Matrixiole Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.

Plustown A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

Allison Davies The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Quiet Muffin This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

reviewerinoimdbino I'm very glad I watched this, because I had been somewhat leery due to the premise. I expected a low-budget alternative movie with strained, over-the-top comedy, and that's not what you get. This is a good-looking, sophisticated movie with an incredible depth of talent in the cast--virtually all of whom are people you've seen and enjoyed in other projects. The movie is not about the wild and wacky results of taking a "straight pill." It's a portrait of straight men and women seeking to connect and having their hearts broken. I felt most moved for our hero's straight friend. This movie still qualifies as a comedy due to the overall atmosphere, the dialogue, and the actors' comedy chops, but it's also a character study.

moonspinner55 Hapless 33-year-old gay man with only a few friends volunteers to take a new drug which promises to make him heterosexual. The trouble with this premise is, the central character (inhibited and wounded) would be unhappy in any sexual environment, either with a woman or another man. Writer-director John Baumgartner doesn't seem to take this into consideration, and so puts our hero into uncomfortable scenes such as the one where he gets intimate with a female co-worker (who is seen as desperate and deluded). Low-budget and self-conscious, the picture doesn't even have the energy to hint at any intriguing ideas other than straight-vs.-gay. Baumgartner sees the casual indifference of the bar crowds and gives us a glimpse of the man's office job and his lonely life, but the main issue ("What would life be like if I were straight?") is too facile and obvious as a story-hook. Why not make the guy a bigot who is forced to take a gay pill? The point made here is strictly a dead-end one, made even worse by one-dimensional people who don't merit much interest. * from ****

B24 Caught this film on cable TV by chance and, by waiting through the first thirty minutes for something interesting to develop, enjoyed it thoroughly.At first glance or upon first contemplating the underlying notion that Tim's angst was perhaps the result of some sort of malady for which there was a "cure," the unsuspecting viewer is drawn into a plot that seems thin but then becomes increasingly complex as new characters enter on the scene. What holds this together so well are clever asides in which one is clued into what's really happening or what the characters are really thinking. While that device may seem trite or forced in other films, it works well in this one.What I liked best about this "hard pill" was how believable seemingly oddball characters could be rendered without much bitterness or conflict, yet how engaging the plot could be -- wondering all the while how things would turn out. The ending was maybe a little too predictable based on early adumbration, but fine acting from a cast of virtual unknowns carries the day.I suppose there is no need to label these comments as containing a true "spoiler," but I need to mention that one leaves this movie with a feeling that everyone received their just deserts.No dessert needed.

CIMC If there was a pill that would change gays into straight, would you take it? If so, what would the effects be? Those are two of the pertinent questions in the excellent sci-fi flic Hard Pill. Tim (Jonathan Slavin) is a sad little cubicle monkey. His personal life is a disaster. He pines for guys he doesn't seem to have a chance with, mostly because they are straight or straight- ish anyway. This is a point made clear by his coworker Joey (Scotch Ellis Loring) when he says that Tim has "a sea of fags at his disposal and he stays home with a straight man." Nowhere is Tim's social life more depressing than when he practically begs his straight friend Don (Mike Begovich) to let Tim fellate him ("Can't we ever just watch a movie?" Don asks?). As Tim's personal life is defined each of the cast is introduced with a graphic that works as a spectrum of sexuality. It's an interesting and clever idea to show the shades of gay and straight in each character though it wears out its welcome a bit by the time the entire cast is introduced.The film uses "street interviews" with various folks to introduce a new controversy involving a pill intended to provide an opportunity for homosexuals to go hetero by making a chemical change in the brain. One of the best one-liners in the film has a Christian fundamentalist making a selectively supportive comment about the drug. With Tim feeling that, "The only currency in the gay world is being attractive," he signs up for the human trials for the drug. What Tim doesn't seem to realize is that each of his friends and neighbors has problems as bad or worse than his own, they just have ways to deal. Sally (Susan Slome) covets Tim but continues an unfulfilled flirtation with a coworker. Joey throws his balls between more legs than the Harlem Globetrotters but he lacks an emotionally satisfying relationship. Don's relationship is contingent on his continuing use of antidepressants. It's to the credit of writer/director John Baumgartner that these subplots are so well developed without sacrificing the central story or adding superfluity.When Tim begins using the pill it's not just his world that changes. Each person has a place they fill in others' lives and when one tries to change something so fundamental to their own self it goes without saying that there be effects on their relationships with others. The film's major success is in exploring these results. After a first straight screw that he apparently regrets, Tim finds himself attracted to Tanya (Jennifer Elise Cox) with results transcending the chemically dependent nature of their mutual attraction. Slavin's excellent performance makes Tim a sympathetic anti-hero. Despite Tim's consistent aversion to sensible solutions for his problems, one can't help but root for him to succeed, even if it's the result decidedly unsympathetic actions on his part.Baumgartner's superb story offers a lot to viewers beyond just the visual story and fine performances from the cast. Musings about the effects of chemical personalities are as relevant to the real world as they are in Hard Pill speculative Los Angeles. The gradation of sexuality is a path rarely explored but it's done well here with the help of not only a graphic, but a healthy dose of remarkably non-exploitive skin. Throw in a brief yet profound argument for gay marriage and you've got yourself one hell of a movie. Enjoy.