Adam & Steve (2005)
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Movie Reviews of Adam & Steve (2005)
Movie Review: "Adam & Steve in the Garden of Edxx.......Manhattan
Summary: 4 Stars
Craig Chester and Malcolm Gets (particularly this latter hunk, who's just so winsomely huggable---he seems so right at home, so comfortable with himself) have some real warm moments, and that doesn't often happen in gay-themed films these days. Unfortunately the pluses of this are more than a few times imbalanced by some of the following minuses:
-An overage of what other review sites have called "gross-out" humor. I really could have stood the diarrhea sight-gag, had its use not been overloaded by the sometimes diarrhetic mouth of a stand-up club's master of ceremonies (Michael Panes, was it?) and of Parker Posey's character, herself, upon occasion. Why are such remarks, like the female-bestiality cracks in "The 40 Year Old Virgin" considered such fair game in humor these days? Puke!!
-Perhaps a little over-reliance on Jewish "sensibility-moments."
-Guess, overall, I just feel that Chester has been around long enough to: know better, turn out something better, just plain old be better. It can't have been inexpensive to roll out this product, so it just seems he could'a gotten a lot more for his buck (and we for ours).
WHOA.....WHOA......WHOA.........STOPPpppp! You know what? I went back and "re-looked" this movie last night, and in the midst of my millionth laugh, it suddenly hit me that I hadn't really laughed any less the first night. Say, maybe I've been trying to make something too serious out of this little production, and that's not what it's about at all. It really doesn't have to be another "Brokeback Mountain" (as great as that was). Isn't it nice, instead, to have something that keeps our spirits up? Well, you bet.
And we can have all the "sensibility-moments" they can throw at us......cause isn't there a good, old Hebrew word that just perfectly describes Adam? Isn't it something like........Klutz (and a lovable one at that)? And being "sad-sacky," that can be funny too, can't it? Right on!
Finally, on an even more positive note (for someone like me who's always placing gay kissing scenes*** under the old microscope), I'd have to judge that this production has not been afraid to give us a goodly number of 'osculating-lips-in-action' shots. Don't you agree? They weren't all perfectly aimed, but there were some really good ones.
PS--So, congratulations Adam & Steve, on your wedding, and for being able to live in a world far removed from that of Jack & Ennis.
***And for scenes in which "lip-locks" were done as well or better, try these: "Just A Question Of Love" / "Latter Days" / "All Over The Guy" / "Brokeback Mountain" / "Maurice" / sorry, gotta stop somewhere)
Movie Review: See it and weep...
Summary: 4 Stars
Finally, a gay film in which the lead roles are played by gay actors! Neither of the actors try too hard, which makes all the difference in the scenes where they're sexual. Contrast this with "Eden", a marvellous film yet with awkward sex scenes.
Where the film started to unravel for me was how the four main characters were portrayed - in broad brushstrokes, each a stereotype which is all too familiar. Adam - a Jewish nerd with a bad self-image; Steve - a shrink with control issues which he can't/won't resolve; Rhonda - a bad stand-up comic with food/sex issues; Michael - a sloppy straight man who can't filter his thoughts. The premise seems to be that opposites attract, and that all's well that ends well.
Adam's parents and sister are way over the top sufferers, yet accepting their bad luck with equanimity (Julie Hagerty is worth watching in a ridiculous neck brace!). Steve's parents are Texan Christians who never will accept him, yet show up for a visit in New York and also at the end of the film. The message - Jews are liberal lefties, Christians are rigid rabid conservatives...
At the end the two main characters get married - legally I presume - in the state of New York in a sort of New Age/Jewish ritual. The two subsidiary characters also end up together. The only character who ends up moving in a positive direction is Craig Chester's Adam, who at one point says in effect that though he's damaged goods, he expects to be accepted as he is. However, he is the stereotypical Jewish sexless nerd, out of touch with his body and afraid to assert himself. At the end of the film, Malcolm Gets' Steve still has "clean-o-mania" and still expresses shame over his need to excrete (after a horrible incident at the start of the film). Similarly, Parker Posey's Rhonda equates appetite for food and sex, and expects that her gender entitles her to power over other men. Chris Kattan's Michael is a straight slob who never learned the social skill of filtering his thoughts before starting to speak to someone.
