Love Without Fear

The title is not about gay guys loving other gay guys without fear, but rather straight women loving "bisexual" men without fear. Acting abilities were alright, but the drama scream scenes were over the top and scary. A man who is mostly straight is NOT going to make out with another man as depicted in this movie...they went all the way, as intimate as people can get. So the blue eyed actor's claim that he was totally straight fell flat. And NO woman should just overlook the fact her boyfriend is at least an active bisexual and maybe even a closet gay. We are told it's OK to love without fear of making bad choices. Horrible message and the story lacked any credibility.

This film is ostensibly intended to be a drama but it has so many elements of cheesy comedy it's difficult to tell what vibe the filmmaker is going for. Sadly, it fails either way. The "dramatic" scenes (people yelling at each other) play like a telenovela, and the ridiculously improbable ending could've been lifted from an Eating Out sequel. Everything is overplayed, for no worthwhile reason.

The lead character Josh (Andres Roma) is the archetypal nerdy, pasty-white, camera-toting gringo tourist. He speaks excellent Spanish, but with a blatant gringo accent that doesn't fit a guy at his fluency level who's had a Mexican girlfriend for 10+ (?) years; he can't even say the name of his new friend Leo in a non-Anglo way. When he speaks English, Roma pulls off a passable whitebread American accent but can't sustain it; he often lapses into a Latino rhythm of speech. At first this made me cringe as I thought Josh was mocking the locals, but his very Mexican pronunciation of certain words like "stubborn" (stah-born) reveals it as simply a case of bad acting.

Josh's awkward cluelessness is cartoonish and relentless. The utter lack of sexual chemistry with his new friend make Leo's persistent and obvious pursuit of him seem predatorial. There's nothing here that resembles a romance, although that seems to have been the filmmaker's vision. All in all, the film plays like writer/director Juan Frausto pulled two characters out of the 2014 HBO series Looking - the uptight ginger nerd and the scruffy Latino musician - and stuck them into a very improbable, overly burlesqued, and ultimately unsatisfying story line.

It was a privilege to join two of the actors and the director in viewing this film the Seattle Latino Film Festival. Even if they weren't there/FaceTiming in, you could still tell how much they believed in and cared about their craft.

I have often found myself yearning for more sincerity when it comes to queer representation in film. In the case of Love Without Fear, I felt sincerity that was enhanced by some of the melodrama, their comedic moments, and relatable monologues and dialogue throughout.

I was magnificently surprised by the finale and a successful execution of using a short deneumont to the films advantage. I started rooting for every single one of the four core characters before they hit that climax and I see that as an indicator of well structured character arcs.

Love without fear is a lovely film. The cast and story captivated me. The director's open mind about love and sex really surprised me. It is true that before exploring the possibility of love, all love is possible, and love itself should not be labeled as opposite-sex or same-sex. But after making a mistake, it is not a good idea to passively wait for the problem to be solved. Since it is true love, why not make it clear face to face? True love should be fearless, but fearless love does not mean abandoning the responsibility of love. Only by loving bravely and competently can you gain joy and happiness.

(Unbelievable first gay experience review 5/10) was the first review i read here and the person who wrote this review could not be off base more. Can you live in your bubble of labeling people straight? Gay? Sure go ahead - limiting your horizons just gives others more choice. Sexuality is a spectrum and i know many self identified straight men who have had other encounters w men and it's not all black and white as it is in your world. Also, thank the younger generations they are not a big uncomfortable or shameful about same sex interactions or encounters because times have changed. I pitty the person that lives within labels. Those of us not bound by religion or social construct know better and this film was a beautifully told story of real life issues - because life happens and that's exactly what happens in this movie. It is told with sincerity, acting is a bit on and off - the Josh (Andres Roman) character was the most compelling to watch as we follow his plight. He also looks like Eliah Wood. The music was a bit cheesy (music in these cases) could have really brought the scenes or performances home. I love the use of nudity and sexual situations - it really brought the message home and made the story more organic with its themes. No i'm not related to the cast in any way nor am i friends with any one related with this production. Many people if they see an opinion review that does not agree with theirs think immediately the review must have been planted. It was not. It's not a perfect film, but the story was well told and i just purchased it on amazon to add to my digital collection for i plan to revisit it to study it in more detail because these scenarios happen more often than people think even tho they may be talked about seldom. Congrats to the filmmakers and actors for a good movie i definitely recommend.