I Want Your Love

I first caught sight of this film in Time Out magazine... where it got good reviews. I was intrigued that Peccadillo Pictures, famous for LGBT film, had teamed up with Naked Sword, a pornography company to produce it.

I'm always reluctant to buy gay film... the majority of the time they bore me and depend on sex and six packs to maintain the viewers interest. 'I Want Your Love' was a surprisingly perceptive take on gay life in San Fransisco. The sex was natural and the films part improvisation made it feel like a realistic view into the characters lives. The film made no apology for its approach to explicit gay sex, but interestingly its association with Naked Sword seemed to be kept fairly low key on the film's cover. It was obvious that the film wanted to be taken seriously.

However, despite the film trying to deliver it failed to maintain my interest. The characters aren't that interesting to watch and their lives are fairly mundane. It affirms my thoughts about films that contain explicit sex. Sex generally replaces more subtle, interesting and intelligent portrayals of emotion that help us to connect with a character. Therefore sex, unless used well, acts as more of a distraction from what the film is actually about.

If you're looking for serious gay cinema learn from some of the most successful gay films ever made and avoid explicit content.

If you're going to watch this movie expecting a love story, then don't, because it is not.

This is the story of a man suffering from disillusion, a man facing his own failures, regrets and wrong choices. It's the story of a man who has to admit defeat and who regrets his choices. He has to leave the city, going back to his parents because he has to go back, not because he wants to, as going on is not an option.

The last thing left to him is going out with a bang. There is a party, there is a lot of sex. He ends up taking part in neither, and there is no bang. There isn't even a sizzle. There is just a sad weariness, and it's the main feeling of the whole film. No one even notices his absence, the scene he has loved so much and has to leave behind just spits him out like an old chewing gum and forgets about him. There is nothing bittersweet about it. It's just bleak.

This movie is not a gay love story, it's a movie with gay characters. It's full of sex, heads on and no filters, but the general depressing atmosphere of failure would be the same without the sex, and the film would hardly change if the explicit sex scenes were replaced by a fade-to-black.

First, I have to admit my surprise at the graphic sex scenes in this movie. I really didn't expect that and although I'm not a prude by any stretch of the imagination, I felt like they detracted from the story instead of adding to it because when sex is shown in an explicit way, it becomes only about that. I should have guessed from seeing Naked Sword in the opening credits but I figured they could produce something else than adult flicks.

This felt to me like a porn disguised as an artsy movie. And there is certainly nothing wrong with that. This said, I really didn't like it at all. But first, the strong point is that the acting is quite good, surprisingly so I must say. All the while, I expected the plot to get to a higher state of interest but that was in vain which brings me to the worst trait of this film.

Without a good story, a movie can't be anything but an exercise in futility. Where is the drama? The heart of the matter? All I saw were huge closeups and inane dialogue leading nowhere. This felt like the writer/director had no idea where to go and how to get there. Nothing really made sense in terms of action because I never felt like the character were clearly defined even though as I said, the actors did a good job but with very little substance.

I would have hoped for a better story to let them shine but all we got were bland concepts and pretentious angst which were not well explained nor expressed on the screen. This felt like a waste of time just watching a bunch of characters trying to come up with the something, anything to retain our interest.

I have to say, I could only award this 2 stars and it's only because the acting worked. But as for the actual purpose of doing this movie, I see no message, no story arc or purpose. I gained nothing from viewing and I actually forgot what happened as soon as I watched because it all felt so disposable and pointless.

It's a miss in my book, not even if you like sex really explicit and in your face. There are great porn movies for that. This is like a hybrid that doesn't know what it wants to say or how it wants to show it. Huge disappointment and no, I don't recommend it to anyone.

Pretentious!!! This beautifully shot bucket of animal muck screams pretentious from afar. I should have seen it from a mile. Shame on me.

Puh-leeeese - graphic sex scenes? Close ups, shots of happy endings, full on anal, interracial hook-ups? Come oh-n, gurl! Can we have some substance in a form different than body fluids?

Pseudo-philosophical ramblings, cool performance art kids, talking, talking, talking... On top of that the cast is purposefully unattractive, I'm going soft just at a sheer thought of their appearance. It's not even a mixed bag, they're all fugly hands down.

Plus the obligatory, early morning goodbye scene... and too-cool, hipster indie music. No, I'm not having it, nah, never. The director will most likely end up like the protagonist. Going back to his mum's basement flat or a cabin in the woods. To live with the deer.

If you like porn with a plot -- I do! -- then take a look at this movie. I was expecting an NC17 kind of movie, but when you include cum shots, sorry in my book that crosses over to porn. In that category, it might have been a 6 or 7 except for one small problem.

I am a typical American in very few ways, but I really, really, really do not like point in time stories with no beginning, climax or end. I think of this as a European / International genre. I always feel cheated because just when I am engaging with the characters -- oops its over.

Now, if you like this type of story and you also like porn with a plot, this movie will probably "WOW" you...

My rating system: 10-The Perfect Movie 9-I will watch it over and over again 8-Ther is something special about this movie 7-Well above average 6-slightly better than average 5-Average Movie (Worth Watching!) 4-Slightly Blow Average 3-Boring / Well Below Average 2-So Bad I Got Up and Walked Out 1-I cannot imagine anyone liking this movie