aGLIFF 2011, Dispatch #4: I Am Holding Hands With a Longhorn

aGLIFF was surprisingly uncrowded on Saturday. Not that this is a bad thing at all -- there were no long lines for most films, and I had no trouble finding a good seat in any of the five (yes -- five!) screenings I attended. And the crowds were as enthusiastic as ever. (I attribute much of the enthusiasm to the cheerful pre-show greetings from two well-known supporters of the LGBT community, Rick Perry and Michele Bachmann.)

My first screening of the day was I Am, a moving and intensely personal documentary that chronicles the LGBT community's struggles for acceptance in India. After an 11-year absence, director Sonali Gulati returns to Delhi to re-open her family home, which has been empty since her mother's death. Gulati regrets never coming out as a lesbian to her mother. While in India, she interviews other gay and lesbian Indians and their families about their experiences, and the resulting film is a painful reminder that homosexuality still is strongly condemned in many cultures.  I Am is a very well made and powerful movie that captures a rarely seen side of Indian society.

Next up was Buffering, a film that could not be more different from I Am. A farcical sex romp about a young gay British couple deeply in debt, Buffering reminds us how money -- specifically, lack thereof -- can inspire many people to do just about anything to pay their bills. Seb (Alex Anthony) and Aaron (Conner Mckenzy) lead a quiet life in English suburbia until monetary woes lead Aaron to film the couple's sexual encounters and launch a website featuring the films, all without telling Seb. When Seb discovers the ploy, he's horrified -- that is, until he sees the profit potential, and soon enough the two begin producing ever wilder (and more lucrative) videos.

Buffering is a likeable and often uproariously funny film, virtually depth-free but nonetheless entertaining. The sex scenes are a hoot, combining ludicrously twisted forms of intimacy with blatantly commercial motives.

Following Buffering was the decidedly more serious documentary Holding Hands, which chronicles an Australian gay couple's struggle to get past a brutal crime that changed their lives. On their way home from a club in Sydney, Craig and Shane are mugged; the mugging becomes a hate crime when their assailant brutally beats Craig. As bad as the beating is, the callous indifference of Craig's family and the local police is far worse.  While Holding Hands follows Craig's rocky road to physical and emotional recovery, it also follows the couple's ongoing and equally difficult battle to change how the police handle hate crimes.

Although I found Holding Hands very inspiring, it's a bit slow paced, bogging down in the unremarkable details of Craig and Shane's relationship when it should focus more on the larger issues of society's attitude toward hate crimes. But pacing aside, Holding Hands is a commendable effort worth watching, as it explores the very personal impact of a very widespread problem.

Gun Hill Road is the most mainstream movie I saw on Saturday, at least in terms of cast and structure. When ex-con Enrique (Esai Morales) returns to his Bronx home after a three-year prison sentence, he discovers that his son, Michael (Harmony Santana) is undergoing a gender transformation and living a double life, identifying as Vanessa to his friends. The household erupts as the wholly intolerant Enrique tries to stop Michael/Vanessa's inevitable transformation. To further complicate matters, Enrique's mostly estranged wife, Angela (Judy Reyes of Scrubs), fully supports Michael/Vanessa and is fiercely protective of her child. Faced with a dying marriage, a son he doesn't understand, and the family's poverty, Enrique soon returns to his criminal ways.

Gun Hill Road is one of those noble films I wish were slightly better; it's not a bad movie, but its predictable story and sometimes obvious dialogue detract from its gritty urban beauty, fine acting and important themes of tolerance and understanding. The movie is worth seeing for the powerhouse performance from newcomer Santana, whose unsettling portrayal of the tortured Michael/Vanessa is fearless, dead-on and unforgettable.

I finished the day with Longhorns (pictured at top), an unapologetically rowdy, silly, over-the-top romp that an aGLIFF staffer described to me beforehand as, ahem, "very gay." Uh, yes, Longhorns is indeed very gay, a bizarrely funny farce about perpetually randy University of Texas frat boys who can't seem to stay out of each other's pants. Set in 1982 Austin (but filmed entirely in California), Longhorns is the story of not-very-closeted freshman Kevin (Jacob Newton) and his roommate Justin (Kevin Held), who spend much of their time enjoying porn videos in their dorm room. Kevin meets sexy fellow student César (Derek Efrain Villanueva), and ... okay, I'll just stop here.  Longhorns has some sort of storyline involving relationships, a Texas ranch and English tutoring. But frankly, the movie exists mostly as an excuse to show us gay men flirting and removing their clothes. It plays like a parody of an early Eighties sex comedy, albeit one with no naked chicks.

This lack of artistry would be an unpardonable cinematic sin if Longhorns didn't shamelessly revel in its own ribald raison d'être, foregoing plot and character development for lowbrow sex comedy and ceaseless full montyism. Is Longhorns funny? Indeed it is. Is it a good movie? I can't say it is -- but it is entertaining, at least if you're in the mood for such silliness.  At risk of having to turn in my film critic badge, I'll grudgingly admit I enjoyed Longhorns as much as any film I saw all day.