Jabberwocky
Frumious Bandersnatch
I thought this to be an interesting project for collin....he doesnt seem the type to do a role like this. for all the ladies out there and gay men this post is for you
A Home at the End of the World
MORE ENTERTAINMENT
Watch the trailer http://www.gay.com/entertainment/news/?sernum=775
(2004, USA)
120 minutes
Director: Michael Mayer
Starring: Colin Farrell ; Robin Wright Penn ; Dallas Roberts
The gay buddy film gets a one-of-a-kind treatment in this sensitive, literate adaptation of the sublime novel by Michael Cunningham ("The Hours"). Cunningham adapted his tale of two young best friends, Bobby and Jonathan, who grow up experimenting with sex and drugs in late-1970s Cleveland before parting ways in the '80s. Jonathan (played as an adult by Dallas Roberts) makes a life as a gay man in the East Village sharing an apartment and aspects of an emotional life with the free-spirited Clare (Robin Wright Penn). Naive, almost simple Bobby (played as an adult by Colin Farrell), lost without a family after Jonathan's parents relocate to Arizona, follows Jonathan years later to the city. What transpires is an odyssey of human emotion and a chronicle of a time, as Jonathan, Bobby and Clare attempt to create a family that suits their varying emotional needs.
It's a character-dependent story, and the actors and first-time director Michael Mayer are up to the task. The casting is stellar: The film opens in 1967 with Bobby as a 9-year-old in awe of his hippie older brother, who teaches the youngster the purity of consensual sex and the pleasures of windowpane acid. Young Bobby survives his brother (who is killed in a freak accident), his mother and, later, his father. As a teen with a mullet and a mellow attitude, he befriends Jonathan, a gawky but smart, sensitive high schooler. The film creates a believable pairing of two friends who find what they need in each other. For Bobby, it's the warm home life created by Jonathan's mother, Alice (a terrific turn by Sissy Spacek). For Jonathan, Bobby's free-spirited, open demeanor and casualness about his sexuality prove an attraction.
Cunningham and Mayer convey the developing relationships in many enchanting moments, such as Bobby inviting Alice to smoke a joint with the boys. Spacek is a wonder to watch as she brings to life Alice's subtle joy at discovering her own boldness; meanwhile, her son's discomfort and disbelief is just as incisive. It's a profound, lyrical moment that shapes so much of the dynamics that follow.
Triangles continue to pull at the central relationship from that moment on. After the adult Bobby arrives in New York City (and Colin Farrell's subtlety and skill is a revelation in the film), his presence, although welcomed by Jonathan, rocks the delicate balance Jonathan has established with friend and roommate Clare. The two have even talked about having a child together. But Clare and Bobby fall into a sexual relationship, with Jonathan losing his position as the man -- however platonic -- in Clare's life. The complexity of the characters and their relationships could have easily become tired cliches in less-accomplished hands. But in this film, nothing is predicable, and each character's journey feels somehow right. Even when the specter of AIDS rears its head, it does so without heavy-handedness, which makes the inevitability all the more poignant.
Cunningham is a writer who deserves credit for his fully fleshed-out and challenging female characters, and Wright Penn handles the role of Clare with a beautiful mix of guarded sexuality and steely nonconformity. (One can imagine the simplistic "fag hag" that might have emerged from a less sophisticated film.) Clare realizes what she's been missing when Bobby enters the picture. As much as she loves Jonathan, she wants a complete relationship. Despite Bobby's apparent bisexuality, Clare eventually realizes the bond between the men -- sexual or otherwise -- is too strong for three to share.
But they do try, gamely. After Clare has Bobby's child, the three forge a unique family in a beautiful old farmhouse in upstate New York (Clare conveniently has a trust fund). With gorgeous cinematography and music, the film succeeds in creating a world within a world, a place that the three characters have dared to imagine for themselves. But it's hardly idyllic, and the film doesn't sugarcoat the emotional highs and lows of such a challenging arrangement. I found the ending a bit too convenient and tidy, but this does allow for the film's most poignant -- and unsentimental -- scenes as Jonathan and Bobby, alone in winter, come full circle in their relationship.
Some may find "A Home at the End of the World" a little sweet; some may find it not sexual enough (Colin Farrell's full-frontal shot was famously excised from the final cut). But it's one of the rare films that dares to examine the relationship between two men in all its complexity: sexually and emotionally, as rivals and as brothers. "A Home at the End of the World" delivers a wealth of literate, sharp dialogue, first-rate ensemble acting, attention to detail and beautifully crafted moments, which makes it a joy to spend 90 minutes in the characters' worlds. It's a generous gift of a film that lingers in the memory, much like the rich novel that spawned it.
