24 Nights

I was thrilled finally to see a film with a gay protagonist that didn't have the de rigueur baggage which nearly every other "gay film" of the last few years seems to include: drag queens, one-dimensional hag best friends, all-consuming searches for sleazy sex, melodramatic "coming out" scenes or AIDS crises. Many a good gay film has been made with these themes or characters, but too often lately gay cinema has become preoccupied with providing the above spectacle as a shorthand archetype -- in place of any real substance or story.

24 Nights was funny, honest and moving precisely because the characters had actual personalities -- rather than simply the abbreviated (and grossly stereotypical) personality traits which inform nearly every gay character of recent films. In this movie, the sexuality of the characters (both gay and straight) is not the forefront of their stories, but merely one of the varied factors of their lives. The drama comes not from the object of the main character's lust, but from the journey he makes in coming to terms with the issues of his life and overcoming his obsession with the past.

The delightful surprise of the film is that all of the above is accomplished in a package that is truly hilarious in places while deeply moving in others. Turner's script and direction are peerless and the acting is wonderfully strong and heartfelt -- particularly Kevin Isola, Stephen Mailer and Aida Turturro, with a scathingly funny turn by Mary Louise Wilson.