2013's Red Lodge from filmmaker Dan Steadman is another gay comedy/drama story but this time done in a much more realistic style with naturalistic performances and documentary interview-style vignettes a la TV's The Office. Also known as The Unattainably Perfect Gay Christmas this one feels reminiscent of the films of the 'mumblecore' movement with its focus on giving us plenty of dialogue and minimal action.
This one tells the tale of Jordan (Joseph Lim Kim) who, travelling back to his family hometown of Red Lodge, Montana, proposes to his boyfriend of two years David (Rich Pierre-louis). You'd think the surprise proposal would really elevate the holiday cheer but it all gets incredibly awkward when, after initially saying yes, David starts to indicate that he's really not all that into it. Uh oh.
It's cool to see a movie like this done from a queer perspective but, sadly, I don't feel like all of it works. I'm bored at times and don't find myself laughing at all at bits that seem like they're supposed to be funny. The relationship between the two leads is sweet but Jordan has an unfortunate knack for being really rather annoying. I'm also not too sure what all the 'breaking the fourth wall' stuff is supposed to be about. Like, if the boys are being interviewed, what are they being interviewed for? It's never made clear and just feels like Steadman is mimicking a device he's seen before, without putting much thought into it, though it does help provide some deeper insight into what's going on in these guys' heads.
The discomfort of the sort-of-rejected proposal right before the boys spend Christmas with Jordan's kooky extended family is the main thrust of the plot and a wickedly delicious idea. Their awkward holiday takes in an encounter with a very flirtatious ski instructor, some beautiful hand-crafted Christmas ornaments and an unexpected accident that just might change everyone's perspective on everything.
The film is packed with some amusing references to the boys' shared love of '90s hit teen drama My So Called Life, which the film is a little reminiscent of. Despite shooting for realism, the guys don't really talk or act like normal people and, like on their fave TV show, their dialogue is noticeably highly stylised. I just don't see real people casually dropping lines like "That's where love grows. Where it deepens. Where it matures...love grows in the quiet moments."
It certainly is cool to see an interracial gay couple depicted here, quite rightly, as being no big thing. However, too many of the film's beats don't quite land for me. Scenes where Jordan goes to speak to an "online psychic" about his love life are played for laughs but don't raise any chuckles from me. The idea behind the gag is solid - she's straight and really into him and 'reads his palm' with the assumption that he's straight, trying to subtly suggest that he should be with her. Problem is, throughout this part I constantly feel like I'm supposed to be amused but never am. Elsewhere, a scene where David and Jordan end up nude in the hot tub of the frisky ski instructor is sort of funny but never feels remotely plausible.
So, Red Lodge is sweet enough but doesn't truly work for me even if it does effectively communicate something a lot of people can relate to. You can get super-excited fantasising about your expectations for Christmas but things often don't go to plan when real life bullshit gets in the way. Things scarcely live up to the dreams we envisage but they do tend to work out well enough as long as we're in the company of the ones we love.
I'm watching this snow-kissed oddity on the hottest day of the year so far, which feels weird and possibly removes some of its festive sheen, but I can't shake the feeling that, even if I'd watched this in the deep mid-winter, it still wouldn't have really worked for me.
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