Movie Review – Slutty Summer (2004)

Overall Quality 4.0 / 5.0
Gay Content 5.0 / 5.0
Gay Positivity 5.0 / 5.0

I am much impressed with the script by Mr. Andreas (who played the protagonist Marcus, as well as directed the film). It’s an engaging cross-section of young, contemporary gay culture. There are “sluts” (Luke and Tyler, played by Jesse Archer and Jamie Hatchett respectively), romantics (Peter, played by Jeffrey Christopher Todd, and more neurotically Marilyn, played by Virginia Bryan), and in-between (such as our hero Marcus).

But rather than being two-dimensional cardboard cutouts, I found each character to be cleverly nuanced, and I thought the script did a very good job of presenting different perspectives. I know I completely saw myself in one of the characters. Ahem.

The script also managed to trick me into expecting one kind of ending, and then believably delivering another. The actors also portrayed their characters with impressive realism, although the documentary included on the DVD says the characters in the story were based on the actors who played them (mostly friends and acquaintances of Mr. Andreas), so apparently they didn’t have to stretch too much.

Story-wise, after Marcus catches his (very handsome) boyfriend Julian cheating on him, he spends the summer rediscovering the joys of single life. He starts tricking around a bit, but the film is clearly not stereotyping gay men as promiscuous, so this didn’t affect the Gay Positivity score.

The characters exist on a continuum from Luke, who sleeps around constantly, to Marcus, who has an occasional fling over the summer, to Peter, who doesn’t want meaningless sex at all. In fact, I find it refreshing that none of the characters are bemoaning their sexuality, nor suffer any homophobic attacks (verbal or otherwise). The drama in the movie arises naturally out of their relationships with each other.

The quality of the camera work is inconsistent. One frame looks like it was shot with a professional camera, the next looks like they used a camera phone. My only other complaint was one moment when Marcus acts out of character – during his final conversation with his ex-boyfriend, he is uncharacteristically mean-spirited.