Luster

The film had the edginess and campiness of a Greg Araki film, with some moments cinematography and character development reminiscent of Gus Van Sant. The characters were sexy, quirky and fun to watch. The story was engaging. The production quality (lighting and sound) was lacking a bit, but not too bad. Hopefully we will see more of Justin Herwick, who played the lead role. He reminded me of River Phoneix. Supporting actor Jonah Blechman (who played Billy) was adorable and his character added some punch to the film. Those who like a mix of raunchiness and reality with the esoteric and attempts to "be deep" will enjoy the film. I definitely did.

LUSTER is a winsome, engaging look back at a time in the early 1990s when queer nonchalance began to overtake gay pride for the first time.

Something like an early Gregg Araki film (although less angry and more light-hearted), LUSTER is a funny, sexy, and a generally fast-moving look at the early Nineties from the not-too-distant perspective of the early Twenty-first century. It's hardly a classic, and hardly the kind of film that will stay with a person as the years go by, but the film's entirely adorable actors and characters help make this sweet and sexy film very much a worthwhile experience. At least it seems that way for a gay audience looking for something beyond the usual post-Queer milquetoast like IN AND OUT or WILL AND GRACE..

Luster is a coming of age story about a group of 20 & 30 somethings in L.A. in the midst of an odyssey into their teens. And they are soooo cool & punk rock. They've got that really rebellious "I'm REAL punk rock & I'm not a poseur & you ARE & the rest of the world sux" thing from high school still going pretty strong.

Everyone in LA is infatuated with the lead character Jackson, even the "guy next door" who stalks him at work. I'm not sure why, since I was eventually hoping someone would smack Jackson upside the head & shut him up.

Amongst the film's problems are too many story lines & subplots fighting for attention, none of which seem to blend or create a sense of relevance to Jackson's life or a cohesive central theme. The worst of these is an S & M subplot that seems terribly contrived, misplaced, & rings totally false with the rest of the film's "realism."

There are a couple of funny moments, like the photographer & the interaction with her "subject."

And of course there are a couple of full frontals from a really good looking guy, which help this situation along slightly.

But worse of all, I never felt for a minute why Jackson was lusting for these guys & guys were lusting for him. There's no sexual chemistry in this movie between anyone. NADA. Just a bunch of obnoxious & pretentious brats pretending to deal with "real life" & "art." Yuck.

Plenty of better queer films out there.

See it if you must.

Fun movie about alternative life in LA.

Sean Thibodeau as Derek gives it an interesting twist and gives a poignant performance.

His character gives the movie its heart and sole.

Shows an interesting side to LA and people trying to find there way.

Some of the characters seem a bit extreme, but does add to the theme of the movie.

Jackson makes for an interesting protagonist: watching his evolution makes the movie interesting.

He and Derek make for an unusual pair but that makes it even more intriguing.

For a low budget movie it really does an excellent job.

Worth your time to watch.

The transition between Jackson and Derek makes the movie.

I admire Everett Lewis greatly - there are too few auteurs like him making heartfelt realistically emotionally painful queer movies. LUSTER clearly warns us that in our lives (love) and everything that glitters is not gold".

The low budget nature of the film only reinforces the aesthetics. The cast is good and touching, the direction solid and the dialogue pacy and whilst it might sound corny in places - we've all thought or said the same lines.

That Everett keeps making films, keeps trying to challenge our lives should be commended.....were the studios more bold to drop big cash into his pocket I have no doubt that he could make and dazzle us all with a film as successful as MILK....thank god for queer film makers like EL....more please.