Shut Up and Kiss Me

"oh, no, honey...no..." The funny thing here is I immediately saw the lead character, Ronnie Kerr and thought "wait...I just saw a total piece of crap/waste of time with this guy in it yesterday" and sure enough, went to IMDb and saw not only was he also the lead in the tragic assault to gay cinema called "Saltwater", but also wrote both of them. I'd say that was the only funny thing about this film at all, but I have to be completely honest and say there are a couple of really good performances which were obviously ad-lib-ed (no, not Mark Cirillo's same tired character he does in every performance that will give him a part because he will do full-frontal) but rather the opening scene with the director...yet even HER awesome performance was butchered through very bad editing and B-roll throughout-style camera-work. Look, I get that everyone needs a hobby...but at this point I'd say this niche genre of cheap, badly written/acted/filmed gay films is reaching saturation; no one gets a "pass" anymore, so come back when you have REAL and NEW to say (or at the very least entertaining).

Ronnie Kerr, now Ron Smith, writes and stars in this adorable romp that illustrates the challenges of dating and relationships. Ben's friends accuse him of being a commitment phobe but an idealist at heart he just can't imagine settling and seems to be on an unrealistic quest for Mr. Right. Enter Grey, a man Ben falls in love with almost immediately. But, is he really Mr. Right?

The low budget feel of this movie is palpable throughout. From lighting and sound to film quality issues, it almost feels like it was shot on video tape. Annoying distractions but the script is good and occasionally it's hilariously funny. The acting is really OK

Get past the drawbacks and you've got a cute movie here. I recommend it.

A fresh take on familiar themes--this 78-minute movie packs a decent amount of humor and poignancy in a short amount of time. While the main plot evolved around dating, I really enjoyed the friendship between the main character (Ben) and his straight best friend/workout buddy (Vinnie).

There were a couple of brief sex scenes that may surprise (shock, delight, etc.) some viewers, but for the most part this film focuses on the importance of friendships and the challenges of dating in the gay world.

This indie flick was likely shot on a budget, and like many movies you need to be in the right space to get the most out of your viewing experience. If you can be patient and suspend your disbelief like a good movie-goer should, I think you'll find this to be an enjoyable film that examines a variety of friendships and romantic relationships.

P.S. I'm SOOOO glad this was available on Netflix Streaming!

Ron Smith and Scott Gabelein are both good in this film and there is too much trashing of the script and the performances on this site. I saw it by accident and I was moved and interested in their emotional development. Yes, I do mean emotional because despite a brief bedroom scene there is nothing to see of their physical intimacy. I do not want to give away spoilers so I will simply mention that this is a love story in the true sense of the word. Attraction and then emotion are in the foreground and this is beautifully conveyed. It was clearly made on a small budget, but does that really matter if the heart of the film is two endearing and very believable characters ? There is a lot of talk and some of it is banal, but then so is some of the dialogue in a Rohmer film. There have been criticisms here about the writing, probably from people who would respect a Rohmer film and I think they are wrong. People do talk in this way, trying to be witty and falling flat. Often I found here that the clichés were accurate, but back to the central point. This film is well worth seeing as it reflects many problems in gay relationships and I will watch it again for its sincerity and its respect for love.

It works very well as a romantic comedy/drama about the obstacles of reaching the ideal relationship that works in the world of gay dating.

The positives can be said about the actors and actress being super gorgeous, the story gets engaging right at the beggining, it's very light, there are good hot scenes, and gay guys are not overly steryotyped like every gay drama.

Now, the negatives...

there are a lot of pointless subjects tossed in the air without any reason that gets involved in the story at times but it's never clear how much it weights at the end or at what degree we should care about them; themes like: hiv, bissexuality, having kids, monogamy, commitment, future. They are thrown in the story, it does have some relevancy but it's never clear how.

Honestly, I was fully enjoying the movie all the way past middle because a lot of stuff was being built to make a good satisfying or unsatisfying ending, characters were being developed, conflicts happened but suddenly, in the last 10 minutes of the movie (or even less) it is presented some weird ending that doesn't resolve any of the problems and causes a lot of confusion and revolt. It's VERY clear that the script writter doesn't know how to deal with conflicts in the slightest!

Feels like they shoot the movie with a good script all the away to 2nd act an then they got tired or didn't know what to do than threw a simple "And they lived happily ever after (or not)... the end". Very odd.

The 2 main actors are completely in the 50/50 scale too:

• Ben it's interpreted by a guy who is very good at acting like a "boy in love" with shining puppy eyes, romantic posture and voice, he is also great in acting as normal relatable guy, however, when the sad part happens he doesn't convey at all that he is sad, angry or confused, contemplative or anything, it's so akward. The cliché emotional part where you have to shout "go away and never come back" it's so soft spoken, he also puts a smiling face when fighting in a very weird way, it doesn't feel any natural at all, although I should add that the script doesn't help much,

• The main romantic interest of our protagonist it's played very well as charming guy in a way that it's very compellingand attractive, but... that's it, nothing else in him seems authentical. He can't express very well love or passion, he can't express internally conflicted, he can't express devious intent, sad, suprised, angry. All the way to the end he is a very confusing 'object of desire' only.

All his meaningful scenes are very confusing, there is a discussion scene that in one shot he looks so deep at our protagonist with a change in posture that I was thinking he was going to turn violent, but no, it was a one weird take, other time he says he is conflicted but he seems very chill, other time he says he is destroyed but he seems so inconvincing that appears tha he is just messing with the protagonist (is he?), this character itself is super weird by the addition of the bad script and akward acting interpretation....

Other nitpick is that I don't think that anyone ever uses the 'gay lingo' they try to explain in the movie, so why even bother puting there? Just to add some style? Okay I guess..

Finally, the morals at the end are very deplorable, I really hope it's not really the personal experience of the director... In case you are wondering, the title of the movie is 'that' because the 'wonderful' moral of the movie is thist, by the way:

"It's okay being constantly hurted by your loved one as long as he is honest enough to rub it in your face, just suck it up and you'll be fine"

or

"If you feel a strong connection with someone in a meaningful way, you have to let the other one act any way they want because what you think and want it's just selfish and pointless in a relationship"

Admitedly, the last 1 0minutes of this movie is such a mess that made me think much more poorly than good of the movie...

And, to anyone who already watched this I ask: was this a bad ending played as good, or was that a good ending played bad?