I was watching Looking and aspects of the story and scenes seemed familiar and I eventually realized I'd already seen the movie a year before but had completely forgotten about it. I might have been tired when I first watched it or maybe under the influence of a martini. But having now seen the film twice I think the reason I couldn't recall it is the film is surprisingly forgettable.
Technically Looking should be great. It's a good looking film, it's mostly well acted, and there are multiple stories to explore. Plus it was directed and co-written by Andrew Haigh who made Weekend, one of the best films about queer male relationships I've ever seen and one of my favorite films.
But despite all those things going for it Looking is flat and listless. Almost all the characters are forgettable, the conversations aren't that interesting, and much of the drama feels like "OK, we need to have some drama here."
It's not a bad choice if you want something queer to watch, it's just a film that probably could have been a whole lot better.