FAQs - O Manual da Vida

Had a free movie rental coupon, was in a hurry, and picked this movie out. Sounded like a good story and, over all, it was. But it took soooo much to get through this movie because of the acting.

The two key characters, India and Destiny, were the strongest performances and thats not saying a whole lot. When India first meets Destiny I thought I was watching "Jackie Brown" or "Christie Love", come to someone's rescue. It was so retro and amateurish, something, I feel, a few more takes could have solved. Clearly, from watching other scenes, these actors were able to deliver convincing performances, but for whatever reason the director settled.

The same can be said for the sex scenes. Some were great while others were mediocre at best. Yes, there was a good deal of flesh and as someone else commented the guys looked like your everyday "joe" hot guy and not some groomed, tanned, perfectly figured porn guy. This gave the movie a reality feel, which also kept me watching. I felt like these were people I could relate to, touch, walk with (be apart of my life).

But the thing that held me the most was the message of the movie. Now, of course, I can't tell you what that is, but suffice it to say that as the movie unfolds the message, like a painting out of a cylinder container, is layed out. Even though its done in an idealist, and somewhat corny, way.

In a nutshell, worthy material, with some good, and some bad scenes. Good amount of nudity, if you're into that.

I'll keep an eye out for future movies by this director/writer. Hopefully with a bigger budget and maybe more time another good story, with better performances, will go to theatre.

Knowing that director Everett Lewis equated his characters with gay superheros goes a long way toward enjoying this quirky but extremely well-done film. Even when the acting is awkward, there is an honesty about the portrayals that is extremely watchable. Allan Louis is terrific as Destiny, the drag queen "avenger" who is part mother, part Dirty Harry. The cinematography is surprisingly good and the guys look terrific obeying Desiny's '2 hours of nudity a day' rule. Last minute cast substitution Minerva Vier seems incredulous at first as a tough street dyke, but her spunky reality won me over quickly. I cracked up at Destiny's line "Child, I feel just like Mrs. Brady. So white. So suburban. I'm gonna have to get me a pert blonde wig, honey. 'Cause I just feel pert. Pert, pert, pert." Classic. There are some lapses of credibility in the plot, but this is a superhero world, not real life, so go with it and you'll enjoy getting the FAQ's.

It starts off in a promising way. Some interesting characters with some way-out ideas. It even reminded me a little of an Almodovar film at the beginning, and that's always a good thing.

However, it doesn't live up to its early promise. The characters turn out to be very shallow. Some of the more interesting ones just disappear from the plot without a trace of explanation. There are some "twists" in the plot which which had my eyes rolling around in my head. I wanted to scream out a request for a bit of originality.

Worst of all, it relies, like far too many other films, on the outrageous concept that problems of violence can be solved with guns. This notion is not just annoyingly simplistic. It's extremely dangerous

Yes, this film is low, low, low budget. And yes, its far fetched. But I thought it was tons of fun.

See the world in a surrealist fashion through the eyes of a modern gay teen and thats where you get this movie. Every character has been caricaturized for your entertainment. This film is a modern gay Indi movie with 1960's batman style heroes. All thats missing is the "bam" and "pow" animations during the fight sequences.

So support your GLBT Indi film makers, try not to take yourself too seriously, relax and enjoy this film. And remember, kisses are louder than bombs ;)

I found FAQS by chance at my local Blockbuster. I'd already seen Luster which was also directed by Everett Lewis, and although I didn't like Luster I decided to give this one a chance. The movie paints gays and straights into very strict categories which works for the message of the film.

The opening credits almost turned me off - as though I was going to be watching some political piece, but instead turns into a believably realistic look at the prejudice that gays in general are often subjected to and manage to overcome.

Without giving anything away, I can tell you there is some acceptable eye candy - but presented realistically - the average gay guy vs some tweaked out gym bunnies.

Overall very satisfying and recommendable even as a date movie.