Customer Reviews

Circuit

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(12)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

CIRCUIT does not purport to be a total description of the Los Angeles gay population as some reviewers seem to believe and object. This film shows a very real segment of men whose lives ARE ruled by physical appearance, gym bodies, dance clubs, sexy clothes and drug abuse. 'Circuit' refers to the widespread gay parties that glorify the razzle dazzle of Dionysian sexuality - the White Party in Palm Springs, the Red Party, the Blue Party, etc. The story shows how a closeted cop from a small town ventures to West Hollywood, finds comradery in the freedom of life he has been repressing, and goes all the way with the extremes of the wild life, ending up with the sad side effects of overindulgence. No one here is preaching that this compulsive behaviour is THE way to live; the other people our cop encounters include men and women who live on the periphery of the party line and are tender, loving, caring 'normal' folk. What the writers and directors do examine here is just how fatal the wild life can become when the fear of aging, of no longer becoming the 'new sensation' in town, happens. There is a lot of in-club dancing accompanied by a lot of drug use and abuse. Yet in the end we have the opportunity of examining the Rake's Progress effects on all the characters who survive. The use of the 'video being made' within a film is very effective and the cast is eye candy and for the most part a fine group of actors. No need for accepting or rejecting this film as a statement more than an exploration of a facet of real life that gratefully is not a whole population.

The reviews for the movie, state that its terrible and projects the wrong image for the gay community. The truth is the circuit community is a LARGE part of the gay community, at least the gay male community. The images shown in Circuit as by and large truthful and unvarnished. Thousands upon Thousands of gay boys flock the parties all over the country. And while Circuit may show an extreme version of the events, they are nevertheless valid and accurate. I have literally seen people drop dead next to me from overdose of GHB and the other boys look and then keep dancing. The extensive 'partying' that surrounds those events is sad but its a fact that can not be overlooked not matter how much we might wish it to be otherwise.

This film should be taken for what it is a non-judgmental honest portrait of the circuit party lifestyle. Its not for everyone but its factual and true to life. Its part of our culture and we should not be afraid or ashamed of it.

Circuit was an enjoyable film. For most, will never see this side of the world and it allows you a view of a reality that is alien to most of us. The film quality was excellant and the acting was good. It was hopeful, dark and a real wake up call about how things can get out of control fast. I was engaged by the leads and felt the story was exceptional. This is an adult film because of the Sex, Drugs, partial nudity and rubber body parts that are shown. I gave it four stars only because it starts out a tad bit cheesy however it improves quickly. It is a good addition to your video collection.

I really enjoyed this film.
Great music, good looking guys, lots of club scenes etc.
BUT... more importantly, the film shows the story of an ex-cop, who was forced to leave his job becuase he is gay. He moves to LA, and becomes immersed in gay culture in a heavy way.
Drugs, promiscuous sex and all night partying - every night.
It starts to take its toll.
Its an interesting look at a particular group of gay men (Circuit boys) and the effect the drugs etc have on their lives.
The films not without emotion, and is acted well; a good script and delivers an important message.
Excellent extras as well which includes lots of deleted scenes.

The gentically perfect. Love them, hate them. Envy them, want to be them, and yet, not be them. These are guy's that refelect effortless confidence. A kind of engery that comes to men who are very good looking or seldom filled with self doubt, as Dennis Lehane wrote in Mystic River. All of these guys are in this film and every TV show and film made. The ones who make the money, the ones teenage boys and girls put on their walls, are perfect in face and body. Circuit tries to show that this life, while sexually free of any morals, can be as empty as the space between the Earth and the moon. Still, they choose to live this life and I am sometimes jealous I cannot (me of no high cheekbones or flat chest and stomach. I'm just normal, which means I write about this than live it). I was surprised at how good the film is, even if the story is a little flat. Jonthan Wade Drahos, an almost bizarre version of Peirce Brosnan, Andre Khabbazi, Brian Lane Green and Daniel Kucan do fairly well with the thin material given, and all are very, very, very beautiful. But the film wanders too much, trying to tie all stories together, while hoping to make a point. And William Katt and Karen Allen, well, both of them look sort of out place in the film. But, in the end, who is the audience for this film? Even before I saw this, I was aware that this life is very self-destructive. And the Circuit queens will tell you that drugs are the only thing that makes sex interesting (one of my friends told me that if you don't do drugs, circuit parties are essentially boring. Nice). It's worth a look, but it's message is as mixed up as drug crazed pretty boys.

