WillSushyMedia
This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.
Erica Derrick
By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.
Josephina
Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.
Suradit
The concept is potentially interesting. It is openly attempting to use the Back to the Future idea to take a gay college professor back to his high school days in a world where what's considered "normal" and "abnormal" is reversed. Unfortunately the potential is never realized.The actor playing the central character, Brad, is likable enough. He and the actors who play students do turn in reasonably good performances given the rather lame situations and dialogue they are forced to cope with. Conversely most of the actors playing adult characters seem to suffer from major aren't-we-being-too-silly over-acting syndrome and often sound like they're reading their lines from a teleprompter that isn't keeping up.The story blurb states that Brad "is tired of being different because he is gay" and that when he is transported back in time he becomes "almost normal." Obviously that's not what happens at all. Taking that view would seem to imply that being straight will forever be the preferred norm in any context.In the present day he, and many others, consider him to be different because he is gay. When he goes back to his high school days he becomes straight in a fantasy world where gay is normal. Once again he's different and regarded as "disgusting" & perverted and is the object of the same sort of bullying from his peers and negative reactions from adults that he experienced in the real world.It might have been a more interesting premise if he had retained his sexual orientation and found himself in a world where he was a normal gay kid and the victimized minority in his school were the heterosexuals. Finding himself in the majority and not having to deal with all the guilt and grief dumped on him could have been a genuine role-reversal with real implications as he decided whether the fantasy experience or his real life was preferable.In the end it's still mainly a mediocre high school coming-of-age drama. It's still the same normal kids and the same prejudiced community standards making life miserable for the minority, even if what defines normal and abnormal has changed.
reservoirclerk
This is obviously a film that comes from the heart. If only it had embraced its sincere dramatic elements more fully, it might have been a worthwhile outing. It does indeed suffer from many of the usual ailments associated with ultra-low-budget films (e.g. inexperienced actors, flimsy production design, gaping plot-holes, etc.) but the biggest problem by far is its insistence on assaulting the audience with copious amounts of tone deaf "wacky comedy". Just about every time the plot builds to a moment of poignancy, the script turns around and kicks itself in the balls with an ill-timed, unfunny joke. This, combined with the bargain basement production values, makes for a grating, nearly unbearable experience.
traveller004
I did like this movie. It had the benefit of never having been done before or since for that matter.In the primary story, a college professor, reaches his 40th birthday and is an unhappy single gay man. He goes home to help his family celebrate his parent's 45th wedding anniversary. During his visit he runs into old friends and old "not so" friends. Further reminded of his lonely life during this family gathering he gets into an accident and is somehow catapulted back into his teenage years.However all is not as it was. Now he is a world where men like men and girls like girls. His father is married to his otherworld neighbor husband and his mother is married to the otherworld wife. The star of the basketball team a guy he has always had a crush on meets and falls for him while his best friend, a girl shows up. For a brief shining moment he is "normal." However all things are not equal. In this world he discovers that he is not gay. He falls for his friend and they enter a tentative relationship that jeopardizes the love he had developed with his teen heartthrob.The movie was good but not as good as it could have been. From the technical side the movie's editing was not as good as it could have been and some of the actors had a habit of overplaying their roles. Still for what it was and is this movie is a ground breaker. It was a major shocker for me a gay man to see a high-school full of boys kissing each other and girls doing the same with their girl friends. For a moment I saw a world where I would have been "Almost Normal."
wally-46
I liked this film because it brought a unique view to prejudice and misunderstanding. Here being gay is normal and straight (breeders) is not. The length and breadth of this perspective makes it quite persuasive. You get a chance to see life from the other side. Brad is 40, gay and not partnered. On his way home to attend his dysfunctional parents' 45th Anniversary an accident lets him go back in time to high school where he sees himself as straight and "alone" in a school where all the "normal" boys like boys and the girls like girls. The first time in school he fancied the star of the basketball team and knew he couldn't get him. Now he's there and the star is hoping to make it with him. Brad couldn't fix a car or do lots of other "straight" appearing things. Now he can and it makes him different. He doesn't like it. He comes out as straight in high school during the second visit and is attacked for it. The boy he wanted as a boyfriend turns out to be his friend and the girl he wanted as a friend turns out to be his girlfriend. Handled with humor and sincerity by a cast that handled the job well.
