Poster Boy (2004)

"Poster Boy" tries so hard to make a statement—so very, very hard—that I really wished it was better than it is. Henry Kray (Matt Newton), the closeted gay son of a conservative North Carolina senator (Michael Lerner), grudgingly agrees to introduce the senator at a rally held at the fictional New York college he attends, if only so his father will stop smacking him at the breakfast table. But then Henry attempts to escape the duty, high-tailing it to the family's house in Palm Springs. Alas, an eager-to-please young Republican (Ian Reed Kesler) is sent to retrieve Newton and drag his ass back to NYC, though not before Newton can drag him to a gay bar then rent Kesler a shapely call girl for the night. Meanwhile, Anthony (Jack Noseworthy), a former gay activist and recently fired fashion house go-fer, is looking for love but only finding one-night stands while his roommate, Izzy (Valerie Geffner, doing her best Ally Sheedy-in-"The Breakfast Club" impersonation), pops Prozac and snarls at anyone within spitting distance as she tries to cope with being HIV-positive. As is to be expected, all these characters' paths will cross and collide (at times literally) on the way to a Big Moment.Heavy-handed though it is, the script actually has a few good points to make. If only screenwriters Ryan Shiraki and Lecia Rosenthal put as much thought into telling a story as making a statement, especially when they're preaching to the choir. As it is, the narrative is more like a series of contrivances meant to move the characters toward that Big Moment rather than plausible events arising from believable circumstances. Luckily, the movie is buoyed somewhat by fairly solid acting. Karen Allen is a welcome presence as the senator's chain-smoking, heavy drinking wife, even if her Southern accent is a tad bit overdone (conversely, Lerner's Southern accent is almost nonexistent). Director and co-editor Zak Tucker packs the movie with lots of style—from quick cuts to split screens to moody gels and filters—making his movie nearly unwatchable in the process."Poster Boy" also has continuity errors galore. Cigarettes are a particular problem, be it a reporter lighting a half-smoked cigarette in the opening scene, only to be shown seconds later with a fresh one dangling from his lips unlit; or Allen smoking a newly lit cigarette, then shown lighting it a quick cut later. There's also the extra so nice we have to see her passing Newton and Noseworthy twice in the same scene (made worse by the fact that Newton calls attention to her the first time around), and Lerner is shown getting into a limo with his hair a mousy brown when in the rest of the movie it's white. Other distractions: How do Noseworthy and Geffner—one unemployed, the other a bookstore clerk making $7 an hour—afford a chauffeured Town Car? And why the gratuitous female nudity in a movie that features gay men with hyperactive sex lives? Sadly, the two male leads are only fleetingly shown in their skivvies.For all its problems, "Poster Boy" isn't awful, but it made its statements so loudly and so often that I found myself tuning them out, wondering instead whether anyone in wardrobe was going to rustle up something else for Ms. Allen to wear besides that lavender suit.

This film seems to have come in for much criticism from the reviews on here, so I'm hoping to redress the balance here. As a film, it's OK, but compared to other gay indie films from America it sits near the top of the pile. The acting is generally good, the directing is competent. The script seems a little outdated for 2004, but I remember reading somewhere that there had been delays to the making of the film and so i wouldn't be surprised if the script was actually written in the late 1990s.What makes this particularly interesting is that it is a far cry from other gay films out there. It isn't a love story, it doesn't try to woo in the punters by having stunningly handsome men who go full frontal or through strong sex scenes. That isn't what this is about. It has a message, though, and some of the scenes are a little clunky (especially the linking sections with the journalist), but that's a small price to pay for a good solid story that is well told.The two young actors play the leads without making them into stereotypes and there isn't a screaming queen in sight. Thankfully. What makes the two protagonists most appealing is that neither of them are perfect human beings. The senator's son is cocky and arrogant at times, and the boy he meets has his own faults. The supporting cast is also very good, with some nicely drawn characters.For a low budget gay effort, this is really good stuff.

Republician senator Jack Kray (Michael Lerner) and his wife Eunice (Karen Allen) want to get their son to introduce him at a rally. The problem is that son Henry (Matt Newton) hates his father and is hiding the fact that he's gay. He falls in love with activist Anthony (Jack Noseworthy) and things come to a head.PLOT SPOILERS!!! Pretty bad indie film. The plot is obvious and meandering and the film takes detours into various other plot lines that seem to have nothing to do with the main story (I'm still trying to figure out what Izzy is doing here). Also there's a guy on guy kiss at the end which IS necessary for the story--but it's so obvious that the guys AREN'T kissing on the lips (that guy is being kissed on the cheek) that its impact doesn't come across at all. I realize the actors probably aren't gay but that's no excuse. Kissing a guy on the lips is not going to destroy your career. It's also badly shot with lousy direction, horrendous editing and terrible lighting (everybody looks washed out). To make matters worse there's annoying "music" and sounds on the soundtrack that are more distracting than anything else. The final nail in the coffin was terrible acting. Allen and Lerner are OK but Noseworthy is bad and Newton is TERRIBLE! I don't care how good-looking he is--he can't act. He is obviously not gay and seems very uncomfortable in the role. As I said before he couldn't even kiss a guy on the lips. Aside from all that it's deadly dull. I dozed off 45 minutes into the film!On the plus side some of the guys were cute and shown in their underwear (no nudity though) and the last 30 minutes are actually pretty good--but that's too little too late. A few good speeches at the end can't save this one. Slow, boring and condescending. Avoid. I give this a 2.

This was perhaps the first movie in a long time that I was truly disappointed in. The premise could have been interesting. However, no one really tried... the directing is sloppy, the writing is tired, and the acting is just horrible. Matt Lerner does not make a good leading man and you can definitely see it in the interview scenes. The movie doesn't really capture any sort of idea; the idea of being closeted, of being political, not getting along with your parents, etc. I could go on. None of the characters are relatable, save perhaps an amazing performance by Karen Allen (from 'Raiders of the Lost Ark' fame) who does an amazing job of being a republican senator's wife who basically hates everything about it, especially giving up her individuality. "Poster Boy" tries to hard to not be a gay movie; and when you take that away, it really isn't anything else. The first movie I got from Netflix that I probably would never watch again.