Defying Gravity

This is an interesting little film that deals with the two greatest fears of any gay person -- coming out and getting bashed.

Amidst the macho ritual of a college fraternity, Griff has to change pronouns so that he can hide the fact that he is gay and his date is a "he" instead of a "she." The title seems to mean that defying the reality of being yourself is as hard as defying gravity. Notice the symbolic material such as being up a tree and going down a road that is "Not a through street."

Griff is frustrated because he must endure listening to his straight friends tells about their romantic adventures. Pete is frustrated because Griff won't allow anyone to know that he and Pete are gay lovers. The pain they are both going through turns to crisis when Pete is gay-bashed and Griff knows something about the crime but is afraid to tell what he knows because that would involve his coming out.

For an independent film that was quickly made, the story shows real depth. Despite some awkward dialogue and acting, the movie is worth seeing and is really quite touching.

There's a gem of a script here. Clearly the filmmaker is working on a ultra low budget. Many of the supporting cast deliver their lines as if they are in a high school play -- they are painfully wooden. However the idea behind the film is an important one and the film will touch you on multiple levels. I somehow wish this script could get fine tuned and remade as a major production. I feel the film as a lot to say about the pressures of college life -- especially that of living in a frat house on a big ten campus and having to lead a double life.

Some of the material for the story appears to have been inspired by the Matthew Shepard story and the film feels extremely relevant.

In spite of the low budget nature of the film, see this picture!

I went with low expectations, and came out really having enjoyed this movie. Griff and Pete, members of a fraternity at USC, are having an affair. Griff is closeted, and still lives at the frathouse. Pete has left the frathouse, and is on the verge of coming out. He want more from Griff than just sex. Griff is unwilling to have a real relationship (complete with dating, dining, acknowledging a partner), but does not give up on pursuing Pete. Pete even gets Griff to meet him at a gay coffeehouse. Then comes the gaybashing incident that changes everything.

The guys in this movie are handsome and believable. The frathouse scenes seem real--they let you understand the camaraderie that make people want to be part of frats, but at the same time deprive them of the room to be themselves. The gaybashing is an overused plot device, but it works to make this into a poignant movie about the dilemmas faced by gays who want to fit in, don't want to risk being open, yet need affection along with sex from another man.

Defying Gravity is a wonderful film. It's both humorous, as well as heartbreaking, and is a film that I look forward to watching again.

Griff (Daniel Chilson) is an all American super jock frat boy. He plays hoops with a Nerf ball in his dorm room, and parties it up while flirting with the girls at football tailgating parties. Griff, however, is also carrying on a sexual relationship with Pete (Don Handfield) behind everybody's back.

After being witness to a gay bashing that leaves Pete seriously injured, Griff is forced to deal with his own sexuality, as well as the conflict of outing himself in order to bring Pete's attackers to justice. Say nothing, and he lets down somebody he realizes truly loves him, and wants more than just sex. Come forward, and he'll have to face his frat brothers, as well as himself and the feelings he's discovering he has towards Pete.

Both Beautiful Thing and Get Real dealt with "coming out" in a syrupy sort of way. This isn't to say those films are bad; Quite the contrary. They are both excellent films that I have seen and own. What I'm getting at is that it's nice to see a film that forgoes the syrup and plays it in less of a fairy tale way.

Given the fact that this was the first role for many involved, some of the acting shows strain, and ends up looking amateurish, but that didn't bother me as much as it usually would, and in fact, I think it made the performances seem all the more real. The relationship between Griff and his best friend Todd (Niklaus Lange) is both convincing and sweet. Todd is truly trying to understand and support Griff, even when he has no idea what his friend is going though. The only major drawback I can pick out is that the relationship between Griff and Denetra (Linna Carter) isn't fully explored, and I was left with wanting to see more.

Defying Gravity is not a glossy smooth production like either of the films I mentioned above, but that's not a fault, and shouldn't be considered one. Occasionally uneven acting aside, this is a wonderful film that truly has heart and I hope everybody will give it a chance.

My grade: A

Griff's a frat boy. So is Pete. Griff and Pete are lovers. Griff still wants to be seen as straight; so does Pete, though Pete is on the verge of coming out. Griff doesn't like being pressured. But when Pete is injured in a gay bashing, Griff is forced to decide on which side of the fence he must ultimately stand.

DEFYING GRAVITY is like one of those moralistic religious shows they used to show on Sunday mornings, mini-soap operas like "Insight" where average people found themselves facing difficult choices. Only in GRAVITY, religion is avoided and gay sex has been added. It is sincere. It is sweetly, naively philosophical in its morality. It is likable, but it is simplistic. It is about a man who wants to do the right thing, but has to muster up the moral courage to sacrifice his comfortable life in order to do it. DEFYING GRAVITY is vanilla, both sexually and dramatically. As Griff and Pete, Daniel Chilson and Don Handfield are boy-next-door handsome and kid brother cute. Their sex is PG rated. They are given a mutual best friend (Niklaus Lange) who is unmistakably straight to let us know that it is all right to be gay friendly. Griff's coming to terms with his sexuality is aided by a lesbian acquaintance (Linna Carter) who is black, to better identify being gay with being marginalized. It is all a bit too predictable.

Yet, the film is sincere and it is well acted, especially by Chilson who underplays his part with the right amount of repressed, middle-class indecisiveness. And the film's most honest revelation is noting that most great changes in life come after slow deliberation and soul searching.

DEFYING GRAVITY is feather weight, though it hardly defies gravity. But as it comfortably sets there taking up space, it is pleasant and inoffensive and delivers it message with utmost politeness. That may make it seem inconsequential, but since most gay films wallow in angry ranting or outrageous camp, GRAVITY's low-key thoughtfulness makes it a little bit different and a little bit special.