Another Gay Movie

Director: Todd Stephens
Screenwriters: Tim Kaltenecker, Todd Stephens
Cast: Michael Carbonaro, Jonathan Chase, Jonah Blechman, Mitch Morris, Scott Thompson, Graham Norton
Running time: 90 mins

Four gay teenagers, frustrated by the fact that none of them have reached beyond third base (which here gets a less typical meaning), make an American Pie-style pact to go the whole way and do “the big A” by the end of the summer before they go to college.

A number of high-school stereotypes are envoked; Michael Carbonaro plays “the normal one”, Jonathan Chase’s Jarod is the sporty jock type, whilst Mitch Morris plays Griff, a geek on a quest to achieve the perfect rear-end. Uber-camp Nico (Jonah Blechman) rounds out the desperate quartet. Helping them to meet their aim is promiscuous bull dyke Muffler (Ashlie Atkinson).

Director Todd Stephens stated that his intention was to deliver “the gayest movie ever made”, a title not inappropriate for this film. Opening with a shot of Graham Norton’s swaying arse, Another Gay Movie proceeds to poke fun at teenagers’ struggles to lose their virginity through lampooning the likes of Porky’s and the American Pie series of movies, whilst simultaneously taking a loving stab at the gay lifestyle. The result is a film which, though providing an hour and a half of hilarity with those au fait with the gay lifestyle, will probably prove too much for those outside the community.

Refreshingly, Stephens, director of more serious gay-themed films such as Edge of Seventeen, has conceived a film in which homosexuality is treated is the norm, with no painful comings-out or sob stories of self-denial in sight.

Although Another Gay Movie is very effective at spoofing the American Pies and invariably raises a smile in doing so, it unfortunately overdoses on it. Thankfully though, the humour in such scenes aren’t dependent on familiarity with the material being spoofed, some originality always shining through. The same can’t be said for a rather random lift of a scene from Carrie, however.

All in all, Another Gay Movie is definitely one for the community on which it’s based. This isn’t only due to the multitudes of jiggling male genitalia and bare bums which will most likely drive away all but the most open-minded straight men. If cottaging, poppers and phrases such as “everything from vanilla to Belgian chocolate” mean nothing to you, then much of this film won’t either. If they do, it’s a treat.