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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 6, 2004)
FILM •»>— — Triangle of lost souls Remember wfieri music was fun? it stiff is Another Michael Cunningham novel finds a satisfying onscreen home by G ary M orris ichael Mayers screen adaptation of Michael Cunninghams (Flesh and Blood, The Hours) bittersweet novel is already infa mous for showing Colin Farrell’s allegedly huge prick and then cutting it from the release print for being “too distracting.” But A Home at the End of the World is so gtxxl it doesn’t need that kind of PR trickery. This wrenchingly emotional tale of love and loss centered on a beau tiful naif can stand on its own considerable merits. Cunningham wrote the high ly condensed screenplay, which opens in the trippy late ’60s, Despite cutting Colin Farrell’s penis from A Home at the End when 9-year-old Bobby Morrow of the World , it’s still a dam fine movie hero-worships his hippie older brother, who dies in a sudden, horrific accident Unexpected, too, is the Bobby-Jonathan the first of many tragedies that tear the people bond, which become the film’s core and Bobby loves from his life. heart— gay and straight boy longing for an emotional intimacy that doesn’t necessarily Next comes 1974. Bobby is 15 and a loner. When his parents die, too, he drifts into the preclude sex even after they’re supposedly set lives of a neighbor family, the Glovers, and par in their adult hetero and homo roles. ticularly his classmate Jonathan. They share As a Broadway director, Mayer’s skill with joints, musical taste and considerable secret actors pays off handsomely. Erik Smith superbly late-night sex play. incarnates 15-year-old Bobby, bristling with But, like all parties, this one ends when emotion even in such dicey scenes as the boys’ Jonathan (Dallas Roberts), now 18, moves to New mutual masturbation. And Farrell is simply a York. Bobby (Farrell) eventually join his pal, who revelation as the confused, loving, wounded lives with eccentric hat designer Clare (Robin man-child. His nuanced performance shows a Wright Penn). Despite being gay, Jonathan is range hitherto undeveloped. deeply involved with Clare, even considering hav Roberts hits the mark as the adult Jonathan, ing a kid with her (when he isn’t busy tricking). and Spacek has never been better (which is say An ever-more-complex and confusing trian ing a lot), suggesting vistas of emotion at a gle ensues as the three misfits form a makeshift glance. Wright Penn registers strongly as Clare, family. Negative emotions erupt as the delicate as tragic in her own way as her two “boys" whose balance threatens to collapse and alliances shift. depth of feeling for each other trumps all else. What drives Home are its unexpected rela Mayer, in his film directorial debut, tionships. Depressive middle-aged mom Alice misjudges a few of the scenes— a Grand Glover (Sissy Spacek) bonds with 15-year-old Canyon sequence is surely unnecessary, and Bobby in a brilliant scene where the two share viewers may feel that the A ID S subplot is a hit a joint, and he instantly divines the loneliness worn. But these are minor complaints about a behind her cheery, frozen smile. (One o f the major cinematic success. The film’s themes of film’s charms is that Bobby is, throughout, the centrality of embracing love wherever you can find it and coming to terms with its tragic naive enough not to be hampered by social constraints against questionable relationships.) fragility are brilliantly brought home. J H M Growing pains by A FINE AUDIO EQUPMENT AND HOME THEATRE SYSTEMS STEREOTYPES AUDIO 2627 N E B R O A D W A R T L A N D OR 503-280-0910 m i f c f e . ? www.stereotypesaudio.com ejla . Ttntme ff/ayni/iqué Jutumatinnat / ^uqeant 2004/200 II "La Femme For All X 7, enttne Utymfujiu* . '2 0 0 j/'J0 0 4 (dôtUomts y ** tô ikt 2004/2005 Sunday Sept 5, 2004 Door 7 pm Pageant 8pm LA FEMME MAGNIFIQUE INTERNATIONAL A pageant to choose the most glamorous remale impersonatoiyin the world For additional informations & tickets c.11 503 - 222-5338 Tickets $ 30 / Tables of 10 $275 Double Tree inn at jantzen Beach 9 0 9 North Hayden Island, Portland, OR _____________ (5 0 1 ) 2 8 1 -2 1 1 1 or email D arcelleXV @ aol.com IS^Tidw eek F .v c r y T u e s d a y Nigiht R a d ic a l Rub do » ro up m a s s a g e The Mudge Boy transcends typical coming-of-age fare Every W ednesday J im R adosta small-town teen (Emile Hirsch) struggles with his sexuality and his mother’s recent death in the quirky yet disturbing The Mudge Boy from wnter/director Michael Burke, playing Aug. 6 to 12 at Hollywood Theatre. D m can Mudge is a strange fruit who wears his mom's fur coat to M 'i » bed and forms closer bonds with his pet chicken than with his friends or family. The object of his affection is Perry (Tom Guiry), a neighbor bully who brags about his sexual conquests with girls while slowly catching on that Duncan would like to be more than friends. Meanwhile, Duncan’s distant father (Richard Jenkins, a reliable character actor who’s appeared in several Farrelly and Coen Bros, films) tries in vain to butch up the boy by giving him chores and burning the mother’s clothes. This all might sound like standard coming-of-age fare, but Burke adds a few unpredictable touches to the story: I don’t wanna give anything away, so let’s just say cross-dressing and fowl play are involved. Hirsch (The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys) shows tremendous promise with a performance that accurately captures the gangly awk wardness of a boy who doesn’t fit in y with his male counterparts. The abrupt ending is somewhat unsatisfying, but only because 1 wanted to spend more time observing these captivating characters. 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