Adam & Steve

Craig Chester wrote, directed and stars in this comic love story between two men: a New York City shrink and a klutzy Jewish tour guide who meet and fall in love--but will the recollection of a disastrous date 17 years ago ultimately come between them? Chester is brash and brave and goes out on a limb here, resulting in a gay-comedy better than most. The movie has fun being outré, with ballsy, bitchy humor and an occasional moment of seriousness (a good balance), yet its imagination is stunted, with a fantasy hoedown bit right out of "Jeffrey" and far too many lapses of taste and judgment. Chester's slapstick scenes needed to be reined in, particularly a hopeless sequence with his "cursed" Jewish family and also the poorly-staged gross-out scene 10-minutes in. The film has funny elements and performances (by a most curious cast) and some of it is very sweet. ** from ****