Latter Days

Four holy young men from Mormon country go to L.A. to preach the gospel to urban heathens. But, one of the young Mormons is a repressed gay who "happens" to cross paths with a very "out" young L.A. party boy. (What would film plots be without coincidences?). These two, very different, young men become friends, and in the process, affect each other's outlook which, in turn, sets up an inevitable clash between gay and Mormon cultures.

That is the premise of "Latter Days", a 2003 film, written and directed by C.Jay Cox, himself a former Mormon missionary. The film's story is, of course, highly relevant, especially in contemporary America. Variations of this story need to be told, and retold, and retold, hopefully in future films ... because the underlying theme brings to light the hatefully superior attitude that Christian fundamentalists too often display toward gays. By its nature, "Latter Days" is provocative, and I doubt that the film was well received in Provo or Pocatello, even though the script is intelligent, sensitive, and insightful.

The comments from anti-gay, Bush styled-judgemental "religiousity" bigots are so annoying. I hope these people never know the sting of prejudice and

descrimination, but will learn some REAL religion which teaches tolerance and love and understanding. C J Cox understands the real meaning of these issues, and shows a firm grasp

of the concept of humanity, and love. This is a finely crafted, humorous, and exciting take on what it means to be gay and to learn the meaning of love; in it's most broadest meaning, is an extremely moving, emotional journey. This film

has lots to say; "and it's beautiful, and it's good."

Latter days is the best gay movie of the homosexual genre. Most of the films entail sappy stories, one night stands, and let us not forget infamous baseball teams? Latter days actually contains male affection beyond the kiss in the dark, and quite graphic material that made me wonder whether the film belonged at Blockbuster or badpuppy.com. The films emotional journey is what sets it above the rest in the genre. Not until this film had I seen a story of such intense passion and love, and the torture that it can bring. I think when people cry during movies they should be beaten, but I found myself sobbing throughout several scenes because of the realistic nature of the world in which we live. I suggest every gay male see this film, and if you have a boyfriend, thank him...

Latter Days (2003) is a very sweet, touching and powerful love story. The actors portraying Christian and Aaron are so great and spot on with their performances, they really made me feel like they truly loved one another. This film really had great dialogue and a well written script, it might be a bit cliché at times, but it was still very sweet and heart felt. I love how this movie made me feel, this movie made me feel warm and just happy. There are some sex scenes with male nudity involved, but they aren't trashy or distasteful at all, they are loving and romantic and truly beautiful, and I'm glad they were there, because you could really see the love between the two characters. Lila in this movie was awesome too! I really loved her character, the film wouldn't have been the same without her. Also Joseph Gordon Levitt makes a short appearance in the movie, and I thought he did a good job, even though his character was a homophobe and a true bigot, he did a good job portraying that. This movie had good heated confrontations between the characters, and they were very impactful and powerful. There was so much great chemistry between characters as well, the bonds were very real and believable. I 100% recommend latter days, whether you ate gay or straight, I think you will enjoy it. You can find it on YouTube, and I saw that it's actually coming on LOGO tomorrow morning at 6 AM, I would urge you to tune in.

Latter Days touched me unexpectedly in many ways. I knew little about the film before I saw it on DVD, and really had few expectations. I am no movie critic, and probably see fewer flicks than most people. But I know what I like, and I know when something tugs at my soul. Few movies exist that I have wanted to see more than once. This is one, and I highly recommend it to anyone who is soulsearching.

Maybe it is stereotypical, and maybe its not Academy Award material (I like few that are), but it really touched some hot buttons with me, and it moved me to tears in the end. I thought that Cox and company did a great job summing up such deep subject matter in such a short time.

For those who think it's hoaky, I say relax, its just a movie. I lived many parts of the real-life version of this story, and it wasn't always pretty. While never a Mormon, I have "wrestled with the angel" for most of my adult life, still trying to reconcile my gay being with my spiritual being. Long-term denial of my sexual identity at an early age led me into a lengthy struggle with drugs and alcohol and a near-death experience 11 years ago. I even looked into aversion therapy once as a way to "cure" myself from homosexuality. Trust me, its better to see this unfold in a movie than to have lived it.

While it may be steeped in stereotype and clichés, as many critics have suggested, Latter Days manages to expose many shallow traits among the major elements in this story: organized religion, gay culture and even Hollywood itself (I love how Cox portrayed L.A. as an additional "character" in the movie).

I thought that the acting was terrific, especially Sandvoss as Aaron Davis. The music is as touching as the story (I recommend the soundtrack too). I can't speak for most moviegoers, but this one will stick with me for a while, and few ever do.