Luster

Reminiscent – I was never part of that scene, but I recognise many of the situations. Funny – in the right places, and the few dark parts of the comedy are … appropriately dark. Quirky, and unexpectedly thoughtful – or thought-provoking, in not too deep a way. Some of it's emotionally symbolic, which sounds a bit arty but it's not; it's down-to-earth.

Luster is not all of those things at once in any one part of the film, nor should it be. It's a smart mix that's effectively packaged. More than OK, I felt positively good after watching it.

There's some caricature, and that's expected, but it's fitting. The characters' emotions are totally human. The timeline is enjoyably ridiculous, but I don't imagine for a moment that this was intended to be realistic. Cramming the whole thing into a single weekend is part of the essence of what makes the package effective. I shan't spoil the plot by commenting on the other essential parts.

Incidentally, it's not the orgy that's pictured on the cover (I never expected it to be – a friend recommended the movie over a decade ago).

A memorable film that I'll keep, and certainly watch again, more than once. For that alone, I want to give it 8/10.

Some of it's 9/10. Overall, it's a 7 – take your time, set aside any preconceptions, watch and enjoy.

LUSTER is a winsome, engaging look back at a time in the early 1990s when queer nonchalance began to overtake gay pride for the first time.

Something like an early Gregg Araki film (although less angry and more light-hearted), LUSTER is a funny, sexy, and a generally fast-moving look at the early Nineties from the not-too-distant perspective of the early Twenty-first century. It's hardly a classic, and hardly the kind of film that will stay with a person as the years go by, but the film's entirely adorable actors and characters help make this sweet and sexy film very much a worthwhile experience. At least it seems that way for a gay audience looking for something beyond the usual post-Queer milquetoast like IN AND OUT or WILL AND GRACE..

This is was on a list of gay films I wanted to see and wouldn't you know it. I came upon it on Saturday night - just like that. I thought it was a fun movie. I think a lot of people won't like it because it obviously didn't have a high budget and didn't have all the Hollywood pizazz that you get from a Hollywood blockbuster.

I thought the title character finally learned his lesson at the end, because of the end. That's all I will say. The nudity of course didn't bother me. But I thought the final nude scene was fantastic. This guy didn't look like he had a nice body with his cloths on (you know skater boy body), but when he took off his clothes and did the 360 view of his body. My goodness. Got me hot!!!!!!!! Trust me, you will love this movie. Rent it. Buy it. Or wait - it will be on cable again this week.

I admire Everett Lewis greatly - there are too few auteurs like him making heartfelt realistically emotionally painful queer movies. LUSTER clearly warns us that in our lives (love) and everything that glitters is not gold".

The low budget nature of the film only reinforces the aesthetics. The cast is good and touching, the direction solid and the dialogue pacy and whilst it might sound corny in places - we've all thought or said the same lines.

That Everett keeps making films, keeps trying to challenge our lives should be commended.....were the studios more bold to drop big cash into his pocket I have no doubt that he could make and dazzle us all with a film as successful as MILK....thank god for queer film makers like EL....more please.

I knew this was going to be a `cool' flick from the opening credits that just list the first names of the cast and crew, but it isn't without its flaws as well. Namely some campy acting, a customer in a record store squealing for Madonna, to numerous subplots that tend to bring down the film as well as audio that tends to be muffled in spots. But overall the more it went on the more I accepted and enjoyed these vagabonds and the flaws found within.

The story centers around a punky, skateboard, party goer, poet, named Jackson (Justin Herwick), who works at a record shop called, how appropriate, `No Life'. After waking up from the aftermath of an orgy he inquires about a boy who was there, Billy (Jonah Blechman) with whom he develops an infatuation for and decides to track down. Who wouldn't! He's a cutey but he he too has some flaws. Needless to say Billy is the boy toy of a record mogel played by Willie Garson (Sarah Jessica Parker's gay friend Stanford on Sex and the City) who gets off on getting beat up. It does get a bit ugly and some people might not like the S&M. Throw in Jackson's hunky cousin Jed(Barry Wyatt), a clean cut collegiate type customer at the store (Sean Thibodeau) who's in love with Jackson, a lesbian friend named Alyssa (Pamela Gidley) who screws around with Jed and is later found out by her lover, and you get a smorgasboard of a soap opera. The one character I really wish had been more developed and with whom I felt something towards was Jackson's supposedly straight boss and friend at the record shop, Sam (Shane Powers). He gives a real emotional performance at the end and his story only scratched the surface. The other performances are hit and miss. Sometimes they're great and then at other times it seems campy and silly. It's a real mixed bag along with the storylines. Take it for what it's worth though and you'll have fun with these characters, their loves, lusts, and losses. The DVD is stereo and the transfer is a bit grainy but it only adds to the seediness of the tale. I didn't expect much more from a low budget `indie' and it also includes a short documentary with the director and a film commentary and trailers for other TLA releases.

Note: plenty of full frontal nudity From TLA Releasing