This Movie is Not Rated (at least not in the US – in the UK it’s given a rating of 12 for infrequent strong language)
Thought I should mention right off that this is a musical. However, it’s not your typical, “sing all the lines” kind. The singing/dancing is mainly during dream type sequences and during activities related to the play they are putting on at school. I have a few musicals I like, but as a general rule I am not a fan of your typical musical. I tend to like ones that have something unique about them.
Timothy (Tanner Cohen) is a senior who attends a private all boys’ high school. He is constantly harassed for being gay, especially by members of the school’s rugby team. Although, one of the players, Jonathon (Nathaniel David Becker) goes out of his way to be nice to him. Timothy wants nothing more than to finish out his senior year and then get out of town.
Unfortunately for Timothy, his two best friends Frankie (Zelda Williams) and Max (Ricky Goldman) go to a different school. Both are fun, laid back individuals that like him just as he is. They are totally supportive of him and he can be himself with them. However, he can only hang around with them after school, during the day he is on his own. It’s obvious that Frankie and Max are attracted to each other, but Max seems to be afraid to cross the line between being just friends, to being boyfriend and girlfriend.
Apparently, Timothy’s father didn’t take too well to the fact that his son is gay. So now he and his mother, Donna (Judy McLane) are on their own. She is still struggling with accepting the fact that he is gay. She is really trying, but she is overwhelmed by having to support them both and in addition to that having to dealing with how certain segements of society view gays. You can tell she really loves him, but wishes that he would be “normal” so that life would be easier for them.
Things take an interesting turn for Timothy after Ms. Tebbit announces that the senior play will be “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”. You see, all the seniors are required to audition for it. Timothy begrudgingly auditions and ends up with the part of Puck. Rehearsals start, but things are rather strained at first. The guys playing the female parts are not happy about it. Neither is the rugby coach, he thinks it looks bad for members of his team to be girls. Not to mention the fact, that Shakespearean lines are not the easiest things to learn and deliver.
As Timothy is at home practicing his lines, something magical happens. His playbook starts glowing and a recipe for a potion, that will make someone fall in love with the first person they see, appears before his eyes. He can’t resist the temptation and makes the potion. As it turns out, Timothy has developed a bit of a crush on Jonathon and is entertaining the possibility of using it on him. Timothy accidentally sprays Max with the potion, which leads to Max falling in love with him and oddly enough to start quoting Shakespeare. As you can imagine, this creates an awkward situation.
During the play rehearsal, Timothy uses the potion on Jonathon and it works. When Jonathon goes to kiss him the other guys start harassing them. Which leads Timothy to the bright idea of dosing all of them with it. Now all of the previously homophobic guys are in love with each other. He even dosed the rugby coach, who falls in love with Dr. Bellinger (the guy that runs the school).
Timothy uses the potion in a retaliatory manner by spraying it on people that have been anti-gay. He figures it’s time they see what life is like for him. People around town are confused and some are very upset by the fact that there are suddenly a lot of gay couples around town. There is also a lot of stalking going on, due to the fact that a person was dosed and therefore falls with the first person they see. However, the person they fall for has not been exposed to the potion and are very confused why the other one is suddenly in love with them.
I thought the movie was great. There is a fair amount of angst, but it is also uplifting. The musical and dance numbers flowed nicely with the regular dialogue. Tanner did a fabulous job of being the lead actor. You could feel his frustration and vulnerability, but also his underlying strength. He had a nice strong singing voice too. It probably wouldn’t hurt to be familiar with the play “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” since the movie has a lot of parallels to it (but I wouldn’t say it’s a requirement).
Some of my favorite quotes:
Frankie – “I’m not a lesbian. That’s your fantasy. I’m heteroflexible.”
Max – “Heteroflexible?”
Frankie – “I’m straight, but sh*t happens.”
Ms. Tebbit – “Your little warriors can enter in ten minutes. Until then the stage is ours.”
Donna – “You should be proud, your mom sold a lot of sh*t today.”
Timothy – “If you could make someone love you, would you?”
Frankie – “Sh*t, obviously.”
Frankie – “Ok, what did you do to my boyfriend.”
Jonathon – “We’re not compatriots, we’re boyfriends.”
Donna – “You can take your ugly makeup and shove it up your unlimited @ss.”
Timothy – “I hate this town.”
Jonathon – “It’s not that bad.”
Timothy – “Try looking at it through my eyes.”
Timothy – “People were staring at us.”
Jonathon – “Well stare back. People are just jealous because I’m with the best fella in town.”
Jonathon – “People can change.”
A random comment: What the hell is up with dodgeball? Why is it even allowed at school? The only goal seems to be to gang up on and hurt people you don’t like. How is that an appropriate school activity?
Jan
P.S. Comments are welcomed. Scroll towards the bottom of the page (below the spoiler section) to where it says “Click Here to Make a Comment”. Or on entries from previous days there is a comment box.
Following is additional information about the show that contains spoilers. If you don’t want to be spoiled don’t read any further.
Even though his mom is not thrilled with Timothy being a fairy in the play, she still cuts up her wedding dress in order to make wings for his costume.
I liked how early on in the movie you could tell by his actions that Jonathon was interested in Timothy. However, it never occurred to Timothy that someone like Jonathon (meaning a jock) could actually want to be with him. Jonathon would never go further than little hints because he never felt any interest back from Timothy. It took the potion to bring them together.
Tags: a midsummer night's dream, dvd, gay, judy mclane, movie, musical, nathaniel david becker, review, ricky goldman, tanner cohen, zelda williams
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