In den Armen des Rangers

Warning: I talk about the ending of the movie as one of its strong points. Do not read on if you wish to be surprised. "Gone But Not Forgotten" is another in a long line of low-budget gay-themed movies. We cannot hold this movie up against a movie with a full Hollywood backing. So once we let that go a bit (the camera work is OK; the score is OK; the editing is OK; the acting is OK), we find a story to make us smile. The characters do and say the things we hope they will do. Too many movies try too hard to make a point on social issues. This movie allows us the smile that comes from a gay-themed movie with a happy ending. Everyone learns; everyone loves; all is right for the main characters. Wouldn't be nice if we had more movies that made us smile instead of making us say, "yep, that's how the real world is"?

The actors aren't very good looking and don't really act very well. The storyline of a guy with amnesia whose past life is unknown is rather predictable and despite what another reviewer here says, there's really not any "mystery" to it. The movie seems to be shot on a handy cam. But despite all this, I enjoyed the 90 minutes I spent watching this movie and found it to be quite engaging. The lovely locales surely helped. And maybe even the fact that our heroes aren't good looking but are sweet and ordinary (Drew's face reminds me of a cute chipmunk). Anyway, an independent gay movie is bound to suffer when compared to slick Hollywood movies, so I think it's best not to go there. I recommend this movie to all gay people, but don't go in expecting Bareback Mountain.

OK, so I've watched the maybe five good English speaking gay themed movies released over the last five years. My internet rental queue has about 70 titles for which I remain ever hopeful. One after another, they rate anywhere from simple horrible to pointless, depressing, tedious, condescending, or French horrible. Hope has not completely vanished, but expectations are no longer exceedingly high.

Maybe low expectation was why I liked this movie. I certainly think way too high expectation is why some others did not. The best of film makers would be hard pressed to do better with a budget that wouldn't pay for food service on most movie sets and undoubtedly filmed in less time than a big budget director spends picking his nose. Come on, this little guy deserves a break. The story is feasible and interesting situationally. The characters are believable and their interactions seem real without stereotype. The storyline is laid out in a logical fashion. There is a point. The acting is at least up to soap opera standards. Problems that hound gay relationships are addressed honestly. The video format seems very fitting for the simple, small town, natural surroundings in which it was filmed. The guys are aesthetically decent enough. And it has one of the best choreographed romantic love scenes of any gay movie, big budget or not. As far as pace, this is indeed not an action packed, ADHD storyline, but the pace does thankfully allow the characters to develop. It's just a nice story to let you know the big bad world is not going to always eat you alive.

"Gone but not Forgotten" is more like a granola bar grabbed at the checkout counter rather than say, "Foie Gras en Terrine", at the French Laundry. Simple, momentarily satisfying, and basically healthy. I hope it gets judged accordingly.

I did like the film although it moves slowly, but I liked Drew and he sort of made me like the film. Drew is the epitome of a gay dream I think. He's the typical nature boy who's caring, has a boyish charm and good looks. And I loved his voice, the way he talked. He reminded me a bit of Mouse in Tales of the City. Who could resist? It is true, however, that sometimes you feel you've dropped into a soft-porn film - esp. the music adds to this impression. And the other character looks a bit like a hustler. The other characters are quite weak however. And the relationship between the brothers is fairly strange and not quite convincing. Although the setting is quite realistic, this is more like a fairy tale or wishful thinking. Yet, I think this is a film I would have liked to see around my own coming-out because there's a profound goodness to it and being gay is not presented as an unsurmountable problem. So watching this film is more like an emotional indulgence than a intellectual experience.

This little movie, made on a shoestring budget with a small cast and crew, cannot fairly be compared with a multi-million dollar Hollywood production. In spite of any production limitations, this is a true gem... A simply delightful little film.

I'm sure that most of us have a short list of movies that are the entertainment equivalent of soul food - movies that we watch over and over again... we may not fully understand why we like the movie, but it gives us a sense of inner peace - for me, "Gone, But Not Forgotten" is such a film. I found the story refreshingly different from the mainstream gay-themed movies and I thought that the two principal actors, Aaron Orr and Matthew Montgomery were excellent, particularly in the very well crafted love scene.

It doesn't take a huge budget and expensive special effects to tell a story well. All it takes is a good storyteller... and Michael D. Akers and Sandon Berg, along with their excellent cast, have managed to tell an interesting and unusual story in an honest and straightforward way.