Godless

I had read reviews about how the pace was plodding along throughout the movie, but this did not bother me at all. Yes, some of the script sounded a bit wooden, but in general it was very sincere and I thought they handled the subject matter very well. The performances by the actors were very good and I thought the cinematography did the job too, even though there wasn't anything fancy.

I have two big problems with this movie.

First, the only relationship I believed in was the one between Nate and Trent. There was real, palpable sexual and emotional attraction between those two, but there was none anywhere else in the movie. I didn't believe in Steven's relationship with Ray; every time he called him "Babe" I gave an involuntary shudder that he would say something like that to a stranger. Even worse, I didn't believe in anything at all between him and Nate, even conventional sibling affection, and the whole movie hangs on that supposedly overwhelming passion.

Second, the movie is based on a strange assumption that there's something so profoundly bad about sex between brothers that they have to sacrifice everything that matters to hide it and do everything they can to kill it. I never have understood that taboo. It's not like they'd have deformed babies. It's an absurd prohibition. But I suppose even now they wouldn't be able to get married, and since vicious lunatics have taken over the US government, that's not likely to get better anytime soon.

So I guess what I'm saying is that the actor who played Steven was badly miscast (he wasn't able to create any believable relationships on screen) and that the premise of the movie is absurd.

However, unlike many other reviewers, I loved the ending, for reasons that may be obvious from what I said earlier.

Thoroughly enjoyed this movie, but it was solely because of the performances of several of the actors. The script had some holes in it that could easily have been filled, and the pacing was DEADLY SLOW! About 15 minutes in, I realized it was a directorial choice, NOT a deficiency on the part of the actors. By picking up the pace, the movie could have been so much better. But, I got the feeling that the writer/director slowed the pace to fill the 90 minute run time. A much better choice would have been to flesh out the character of the Uncle, or the location of the gym (where Nate and Trent are personal trainers).

Without giving away too much of the plot, the two main actors - Craig Jordan and Michael E. Pitts - play brothers who are much more than that. Told in partial flashback, their relationship is the central plot point. Both turn in good performances, but Craig Jordan as Nate is the most redeeming feature of the movie. His performance is nuanced and never crosses the line into pathos. The last 10 minutes of the movie are basically his, and while the final twist did not come as a surprise, I did find my heart pounding, waiting until the denouement. That is a tribute to his performance and his skill as an actor. I look forward to seeing much more of him (as an actor - he shows all there is to show in this film, but it is not gratuitous and central to the plot).

Also worthy of mention are Garrett Young as Trent, and Michelle Gallagher and Joseph Aloysius McGinn as the mother and father. Michael E. Pitts as Nate's brother, Steven and Jefferson Rogers as Ray (and two other sides of the triangle) are natural in their roles, and completely believable. But without Jordan's performance, there is no movie.

The only movie that I have recently enjoyed as much as "Godless" (2015) is "Akron" (2015), which I recently reviewed on IMDb. Being addicted to happy endings, naturally I would like both movies - even though both are very different in look and pacing and place, but absolutely not different in their positive emotional impact.

Godless is movie number 2,734 in my personal movie library; Akron is 2,731. And while I seldom ride consciously on the coattails of another writer or reviewer, I must agree almost completely with my fellow reviewer of "Godless" who stated in part, "Craig Jordan as Nate is the most redeeming feature of the movie," although all of the performances in "Godless" are on the money. Period. Full stop. So I salute absolutely Craig Jordan and Michael E. Pitts, but also notably Garrett Young, from whom I hope to see much, much more.

My sole abjection to the previous review is related to pacing, described elsewhere as "DEADLY SLOW!". In my opinion, given the characters, plot, setting, cinematographic circumstances, and obvious directorial intent, the pacing of "Godless" is indeed slow, but the pacing of "Godless" is pure directorial genius, in my opinion.

With the mandatory caveat that I do not do this very often, I give "Godless" the IMDd rating of 10.

As a postscript, my long-time neighbor in what he calls "our sleepy Beverly Hills" has had an especially rewarding and lucrative career in the movie-making business hereabouts. So when I supplied him with a DVD of "Godless" and asked for his informed opinion about the totality of the production, the next evening he came over and said "first rate" and "top drawer" and agreed with my opinion of Joshua Lim's directorial genius. He also said that "Godless" is a jewel of a movie. And then he asked if I understood how hard it is for an actor to perform the understated character of Trent in the production, and how completely Garrett Young had precisely nailed all of the nuances of Trent. Of course I had to agree that Garrett Young was outstanding in his performance, and that I too hoped to see much more of him

This film took forbidden love to a whole new level. Godless (2015) has quickly become one of my favorite LGBTQ themed films. With outstanding acting from both leads. You could easily sense their conflict. The direction was spot on. The only downfall to the film was the ending. I'm sure it could be interpreted in many ways. Overall outstanding film. Definitely will keep you thinking.