their inability to make this particular
relationship work that evokes the pathos and the absurdist
comedy here.
This is just a smart and refreshing
script. And its presented by actors who make their
characters human first so that their flaws and their
problems as heartbreaking and as hilarious as our
own. "Totally Sexy Loser." Totally Hilarious Movie.
Totally Awesome Script. Totally Perfect Acting. Totally
Worth Seeing.
Notes:
Also with Craig Robert Young, who
rose to fame on Britain's MTV.
Viewed at the Metropolitan as a
part of Agliff 2003.
Notes on Agliff 2003 - Day 11 -
August 31, Sunday
I tried to watch the UT football
game on Sunday night but ended up napping during most
of it. I wanted to see if my friend Christian, who
is a Hell-Raiser, one of those guys who paints his
face and body at games, would get any TV time, but
I was too sleepy to watch.
Got to the Metro at about 9 or so.
Saw Criag and John in the lobby and they saved me
a seat inside. Scott Dinger introduced the film and
its sponsor, outinamerica.com. Someone from that website
got up and said a few words. Apparently they do movie
reviews and have some sort of "members" section where
guys can hook up.
Scott also introduced Chad Lindsey,
the lead actor of "Totally Sexy Loser" and reminded
us that he had also been in the opening night film,
"Girls Will Be Girls" as well. Lindsey got up and
said a few words and told us he would do a Q&A afterwards.
After the film, Lindsey spent about
30 minutes fielding questions and proved himself not
only to be intelligent and an interesting actor but
also an incredibly warm, honest, humorous and delightful
person. He charmed the hell out of the audience.
