Defying Gravity
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Movie Reviews of Defying Gravity
Movie Review: wow
Summary: 5 Stars
an amazing coming out / love story....
very good acting too.....a thoughtful film :-)
Movie Review: Very human film
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a film about humanity and honesty. A very good film indeed.Movie Review: Easy to relate to, even if the performances sucked!
Summary: 4 Stars
Oftentimes, a movie will try to get a point across through its plot, but will not have enough issues or occurrences for the audience to relate to in order for them to fully experience the message hoping to be conveyed. "Defying Gravity" is not one of them. The plot deals with real issues that an occur to anyone on a daily basis. It also teaches a lesson in the end, a lesson in tolerance and equality. It is one of the best gay-themed films ever made. Griff is your average, everyday, boy-next-door kind of guy, who enjoys going to college and being part of a fraternity of close-knit jocks. Or so we think. The opening of the film shows him leaving someone's house, hurrying to dress and running out the door and back to his sorority house. He seems distanced from the other guys, though he tries to hide it from them. That morning, he and his buddy give their friend Pete a ride to classes, and there seems to be tension between Pete and Griff in the car. Throughout the day, Griff goes out of his way to ignore Pete, and at the end of the day, they finally confront one another, and we learn that Griff and Pete have been fooling around for a while. They decide to meet the next night to talk things over, and Griff realizes that Pete wants more from their being together than he can handle at the moment. They leave the bar in an argument, and Pete goes off by himself down an alley, where he is followed by a strange truck. The next day, Griff is confronted by his fraternity as to his whereabouts the previous night, when a newscast appears showing Pete's face, and a story about his brutal beating and hospitalization. This sends Griff into a whirlpool of emotion, as he begins to analyze his feelings for Pete, his homosexuality, and how he is going to begin to deal with coming out.
The best thing about this film is that it does not have the regular, big-budget movie look to it, which makes it all the more believable and realistic. The story and dialogue all sound very natural, and they all work together in conveying the emotions and actions that are felt and taken by the characters. Griff is the emotional core of the film, as he reminisces back to his good times with Pete, and as he tries to comprehend what he is feeling and what he will do about it.
John Kietel is perfect in his direction of the actors and the filming of the movie. Unlike some movies with homosexual storylines and themes, this one chooses to focus more on the monogamous side of same-sex relationships, rather than use it to exploit the sexual side of gay living.
The actors for this film do such a great job in making each character articulate and real. Daniel Chilson portrays Griff, and does so with a great deal of powerful, moving emotion. His performance will evoke tears in those who can relate to what he is going through, not to mention that his good looks will keep all viewers awake and attentive. Niklaus Lange plays Pete, and while he has his time onscreen, he makes us believe in what he feels for Griff, that he wants something more than just one-nighters and pleasurable thrills.
Not to be taken lightly, but ultimately enjoyable and moving, "Defying Gravity" is one of the finest films for the gay genre, telling a haunting story that has become a painful reality for many in this world. Watch it with someone you love; you will not be disappointed.
Movie Review: Worth Seeing
Summary: 4 Stars
"Defying Gravity" is an earnest, heart-felt movie. While its edges are rough, both in terms of the performances and the filmmaking, it's these rough edges that actually make the movie feel more real in a way that polished Hollywood acting and production values would undermine. One could complain that it is yet another coming out story, and in many ways it is, but it's an effective one.Griff (Daniel Chilson) is a college student who lives in a frat house with your typical college guys. Everyone is assumed to be straight, and the majority of brothers are. Griff wants to belong, but as a young gay man, he feels a certain amount of isolation. Because of his wanting to fit in, he remains in the closet despite the efforts of his boyfriend Pete (Don Handfield) to help him come to terms with his identity. Finally, a crisis forces Griff to take a stand for himself and for Pete. Yes, anyone who has seen more than a few gay-themed movies or TV shows will have seen this plot. But it is handled in such an honest and affecting way that you will forgive it.
What sets this movie apart are the character relationships. Griff's interesting relationships with best friend Todd (Niklaus Lange), with Todd's girlfriend Heather (Leslie Tesh), with fellow student Denetra (Linna Carter), and with Pete's father (sorry, I don't recall the actor's name) are what helps us to forgive the cliched elements of the plot. Of particular note are the relationships with Todd and with Pete's father. Their reactions to Griff's relationship with Pete are not what you have come to expect from coming out films. It makes for a refreshing change of pace, and writer/director John Keitel deserves credit for putting new spins on these stock characters.
The acting never really rises above college drama student level, but that works for a movie about college students. Chilson, Lange, Tesh, and Carter all act earnestly and come across as believable college kids in ways that technically-trained performers might not.
I do wish that the DVD had more to offer. The film is in 1.33:1 ration. I don't know if it has been panned and scanned, a matte removed, or originally shot for a TV screen. There is no commentary track. I would like to hear Keitel talk about the choices he made as writer and director. There is a "pictorial" soundtrack, meaning that the song's from the film can be accessed and played like a CD while images from the are played like a slideshow. As there were a couple songs that I particularly liked, I appreciated this feature and found myself wishing other films did the same thing.
Overall, it's a solid film and one that I have found myself watching several times. I recommend it to people who enjoyed "Get Real", "Edge of Seventeen", "trick", "Broadway Damage", and "Torch Song Trilogy."
Movie Review: Good story, reasonably well told
Summary: 4 Stars
The first thing that struck me about "Defying Gravity" was how amazingly well casted it is. Griff (Daniel Chilson) really does look and act like an emotionally immature, sexually confused college kid. Pete (Don Handfield) really does look and act like a more mature love interest for Griff. Doogie (Seabass Diamond) really does look and act like the racist, homophobic idiot we all knew and hated in college. Kevin Wright, who portrays Pete's father actually looks like Pete's dad. Even most of the fraternity brothers seen in this film were actual fraternity brothers who were recruited by the film's director as low-cost extras.
This all adds up to create a very authentic feeling in "Defying Gravity", which unfortunately is detracted from by writing, directing and acting that is sometimes pedestrian, forced and poorly executed. In fact, while watching this film, pretend it's a made-for-TV after-school special and you'll probably enjoy it a lot more.
For example, "consternation fadeouts" -- those excruciatingly long, static close-ups of troubled faces shown at the ends of scenes -- get old real quick, which eventually makes them unintentionally ridiculous, even funny. And as for the other directing and acting, 90% of it ranges from very good to excellent, but the other 10% is downright awful. You'll know these spots immediately when you see them. Why John Keitel didn't rewrite and/or reshoot these scenes defies explanation, not gravity.
But to its credit, Defying Gravity is distinguished not by the love affair between Griff and Pete -- since we're given almost no background on how or why their affair started -- but by the relationship between Griff and Todd (played by Niklaus Lange). Todd is the fraternity's mature and very heterosexual leader -- and also one of Griff's best friends. The chemistry between Chilson and Lange is obvious and remarkable, and most scenes between their two characters leap right off the screen and into your living room.
Defying Gravity was made on a total budget of less than $200,000, and the end result while flawed is certainly worth seeing. It tells a compelling story, reasonably well, and teaches a valuable lesson about what matters in life -- and what doesn't. I think my biggest gripe is not with the film itself, but with what Wolfe Video is charging distributors for it. Would you pay $20+ for an after-school special?