Straight Story (2006)

Despite its technical flaws, this is a daring and clever addition to contemporary Greek cinema. What I like about Straight Story is that there is no clear message other than what the viewer chooses to project onto the movie. Nevertheless, this film inevitably critiques the xenophobia and homophobia that underlies the new, supposedly more progressive Greek society. As a story, it has its narrative flaws, but I don't think that's the point of this film. The point is to critique certain aspects of Greek culture without getting too preachy, and also providing entertainment. Nevertheless, Straight Story has a unique narrative premise, and a twist at the end that might make you frustrated. For me, though, that frustration and disappointment is indicative of how far (or not) we have progressed as a Greek society.

Several people who reviewed this film failed to grasp what genre it was. It is an alternative reality comedy, like "The Invention of Lying", that attempts to make a point by reversing the "normal" situation. In the world of the film, gay people are the norm, and heterosexual people are considered perverts and cannot marry. It's a fun concept, although the story is fairly predictable, once it gets going. If you just want to see a Greek comedy that also has a message, then this will do just fine. If you crave superior quality, though, then this film is not for you. The acting is a bit cheesy, but it is really the kind of movie where a sincere portrayal would actually ruin it, because then it would seem like it was meant to be a serious film. It's not great, it's not terrible, but it'll do.

At first the idea of of a world where "gay" is normal and "straight" is "perverted" seemed silly but interesting.A few minutes into the film you start to think "why am I wasting a minute of my life on this rubbish?". The story is so contrived and the alleged acting by everyone is so wooden it almost defies description. It's been a long time since I have seen such poor performances.The movie has no idea what it wants to be - social comment? comedy ? farce ? drama? and fails miserably in every aspect.The ending says it all for the whole storyline - a complete and total disappointment. I really think that all involved should be ashamed of this abysmal piece of cinema and I doubt if many involved would want to show it on their CV for future work.

The film is extremely funny if you possess the ability to laugh ... or at least have a sense of humor. Excellent production - excellent still photography. Excellent roles with appeal to every taste sexual preference and age. Not offensive to the Gay audience not sarcastic towards the Straight audience. A huge commercial film for Greece but with equally high quality in plot - roles - and to top all that a magnificent original music soundtrack by C:real ! Funny balancing the message with humor. At the end we realize that all the happily married couple of Mouriki and Kuriakidis wanted to say to the audience is that racism has no face and we must give love and accept love with examining the other's sexual orientation ... as Epicures said thousand years ago ..."It is not the things that upset people ... but the peoples ideas about the things " so the message here is clear and it is amusing to ... free your mind "and as here" the rest will follow . Enjoy an 8+