Movie Review – Rites of Passage (1999)
Overall Quality 1.0 / 5.0 (don’t bother)
Gay Content 3.0 / 5.0 (important gay storyline and characters)
Gay Positivity 1.5 / 5.0 (I don’t think it’s meant to be homophobic, but…)
This movie is a cake made with Clichéd Story batter, spiced with strong hints of Bad Writing and Clunky Acting, half-baked, then frosted with Negative Gay Stereotypes, and garnished with a Poorly Done Ending.
Other than that, I loved it.
Joking aside, it has high production values, and director Victor Salva manages to salvage some clever performances, especially from father figure Del Farraday (Dean Stockwell). Actually, this movie strikes me as strangely reminiscent of “The Deep End” (starring Tilda Swinton). In fact, this movie could accurately be titled “The Deep End 2: Daddy’s Day.” Well, that might be an interesting feat, considering “Rites of Passage” predates “The Deep End” by two years, but still.
Both are not-very-thrilling thrillers wherein parents with strained relationships with their gay offspring become entangled in crimes involving their children’s gay romantic interests, to the extent of being stupid in order to artificially prolong the drama. Specifically, daddy Del Farraday and his two grown sons D.J. (Robert Glen Keith, who enjoys several awkward and ill-timed lines) and Campbell (a charming if sullen Jason Behr) end up at a remote, secluded cabin for a weekend of hashing out family issues. Meanwhile, two escaped convicts from a nearby penitentiary are prowling the area looking for some buried treasure, er, money. Yeah, been there, done that. But lo! Gay Campbell has an unexpected connection to creepy criminal mastermind (and apparently gay daddy figure) Frank Dabbo (James Remar).
As for the gay positivity, well, I’ll just list the negative gay stereotypes for you.
(** MINOR SPOILER ALERT: This list contains minor spoilers in that I mention some plot points, but I don’t specify characters. Skip to the paragraph after the list if you desperately don’t want to know. **)
- Difficult coming out: Gay man is rejected by his family
- The Victimized Gay: Gay man violently assaulted for being gay
- The Gay Dies and the Diseased Gay: Gay man dies of AIDS (off-screen), and another dies violently
- The Lonely Gay / Gay Love is Doomed: One gay man is unable to sustain a healthy relationship, and another dies alone (off-screen)
- The Gay Villain: Everyone who’s ultimately guilty of anything is gay, or has a gay connection
- The Gay Ends Badly: Gay man (alone out of all the characters, mind you) goes to jail
In my reviews, I’ve parsed out a dozen or so categories of negative gay stereotypes, but it really comes down to two general types: in most media portrayals, if you’re gay, either bad things happen to you, or you are bad. Both categories apply to this movie, and in spades.
On the positive side … um … well … hm. This isn’t really a positive thing, but it offers some balance: the film portrays Campbell as a sympathetic figure who has simply gone through some rough times, not unlike many gay men, and made foolish choices as a result. In fact, if the movie’s emphasis had fallen on Campbell going into a tailspin after losing his family, making unhealthy choices, but finding his way back to solid footing through making peace with his father and brother, I probably would have been much more kindly disposed.
If you like dark, gay-baiting, heavy-handed independent features that should have been made as stage plays, knock yourself out. Otherwise, don’t waste your time.
