The One (2011)

I really loved how this was moving along as a feel good movie, although he could have told his soon to be wife, "hey honey, we need to talk" before she got outfitted with a wedding dress.You can't let what's expected in life be a guide for your true emotions. Daniel knew exactly that he was struggling with trying to fit in with what he was taught was the norm for society, but he should have held strong to his internal emotions.Yes Daniel you blew your chance at true happiness in this movie. I don't care about him pushing a baby stroller down the path at the end of the movie to make us think everything will be alright. It won't, because you will always have that feeling of the one true love you let get away because of what you thought society was telling you what you should be like.We need "The One 2" to close up this mess, bring Daniel and Tommy back together after a long search for each other, bring the ex wife into the fold to mend fences and use this opportunity to show that two dads can also help raise a baby. Sure life isn't always fair, but there are more misery gay movies out there than sunset walking hand holding endings in general.

There is some really good acting here. But the best acting is is done by secondary players, because they have the more plausible story lines. The worst acting is by the two lead actors, but the fault may mostly be due to the implausible storyline given to them. It was insane to think that a deep and thoughtful philosophy major would be so clueless about himself after so much experience in school, grad school, and life in the city. But even more insane to think he'd fall in love with a selfish, egotistical liar who borders on the criminally obsessed. The story has too many scenes and actions for which you cannot know what the character's motivation is. At one moment the closeted man is completely afraid of man man sex , the next second he's all comfortable and cuddly, and then wham he's nervous again. No continuity of character from scene A to scene B, so no chance for eventual character development from Beginning to End.

I just watched this at a monthly gay film fest and I have to admit, I haven't turned away from the screen this much since the brutal scenes in "Hostel." I spent much of the movie watching through my spread fingers. I didn't feel too out of place, because my partner was with me and he actually thought it was worse than I did. Not quite as bad as some glbt-themed movies can be, like, say, the entire 'Eating Out' series. At least, in those cases, the films oozed so much superficiality you never expected much. This film actually has higher production values. Some of the performances are even borderline decent. The problem is with the script and all the clichés and the fact that these characters are so creepy that they are entirely unlikable...and then the film leaves you with an ending that makes you feel you just gave up 90 minutes of your life...for what?This one was a cross between the "Eating Out" movies and "Making Love," so we dubbed it "Making Out," which certainly sounds better than "Eating Love." I guess I don't understand why one of the protagonists that we are supposed to sympathize with is a creepy stalker/pathological liar, who preaches true love and then just uses someone he cares nothing about to propose marriage to, simply as a revenge ploy. And the other guy is not only cheating on his bride with another man, but the scriptwriter gives wifey a back story of a woman with abandonment issues whose father walked out on her. And then....let's her get pregnant! You are kidding me, right? Torture, I tell you. And forget that the wife is as clueless as a bag of rocks and has a clairvoyant girlfriend who can spot a gay man a mile away and then even sleep with them, because...well...it is theatre and a woman has to have sex with someone! Arrrrrggggggghhhhh.But the really torturous scenes involved a bachelor party and scenes with mom and dad and cigars and....oh it's too painful to relive it all.I will say this....it certainly had us talking. Just not in the way the filmmaker intended.ps.....afterward, consider how well Jon Prescott's acting resembled a plank of wood. He captures being an inanimate object as well as just about anyone I have ever seen.

All I'm going to say is, I've rarely enjoyed a movie this much that makes such a serious, serious misstep in its final moments--especially after blatantly leading the audience to expect something (based on several key plot points). It's not just disappointing, it was heartbreaking and vaguely insulting, and the audience I saw it with was vocal in their displeasure and confusion. One more shot--one more!--would drag this C- movie up to an A- For the record, Ian Novick is absolutely wonderful in a tricky role as a party boy who winds up with his heart on his sleeve--it's a masterful little sketch of a shallow man suddenly forced into deeper waters. Please fix this movie ASAP--Novick's performance deserves it!