The M.O. Of M.I.

The M.O. OF M.I. is supposed to be based on a play. TORCH SONG TRILOGY can rest easy, as this gay crime/romance must be the talkiest, most contrived play script to ever take to the gay boards. There isn't a trace of believability in the dialogue or characters and for a film script that's based on a play (by the playwright, yet), the 'performance artist' segments within the screenplay are downright M.O.r.o.n.i.c. Just try to follow the twisted storyline and character motivations and you're in for an M.I.g.r.a.i.n.e. Shame that the cinematography isn't bad and the guys aren't hard to look at. The direction is M.I.n.i.m.a.l. and the overall tone is M.O.n.o.t.o.n.o.u.s. The story is rife with hateful homos who (whatever their eventual M.O.t.i.v.a.t.i.o.n.s.) are unlikeable from the very start. The full title is 'THE MODUS OPERANDI OF MALE INTIMACY' - which is Ancient Latin for 'M.O.v.i.e. of M.I.n.i.m.a.l Interest'.

Just when I thought that gay films couldn't get any worse than "Sordid Lives" or "The Journey of Jared Price," along comes this stinker.

This is a truly horrible film. It bears comparison with "Plan Nine from Outer Space" and other classics of bad film. The plot line is stupid and completely obvious. Anybody who doesn't see the "plot twist" coming (guess what? A main character isn't who you think he is...if you're an idiot, that is) has never seen a single suspense movie in their life. The acting is painful. I have no tolerance for bad acting, and this movie gave me hives. The three main characters are all acted horribly. The most awful aspect of this movie, however, is the writing. I have never seen a movie with such bad dialogue (including the shamefully bad "Journey of Jared Price"). The performance art scenes deserve particular mention here. Whoever wrote that dialogue must have been joking.

Gay people deserve better movies than this. Remember "Beautiful Thing" and "Get Real"? Where did movies like that go?

Michael and Tom have been together for 8 months when performance artist Jonathon comes into their lives. Jonathon needs a place to stay and blackmails Michael into inviting him to stay with them. Tom is uncertain what Jonathon's hold over Michael is and is angry. or is he.

So begins a convoluted, twisted story of passion, and deception and lies.

Unfortunately the plot twists and character motivations get out of the control of the filmmakers and what started as an intriguing story quickly turns into a muddled mess.

Some plot lines are never fully explained and some turns strain credibility too much to be allowed and leave the audience confused more than in awe.

While I'm generally able to forgive a lot in a gay story, Michael Christopher's sexy eyes and chiseled jaw line will only go so far to cover the blemishes in this overwrought but under thought out plot line.

I missed this when it was shown at the NYC Gay & Lesbian Film Festival but understand that many others felt as I now do and walked out part way through. I did finally get a bargain copy from E-Bay and saw it... but it turns out that it wasn't a bargain after all.

Clever title (aka "The Modus Operandi of Male Intimacy") actually has very little to do with this woeful, overly-ambitious script about a gay hustler (into drugs and blackmail, and involved with gangster types) who appears to come between a gay male couple who can't get through an evening together without arguing. Grafting a pseudo-twisty underworld plot onto a gay scenario (or is that the other way around?) probably sounded like a good idea to writer-director SL (aka Susan) Turley, but it's a bad match. Turley has the germ of a good idea in at least one instance, but she can't seem to get her ambitions onto the high-wire where they need to work (she eventually does go over-the-top, but it's too late). Homosexual dramas involving bickering boyfriends usually exhaust straight viewers (and here, the petty jealousies and immature squabbling are not modulated for a wide audience). Most gay audiences may only want some hotter action--this one coyly cuts away as soon as the clothes get stripped off. The performances are amateurish, yet they do work fleetingly; however, these actors just aren't directed right, and all the men are in need of refining their tics for the camera (they are immediately off-putting). The low-budget film was advertised as a sexy, bare-chested thriller, but director Turley never gets heated up; she's too involved in her formula (which is clichéd anyway) and lets her cast evaporate into the genre shtick. * from ****

REVIEW: The M.O. of M.I. is a deliciously twisted suspense thriller in which the three main characters spend most of their time either screwing (in both senses of the word) or fighting. Michael (David Stokey) is a handsome but corrupt banker, who loves the younger Tom (Corey Schneider), his husband of eight months. One night, Jonathan (David Christopher), a studly performance artist, blows into town and needs a place to stay. Tom is infuriated when Michael invites this sexy 'stranger' to spend the night at their house, and he begins to question his long-term relationship. Meanwhile, Jonathan strips out of his skin-tight jeans and tries to seduce Michael. Secretly, Michael and Jonathan are ex-lovers! Yet Tom may not be as naïve as Michael and Jonathan suspect, for he is harboring a secret or two of his own.

It would spoil this suspense film to say anything more except that while the characters engage in blackmail, betrayal, double-crosses and other indoor sports, audiences will be guessing who to trust right up to the film's satisfying conclusion. And make sure not to turn the DVD until the final credits roll to see just how every last detail is worked out.

--Gary Kramer