Jeffrey
Jeffrey is one of those few movies that I will never, or rather hopefully never, let my parents see. My parents are pretty liberal people, but they do have their limits. And homosexuality is one of them. My parents come from a generation where gays and lesbians were unheard of. However, I'm very contrasting to them as I am very liberal. I accept most things I see, and homosexuality is one of them. I don't mind or care, they are just normal, happy people (although many adults and young people will disagree). This is the reason that I don't want my parents to see it, because of the subject.
Jeffrey takes on a very difficult to talk about subject and puts a twist into it to make it a comedy. And it is a very funny movie. It takes the subject of AIDS and deals with it in several manners: humor, drama, sex, and more. The movie is about Jeffrey (Steven Weber from TV's "Wings") as he faces the danerous of sex and love. Early in the film he vows to never have sex again because it has become too dangerous, with AIDS floating around. He begins a life of celibacy, but is soon challenged when he decides to put all of his energy into weight lifting. As he asks for a spot, he meets his dream guy, Steve (Michael T. Weiss from "The Pretender"). He stutters through his speech and his voice wavers. He doesn't know what to do, but doesn't want to break his vow of celibacy.
He decides to get help from several people, including self-help gurus, game show hosts, and friends. His friends include a interior decorator and dancer for "Cats." Respectively, they are Sterling (Patrick Stewart from "Star Trek: The Next Generation") and Darius (Bryan Batt). They are homosexual lovers who love each other dearly, but Darius has AIDS. However, they are able to look past that fact and still have a genuinely romantic relationship. Jeffrey gets advice to get in a relationship with Steve, not only from his friends, but from pedestrians and other strangers (in a hilarious moment in the film). He finally decides to go on a date with him, but stands him up, probably for one important reason to him: Steve is HIV Positive.
The film Jeffrey isn't about homosexuality. Well, that's the subject, but what it is about is much more deep. It's about love, relationships, the dangers of sex, and other things that everybody thinks about. The movie, directed by first time director Christopher Ashley, deals with the subjects with a light sense of humor, but it doesn't always use humor. It also uses dramatic moments to give it a touch of reality. However, the film has a major flaw, enough to drop it an entire star in rating. I would have loved this film, but I never got into it because of several things.
For one, Ashley, who also directed the stage play, uses strange film devices, such as cue cards to tell the audience what we are about to see happen, such as "When Harry Met Harry." It distracts from the overall emotional level of the film, which makes it appear like a bunch of different segments spliced together to form a film. Also, for some reason, the director thought it necessary for the main character, and others, to look at the camera while others freeze in the background. It provides a clarity, in a way, but it made me feel like I was watching a stage play, or an episode of "Saturday Night Live." I feel that if the director had left out those few discontinuous scenes, then the film would have been terrific.
But as the film is, it still has a lot of merit. One instance is the brilliant acting by the entire cast. Steven Weber stars as Jeffrey and he finds the right note for the character, although I'm not sure if he played the dramatic scenes the way they should have been. Michael T. Weiss also gives a terrific performance, and made me feel for his character. I sensed his pain as he realizes that he won't be able to maintain a relationship with his disease. Bryan Batt gives a very good first time performance as Jeffrey's friend who is also afflicted with the deadly disease. But Patrick Stewart steals the movie as the interior decorator who spits out lots of advice and thoughts. He is perfect for the role and plays down the stereotype that gays are uncaring and just want sex. Even when his lover had AIDS, he still loved him. Other cameos were terrific and very funny, especially one scene involving Sigourney Weaver as a self-help guru and Kathy Najimy as a distressed woman. Also funny are performances by Olympia Dukakas as the mother of a transvestite lesbian, Nathan Lane as a gay priest, and Christine Baranski as a country dance host.
Now, despite the dramatic subject of the film, Jeffrey is hysterically funny film. Many of the fantasy sequences are well done and brightly written. Paul Rudnick is mostly responsible for the humor of the movie. He originally wrote the play "Jeffrey" which he turned into a screenplay. Paul Rudnick is known for his wild sense of humor and witty one-liners (especially in The Addams Family Values, which Rudnick wrote). Here, the one liners are quickly spat out and are sometimes hard to catch, such as my favorite after Weaver helps Najimy. On her way back to her seat, Najimy comments, "I can walk!" Steven Weber tells her that she could always walk, and she spits back, "Shut up!" It's a little hard to hear, but very funny. One of my favorite moments in the film involve the first time Steve and Jeffrey meet in the gym. Steve kisses Jeffrey and it cuts to a scene of a movie theater where two straight couples are watching. The two guys groan and gag, while the two women look at each other and say, "Awwww!" It's one of my favorite moments in the film.
Jeffrey is rated R. There is strong sexuality, but limits most of it to the imagination, as well as language. I have never had anything against gays, because several of my friends are gay. And watching Jeffrey I had a smile across my face most of the time because it was not only funny to watch, but it dealt with deep and dramatic situations in a completely new and original way. Seeing two guys kiss on screen didn't offend me; instead, it made me feel that the film wasn't afraid to show what really happens and that homosexuals do have feelings just as heterosexuals do. I hope many straight people will see this and will change their opinion about gays and lesbians because it shows them as more than "evil" people... it shows them as happy, caring people.