What do you get when you cross realism with an ultra-campy script and lots of dancing, half-naked people? Well, the answer to this question is "Circuit," but if you also said "Glitter," and/or "Showgirls" you are also correct. "Circuit" is the sophomore effort of former Playgirl Man-of-the Year turned film director, Dirk Shafer, who previously directed a small 'mockumentary' called "Man of the Year," which discussed his trials and tribulations of being the object of desire among Playgirl's women readers, although he is gay.

Covering a series of 'circuit' parties in Southern California, "Circuit" covers the life of a small-town gay cop named John (played by Jonathan Wade-Drahos, who looks amazingly like Pierce Brosnan) who moves to Los Angeles in order to live a much more open life. Moving to Los Angeles, John meets up with his cousin Tad, an amateur filmmaker who is filming a documentary on attitudes and life on the circuit party scene.

While in Los Angeles, John finds himself delving in the decadent lifestyle common among many in the circuit scene. From drug use to hustling, John gets acquainted with the help of new found friend and hustler Hector (Andre Khabbazi) which allows the viewer to see changes in his character. With a slew of other forgettable characters, the film progresses somewhat like a crash and burn sequence where we see the principle character try to discover himself through the means of reinvention only to begin a recovery of his former self in order to live a more meaningful life with someone who can love him for himself and not for his appearance.

While many characters such as Bobby (Paul Lekakis) an HIV+ dancer who has little ambition in life and Gino (played by William Katt of the television cult classic "The Greatest American Hero") do add some substance to this film, "Circuit" fails in many attempts to capture many aspects that makes it a stand out as a realistic film. Due to a small budget, a cast of mainly amateur actors, and a very campy, and a predictable script, "Circuit" succumbs to these factors. I must admit that Shafer does a good job of covering drug use (the close-up, rotational views of a Special K bottle reminds me of Spanish director Pedro Almodovar's internal close-ups of normal, everyday objects in his films), but the film's overall art direction, the poor quality of the film used, the sappy selection of dance songs used throughout the film (except for Taylor Dayne's song, where are club legends such as Victor Calderone, Junior Vasquez, Thunderpuss, and Peter Rauhofer on this soundtrack?) and the short coverage of the actual party circuit causes the film to fizzle before its' time is up.

Although most of the actors are not Oscar-calibre thespians, four performances stand out in the film. Veteran actors William Katt and Nancy Allen (they had previously worked together in the horror classic "Carrie") are always great together, especially Katt who plays a seedy circuit party organizer/drug dealer. Paul Lekakis' character of Bobby does have some highpoints in the film, however the true standout in this film is Andre Khabbazi. As Hector, Khabbazi truly has a wide range of emotions that indicate that he has had some extensive dramatic training, and his overall appearance validates the film's message that in the 'circuit' beauty is everything.

The 'circuit' might be considered the "Superbowl for gay men," but due to the above factors, "Circuit" the film is like the "Showgirls for gay men." Campy, predictable, weak script, and plenty of overacting, especially by Daniel Kucan ("Tad"), "Circuit" is a film that hits and misses not only when it comes to quality, independent filmmaking, but also when covering today's party/circuit scene. Again, I give the director and his team credit for some creative camera angles, some accuracy in covering the theme, and providing viewers with a morale, but "Circuit" falls short of what many encounter after a weekend of hard partying.

Much like Stuart Halpern's "When Boys Fly", "Circuit" directed by Playgirl centerfold-turned-director Dirk Shafer, tells the story of the underground circuit parties. But whereas "When Boys Fly" achieves as a documentary, "Circuit" falls a bit short, but is still quite entertaining as a fictional account. Most critics agreed the films downfall was gratuitous flesh, flat dialogue, and a thin storyline but were they really expecting Oscar material? This is a circuit party! Bring on the glamour boys and pulsating music for god's sake! Who wants to watch a film with average "joes" spewing Shakespeare and listening to classical music? Not me. I'm here to have fun!