Chester and Gets interact naturally throughout; Posey and Kattan are a bit under-utilised as their characters are rather static. The choreography, costumes and lighting are excellent. The dialogue of reminds me of "Will and Grace" except that this film did move on a bit faster than the series did!
Movie Review: A Very Mixed Bag
Summary: 4 Stars
ADAM AND STEVE is a movie you want to succeed: the idea of an honest gay relationship developing between two guys with a weird history and subsequent difficulties forming meaningful intimacy, the presence of four fine actors, and a film that seems to take itself not too seriously. The problem is that writer/director/star Craig Chester just seems to have put too much into his bag for one film and in doing so he diluted the strength it could have had.
Adam (Craig Chester) first met Steve (Malcolm Gets) in a dance bar in 1987 where Adam (accompanied by his grossly obese friend Rhonda - Parker Posey in a fat suit) is dazzled by Steve's good looks and on a bet from Rhonda ends up on the date from hell: after snorting coke cut with baby laxative the two men become amorous with some rather embarrassing consequences. 17 years later Adam is a bird watcher guide while his friend Rhonda, now without a single pound of fat, is a sadly unsuccessful standup comic. Adam inadvertently injures his beloved dog and in trying to get help at a human hospital encounters psychiatrist Steve and the two begin a courtship.
Neither man is able to cope with the idea of monogamous intimacy yet they develop a solid relationship, despite visits with dysfunctional families (Adam's Jewish family are ridiculously accident prone while Steve's Texas redneck parents are coldly homophobic). Steve has a straight roommate Michael (Chris Kattan) who plays into Steve's life the way Rhonda plays into Adam's life. Eventually memory recovers the past, it is dealt with and the ending is very predictable - as well as bit sappy.
Each of the main characters does a fine job with their respective roles. It is the sidebar diversions that mess up the storyline rather than enhancing it. Yes, much of the nonsense can be forgiven because the film's heart is in the right place, but why this talented group could not have inserted a little restraint here and there is a frustrating question with which we are left. It is an entertaining film that errs on over the top asides to the point of distraction. Grady Harp, August 06
Movie Review: A B- Movie
Summary: 4 Stars
The film "Adam & Steve," written by, directed by and starred in by Craig Chester-- he plays the bungling addict-in-recovery gay Jewish character who now conducts bird-watching tours in New York but seventeen years ago in 1987, was a twenty-something in white makeup-- is an uneven movie, a romantic comedy but that has its moments. Some of them are the country-western line-dance number stepped to the hilarious song "S--t Happens; Adam's lover Steve's singing from "The Sound of Music" of "Something Good"; the title itself, which takes the oft-quoted statement from the religious right, that God created Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve, and turns it on its head, for example; the wedding scene for all its hokiness is quite moving.
On the other hand, parts of the movie are way over the top-- the diarrhea scene is disgusting, much of Rhonda's (Parkey Posey) stand-up comedy routine is boring, and Chris Kattan as Steve's straight roommate is miscast.
"Adam & Steve" is certainly not up to the quality of "Brokeback Mountain" but is better than a dozen low-budget gay-themed movies, whatever that means, the names of which I have long since forgotten.
Movie Review: sweet and funny
Summary: 4 Stars
Okay, so it's a romantic comedy. Maybe it's not supposed to be real all the time. But I found some scenes unbelievable (the Western dance-off, Rhonda's rant to Steve in his open "office," Steve's strong-arming the homophobe neighbor, to name three) and that bothered me enough not to give it five stars.
And though Adam's "luck-challenged" family was also unbelievable, I thought it the funniest part of the movie - laugh-out-loud funny several times. And some of the throw-away one-liners were hilarious.
Otherwise, it was sweet. I cared about Adam and Steve and really wanted them to get together. Yes, the plot was formulaic, and you knew that they would be happy at the end, but getting to the ending was fun.
Craig Chester's elastic face and goofy demeanor were endearing. Parker Posey is always good in whatever she's in. Chris Kattan was actually funny rather than annoying. And Malcolm Gets is easy on the eye and quite effective in the final scenes. Julie Haggerty, Meldina Dillon, and Sally Kirkland offer good support.
I've watched it several times, and it keeps entertaining.