Everyone

This movie is a little strange. When it started, I was a little worried it would turn out to be a drama instead of a comedy. And not a very good drama. Then it started getting better and better, and soon I was laughing out loud at some scenes. Be sure to watch the final credits, for there is a hidden last scene.

This movie tries to deal with some serious stuff, mainly relationships, be them gay or not. I don't know if the director wanted it to happen that way, but it did feel a bit weird, like I wasn't sure if some scenes were supposed to be sad or funny. Maybe he went for the REALISM effect, as in life it often does happen that you don't know if you want to cry or laugh. Anyway, this film was mostly funny, and I'm glad I saw it. I seems to say that everyone is a bit weird, but then again things CAN work out fine. I want to see this director's next movie.

This movie is a bit like an Altman movie with a giant cast of characters where you hop from person to person to track what is happening as they prepare for and attend a gay wedding. The plot intricately weaves the lives and the themes of death and bearing children.

Brendan Fletcher as Dylan, the manipulative, sexy street kid mom invites just to stir things up steals the show.

Many times in the movie I screamed out "no gay person would ever say that". It was clearly written by a sympathetic clever straight person imagining what gay folk would say. Much of the dialog is far too bitchy to come out of the mouths of today's young gays, and certainly not from a couple about to marry.

Lots of nudity and sex. The sex scenes were quite convincing.

It was shot on location in Vancouver. It spooked me several times when the set looked so much like the house I used to live in with the love of my life on East 27th Avenue.

The film is an odd mix of comedy and tragedy. Some of the co-incidences in the plot seem out of character unless you treat the movie as comedy.

The photography and sound is fully professional, something you don't expect from local film.

The film contains a scene, the most honest I have seen in film, about what is like to be male and horny. On the other hand, characters often do things for motives I cannot fathom.

These guys have problems right from the beginning. Not only can't they agree on what to call the event they are having, they also can't agree on whether to have it or not, they can't agree on what they want to wear for it, and if I understood correctly, they think they're going to do it twice, this time for family, and later on for friends. Who ever does that? Nobody should go into a committed relationship this confused. This is what premarital counseling is for, and do they ever need it. How long have they been together so far? They are so on different wavelengths that one would think they just met the night before. Parts of this film are funny, parts of it drag, and very little of it is believable. I probably know about a dozen same-sex couples who have had a formal commitment ceremony, and none of them ever went about it this way. By the way, my favorite character is Dylan.

This could have been the usual predictable gay wedding with the usual stock characters of a director's idea of gay people. It is not. Most of the character's in this witty and enjoyable film are ' straight ' and to this viewer everyone gay and straight are in the same boat of relationship confusion. This makes for a really adult comedy drama and works for most of the duration. The Altman-like cross cutting of characters was confusing at first as there was a bit too much baby deaths, and not being able to have babies, which bordered on the boring ( no offence to those with this situation, but it nearly reached saturation in this film ). I do not want to give away any spoilers but the homeless man seemed like a 21st century version of Pasolini's young man in ' Theorem ' gutting everyone to act and think about their lives. What he does to one of the prospective gay husbands reminded me a lot of the sexual disturbance in ' Theorem '. If this Pasolini film is beyond history for most people in this century I would urge viewers to track it down. The internalization of gay self hatred as a sexual turn on for the gay couple was also possibly tasteless to some, and not politically correct which added a welcome transgressive spice to the proceedings. Also please do not turn off after the end credits as another gay aspect comes hilariously into view. All in all an off beat film that could offend both gays and straights, but that in itself is a plus. The minus side is that unlike the stereotypical gay themed film it will not please enough gay people with fixed views or bigoted straights who dislike gay films. But then the director must have known he could not please everyone. I think it a must see and just misses out because of confusion at the beginning of being a truly excellent film. And the colour was terrible! A really major fault this.

I would seem to be in the minority of user commenters -- I had this film from Netflix and liked it so much that I've subsequently bought it for my DVD library. Unlike other people who commented, I've known people who talk like these characters and, despite the seriousness and depression experienced by some of the cast I for one (and only one, apparently) find much that is amusing in the film. The director (and author) and his cast are to be commended. I love this film. I'm not a cinema scholar but, unlike many independent films, the technical aspects are also very good. One does not come away with the impression that it was done on a minimal budget. Excellent sound, editing, scoring and everything else. Bouquets all round!