Plainclothes

Isn't entrapment a thing? I suppose that's why they had those rules not to go into the stall, not to say anything. And basically they relied on fear and shame just to get those fines. An entire operation dedicated fully to luring, tempting and then arresting gay men. In the nineties in New York, well, the state of... I still cannot wrap my head around it. And for what, for the fines? They had a quota for that or was it particularly lucrative? I guess the police do not have anything better to do, criminals to chase down and catch... Kind of heartbreaking to know that in the late 90s you still needed to live that way and be so afraid of something that is pretty common nowadays.

I was bothered by the flashbacks and flashforwards and it took me till the end of the movie to realize those scenes at his mom's were towards the end of the story actually. They felt older with the hairstyle so that's a minus, I don't think we were given enough hints really.

Really powerful ending, although with that family I'm afraid Luke dug himself into a hole.

LE Both leads are British lol.

LLE Is a nineties movie now a period movie? It's beginning to fell like it more and more. It's concerning.

This gay movie revealed the dirty deeds of cops in the 90's era as the extreme result of homophobia. Disgusting, illegal and immoral. Like they don't have enough crimes to deal with. This movie follows Lucas, a gay cop who fell in love with one of his prey. It shows us Lucas' life journey to acceptance of his identity. Which is a real hardship, seeing how the people around him are extremely homophobic. It's very well acted and directed. Really worth watching. Put it on your watch list, if you haven't watched it yet.

I went into this film blind and did not know what to expect .Found Great acting and and an amazing capture of the stress, anxiety and fear one felt in the late 90's being a closeted gay man; told with flashbacks of home movie clips appropriate for each time period from the 70's 80's and 90's. It really highlights the trauma done to men who experience this. The panic sequences were really well done I hope younger audiences can appreciate that it wasn't as easy back then.

I felt what the characters felt, i've been there. I was stunned that a film can make me remember those feelings. Fear, panic, compassion and tears means a job well done.

I really struggle to care about romance films. Love is such a private, subjective, and in many ways arbitrary experience and, as a show-don't-tell medium, movies in my opinion just aren't an easy art through which to explore how people feel it. Generally movies standardize it to "well she fills his X deficit/need and he fills her Y deficit/need and that's why they work". I don't care about such contrived, transactional relationship.

Plainclothes, however, completely breaks through this trap. For spoilers I won't detail how, but this easily the most "real" romance I've seen in recent memory, perhaps late memory. I teared up several times in this one. If you're gay or bi, this is especially moving. But even if you're not, you're in for a novel concept and a tense story to keep you glued through an eye-opening experience about gay love, or the lackthereof...

Another reason this works so well is that, while substantively a tragic romance, it FEELS like you're watching a thriller due to the pacing, anxious cinematography, and tense writing structure.

So, so good. Keep an eye out on the creative team. Exceptional film.

Wow. I seriously enjoyed this film. Loved the way it was shot; grainy and authentic. The director really evoked the time and place so well. The acting was all round knock out (I can see why it won Sundance ensemble award), but particular credit to Tom Blyth - an actor I am not familiar with. He hooked me in from the 1st second and never let go until the last line of the film. Maybe he just reminded me of myself in the 90's; expectant, excited, hopeful, disappointed, frustrated all wrapped up in one confusing mess. There are not many films that I watch more than once (ok, I've seen Aliens more times than I can count) but I hope to revisit this one at some point in the future.