-- Loren King
A Home at the End of the World
MORE ENTERTAINMENT
Watch the trailer http://www.gay.com/entertainment/news/?sernum=775
(2004, USA)
120 minutes
Director: Michael Mayer
Starring: Colin Farrell ; Robin Wright Penn ; Dallas Roberts
The gay buddy film gets a one-of-a-kind treatment in this sensitive, literate adaptation of the sublime novel by Michael Cunningham ("The Hours"). Cunningham adapted his tale of two young best friends, Bobby and Jonathan, who grow up experimenting with sex and drugs in late-1970s Cleveland before parting ways in the '80s. Jonathan (played as an adult by Dallas Roberts) makes a life as a gay man in the East Village sharing an apartment and aspects of an emotional life with the free-spirited Clare (Robin Wright Penn). Naive, almost simple Bobby (played as an adult by Colin Farrell), lost without a family after Jonathan's parents relocate to Arizona, follows Jonathan years later to the city. What transpires is an odyssey of human emotion and a chronicle of a time, as Jonathan, Bobby and Clare attempt to create a family that suits their varying emotional needs.
It's a character-dependent story, and the actors and first-time director Michael Mayer are up to the task. The casting is stellar: The film opens in 1967 with Bobby as a 9-year-old in awe of his hippie older brother, who teaches the youngster the purity of consensual sex and the pleasures of windowpane acid. Young Bobby survives his brother (who is killed in a freak accident), his mother and, later, his father. As a teen with a mullet and a mellow attitude, he befriends Jonathan, a gawky but smart, sensitive high schooler. The film creates a believable pairing of two friends who find what they need in each other. For Bobby, it's the warm home life created by Jonathan's mother, Alice (a terrific turn by Sissy Spacek). For Jonathan, Bobby's free-spirited, open demeanor and casualness about his sexuality prove an attraction.
Cunningham and Mayer convey the developing relationships in many enchanting moments, such as Bobby inviting Alice to smoke a joint with the boys. Spacek is a wonder to watch as she brings to life Alice's subtle joy at discovering her own boldness; meanwhile, her son's discomfort and disbelief is just as incisive. It's a profound, lyrical moment that shapes so much of the dynamics that follow.
Triangles continue to pull at the central relationship from that moment on. After the adult Bobby arrives in New York City (and Colin Farrell's subtlety and skill is a revelation in the film), his presence, although welcomed by Jonathan, rocks the delicate balance Jonathan has established with friend and roommate Clare. The two have even talked about having a child together. But Clare and Bobby fall into a sexual relationship, with Jonathan losing his position as the man -- however platonic -- in Clare's life. The complexity of the characters and their relationships could have easily become tired cliches in less-accomplished hands. But in this film, nothing is predicable, and each character's journey feels somehow right. Even when the specter of AIDS rears its head, it does so without heavy-handedness, which makes the inevitability all the more poignant.
Cunningham is a writer who deserves credit for his fully fleshed-out and challenging female characters, and Wright Penn handles the role of Clare with a beautiful mix of guarded sexuality and steely nonconformity. (One can imagine the simplistic "fag hag" that might have emerged from a less sophisticated film.) Clare realizes what she's been missing when Bobby enters the picture. As much as she loves Jonathan, she wants a complete relationship. Despite Bobby's apparent bisexuality, Clare eventually realizes the bond between the men -- sexual or otherwise -- is too strong for three to share.
But they do try, gamely. After Clare has Bobby's child, the three forge a unique family in a beautiful old farmhouse in upstate New York (Clare conveniently has a trust fund). With gorgeous cinematography and music, the film succeeds in creating a world within a world, a place that the three characters have dared to imagine for themselves. But it's hardly idyllic, and the film doesn't sugarcoat the emotional highs and lows of such a challenging arrangement. I found the ending a bit too convenient and tidy, but this does allow for the film's most poignant -- and unsentimental -- scenes as Jonathan and Bobby, alone in winter, come full circle in their relationship.
Some may find "A Home at the End of the World" a little sweet; some may find it not sexual enough (Colin Farrell's full-frontal shot was famously excised from the final cut). But it's one of the rare films that dares to examine the relationship between two men in all its complexity: sexually and emotionally, as rivals and as brothers. "A Home at the End of the World" delivers a wealth of literate, sharp dialogue, first-rate ensemble acting, attention to detail and beautifully crafted moments, which makes it a joy to spend 90 minutes in the characters' worlds. It's a generous gift of a film that lingers in the memory, much like the rich novel that spawned it.
-- Loren King