Jonathan Wade Drahos plays Johnny, who comes to Los Angeles as a former police officer who was being harassed due to his lifestyle. His captain tells him he should move to somewhere more accepting, so off he goes to West Hollywood to stay with his cousin Tad (Daniel Kucan). Tad is an aspiring filmmaker who's shooting a documentary about the "circuit," and has been getting financed from a sleazy party producer (William Katt). It's not long and Johnny has found his own place, and eventually meets up with an aging male hustler Hector (Andre Khabbazi) who introduces him to drugs, music and circuit parties. Johnny is resistant at first but before you can say, "lets dance", Johnny is doing drugs, shooting steroids and is dressing like a club kid. Enter Nina (Kiersten Warren), a stand up comic and ex-girlfriend of Johnny's. He runs into her at a club and offers her a place to stay. It doesn't take long and she sees what's happening to Johnny and her warnings fall on deaf ears and it isn't until a tragic event that Johnny finally wakes up from this nightmare world.

Some cameos round the film out with Nancy Allen as a sympathetic cashier at the parties who helps Tad, Jim J. Bullock as a washed up movie star, and a performance by Paul Lekakis, remember the dance single "Boom Boom Boom (Let's Go Back to My Room)? Paul plays an exotic dancer/performer Bobby, who is living with AIDS and who takes penis-enlarging injections before he performs. Can you say "ouch"! This was his first film I believe and he does a fine job. But the one standout is Hector. Totally obsessed with his looks, he gets cheekbone implants and at one point makes love to himself in a mirror; he portrays a sad and troubled soul.

Shafer does manage to include some interesting camera effects, hallucinatory visions, half-naked men grinding on the dance floor, and some actual scenes from various circuit parties. DJ Tony Moran and Centaur Entertainment's Nick DiBlase provide the pulsating soundtrack, which I enjoyed as well and is available on disc. Yes, the film is filled with hot men, plenty of gratuitous nudity, drugs, and may be thin on story and dialogue, but just kick back and take if for what its worth, it's a fun, fleshy ride. Welcome to the world of the circuit parties!

I found this film very moving. The viewer from San Diego completely missed the point. The film does NOT celebrate drugs and narcissism but, rather, shows how deadly these vices can be. It's a wake-up call to the gay community. Circuit parties are not portrayed as glamorous by any stretch of the word. I loved the characters and found all of the actors better-than-average.

Dirk Schaefer's independent film examining the circuit party life in southern Califronia has had a pretty bad critical reputation, but the DVD version of it with the director's cut on it certainly deserves a look. At the core of the film is a very fine performance by Andre Khabbazi as a hardboiled gay hustler secretly terrified to find himself less wanted as he ages, a performance so strong that it puts over just about every scene Khabbazi is in. The film suffers mightily from having too many characters with subplots that never become satsifactorily explored, and (worst of all) from a clichéd happy ending that allows its hero, a former policeman seduced by the circuit life, to discover redemption via true love and community. Schaefer also seems as if he wanted to tell an old-fashioned sensationalistic exposé of the decadence of circuit life, but was convinced somehow to show the positive aspects of circuit life as well (i.e. that for many gay men it offers an outlet for pleasure and a chance to find a sense of community with one another). While the latter are undoubtedly true, Schaefer shows these aspects in such a halfhearted way so as to make the film seem ultimately more confused than complex. The performances also vary tremednously. Some of the more experimental sequences in the film work very well (such as a fine bit with a tweaked-out Khabbazi before a mirror); others are ultimately unsuccessful.

circuit is definetly a cult modern gay film.
it has been forbidden in my country lebanon (i bought it twice from amazon) but i finally managed to watch it and i don't regret it at all.
i like dancing and beautifull bodies.in "circuit" there are great dancing and amazing bodies despite strong drug abuse wich i don't like or approve.i mean that i have been many times in ACID (barely the only gay club in lebanon) and i assisted many parties but they were never "red" neither "white".so, i can't say if i will enter the universe of circuit parties including drug adventures.
anyway,"circuit" has a very seductive atmosphere and you can't simply stop the rythm of action wich is going in crescendo.in fact,we know how much gay men suffer from beeing unaccepted and even pushed away or humiliated."circuit"describes some of the consequences for that social negative attitude because social refusal and violence can lead gay men to seek for extreme measures to compensate their lonliness,their fear and their desperate need for love and acceptance.at the end they just fly away searching for few moments of happiness;they simply become angels before they fall again and hurt themselves."circuit"explore some of these destinies like becomig hustlers ,models fanatic of plastic surgery ,sportive men addicted to steroids or dancers abusing drugs.
for that psychological and profound analysis,"circuit" despite its drama is a must.