Under One Roof (2002)
Note: some
spoilers!
Have you ever heard a gay guy say
"I don't like dark meat" referring to the fact that
he doesn't find African-American men sexually attractive?
I have. I have said it, actually. (Yes, I know it's
horribly racist). This year I learned a new one: "I
don't like rice!" Meaning, of course, that the speaker
doesn't like Asian-American men. I, for one, love
Asian guys. So I guess I love rice!
I bring this up because "Under One
Roof" concerns a young Asian-American man (Jay Wong)
who lives in San Francisco with his mother (Sandra
Lee) and grandmother. His father has died and the
family rents out their basement as an apartment to
a young man who has just moved to the city (James
Marks).
The tenant, of course, is an attractive
young gay man. The son, who is in the closet to his
mother, soon begins to have romantic feelings for
his lodger (hehe). When a pipe bursts flooding the
basement, the tenant and the young Asian man end up
sharing a bed and things really heat up. Here is a
film so charming and romantic that we forgive it for
many faults.
I'd like to start by accentuating
the positive here. The chemistry between the two leads
is awesome. This love story is so romantic and so
engrossing that it is easy to swoon while viewing
the film.
The script is also hilarious. I
must have laughed out loud at least 30 times watching
this one. The dialogue and narration is often clever
and humorous. There's a genuine warmth and love in
the piece that shines through in the script and in
the work of the actors here. This film is obviously
a labor of love and that charm and warmth of everyone
involved shines through glowingly on the screen.
Oh and the music! The music is wonderful.
This is the best score I've heard on an indie film
(video) in ages. It's created by Jack Curtis Dubowski
who should get lots and lots of work!
And let's not forget the overt nudity
in the film. There are more naked men in "Under One
Roof" than you can shake a dick at! There is bare
flesh everywhere here. And the sex in the film often
seems as steamy and revealing as some cable soft core-porn
on Skinamax except, of course, all gloriously gay!
I'm not sure if so much exposed skin was necessary
for the piece (it is used in a joke early in the film
to hilarious effect), but it does give the film a
real honesty and intimacy that serves the romantic
love story at its core perfectly. Perhaps in a film
about an Asian man dating a white man it was necessary
to show just how comfortably their bodies fit together,
just how natural it all is. Whatever the filmmakers
were thinking, they were right. The nudity in this
film works wonderfully and serves to further the romanticism
and the heartwarmth of the film.
Now, all that being said, the film
has incredibly bad acting, poor visual quality, far
too much narration and is, basically, nothing short
of a glorified "coming out" story. So why did I like
it so much?
Well, again, the charm and chemistry
of the actors far overshadow the truly amateur acting
that we get. Wong reads a plethora of narration in
a voice that sounds exactly like he's reading a script.
And the secondary characters, in particular the mother,
are really bad. And yet the message of the film keeps
us really interested. And, perhaps, because these
are primarily Asian actors, we forgive bad acting
and process it as some sort of cultural difference.
The Caucasian actors in the piece are a little better,
at least. The white male lead, Marks, reminds one
of Judge Reinhold and seems like he could even be
his little brother (God, I'm old - okay, his son)
in a way. Still, this film won't win any acting awards.
If someone wanted to dog this film, that would be
the most obvious place to start.
As for the narration: There is far
too much and yet it often has hilarious lines that
fit with the visual images and make us laugh out loud.
The scripter, David Lewis, does an excellent job here.
Since the speaker, the Asian lead, is "in the closet"
perhaps it is more acceptable to hear his thoughts
rather than his actual words. This is a character
who can't say out loud what he is feeling, so we have
to hear his thoughts. I HATE narration and there is
far too much of it here, but it is well written and
funny and important to the film's plot and theme so
it is far easier to forgive.
As for the horrid video quality
of the film. Who cares? It's not the medium, it's
the message; it's the story. And the story here is
captivating. This film is compelling and so engrossing
that I was well into it, almost to the end, before
I snapped to the fact that it was really a "coming
out" story, something I am kind of sick of seeing
(or thought I was). Perhaps because it is, again,
told from an Asian- American POV, it is, again, easier
to forgive. This film is a real treat. The negatives,
and there are many of them, are overshadowed immensely
by the wonderful positives here.
Do I like rice? Honey, I love rice!
And I love this film. This film is freaking Ricearoni
for the eyes and mind and libido! Maybe after we get
a few more films like this, and a lot more exposure
to other cultures and other differences, us white
boys will stop being so racist and realize that the
differences between us are nothing compared to all
the things we share in common.
Notes:
Directed by Todd Wilson
Official website is www.under-one-roof.biz
and it has a lot of pictures, some of them including
the film's nudity.
