More Than Only

I stumbled upon this movie wile browsing on YouTube and thought I'd give it watch. As with many other low-budget gay movies, it did start off being cheesy and daytime soap-ish. But as the movie progressed the story was pretty sweet and endearing.

I was in love with both Justin and Michael; with Justin's persistent courting antic in getting Michael out for a date from the start might come across as being too sweet but I loved it.

As with many other Rom-Com's, I was expecting the drama or conflict to set in halfway and I was like wondering if this movie is for real? But the conflict did actually start about two-third into the movie.

But I was afraid that the conflict might leave me unsettled but as it turned out the movie ended the way I like it - a fantasy that I myself am not able to achieve but at least it gave me that escapism of true love.

In conclusion, I don't mind if the performances were wooden or not even Oscar-worthy for that matter. What matters was the warmth that it gave me.

More Than Only is like, if Mormons teamed up with Hallmark and made a gay baby. That's NOT a negative thing, it just is what it is. It's the clean-cut, child-like, sweet, (with one monstrous experience, told off-handedly) gay movie you could watch with your conservative parents. As long as your parents aren't like Justin's controlling, mentally abusive father.

My main criticism would be: the dialog and acting could have been a little more natural, but it was a story with a lot of heart which made up for its flaws.

I really wanted to like the story, in spite of its sophomoric contrivance, but the painful, wooden acting had me checking the progress bar again and again to see how much more there remained to endure. The characters don't engage in dialogue (or convincingly engage, period), they speechify *AT* one another. What might otherwise have been seamless, natural conversations were instead a litany of jarring transactions, periodically punctuated by the plot device of notebook scribbling accompanied by a preachy, anodyne voice-over. Given the commendable cinematography, the most enjoyable parts of the film are when the characters aren't saying anything.

My biggest criticism is that it's obvious this film was directed and written by a woman. The plot and interaction between the gay leads did not ring true. It felt like a Hallmark movie, and was not at all a realistic representation of young gay men falling in love.

I have viewed this film twice and it is still very watchable. I found the whole story very believable and quite touching. I am impressed by actors and production staff on all fronts. This is a very highly recommended film. Shame it is not on DVD