Customer Reviews

Dog Tags

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

Nate Merrit (Paul Preiss), a Marine just entering boot camp, is a superhero with an identity crisis: He's neither Superman nor Clark Kent. He's trapped by both a fiancee (Amy Lindsay) and a mother ("American Graffiti" Oscar-nominee Candy Clark) who don't love him for who he is, but for the the man they think he could be.

Andy Forte (the incredible, intense Bart Fletcher) is an equally lost "careless... carefree" loner who "loses track of time" and "can't remember whether something happened four minutes ago or forty years from now." Like Nate, Andy is on leave from his responsibilities when the two meet at an ill-fated "Straight Marine's First Gay Sex" porn shoot that neither thought they'd be involved with thanks to the maniupulation of its sleazy producer.

Nate, a wannabe mechanic, helps get Andy's car fixed and the two learn more than they should by eavesdropping on conversations each has with the white trash families they're trying to escape. Both have abandonment issues and while lost in dreams of the future fall in love with the idea of one another. The two can't change one another's destinies, though they both wind up choosing to be better men than they'd ever planned to be by wiping the slate clean.

A picture frame, a drive in movie theater screen, and a titular set of "Dog Tags" all fit into place in the haunting mystery of who Nate is, who his long lost father isn't, and the heartbreaking love story between a pair of stray animals.

Raised by his single, working mom, Nate never had a father, older sibling or close friend as a role model, and has been pretty much sleepwalking through his young life, doing what he was told but neer following through on anything he started. To make money to buy his older girlfriend a nice engagement ring, he enlists in the Marine Corp and, having completed basic training, has a leave to visit home before he takes combat training and gets deployed to Iraq. Hitchhiking to a jewelry store near the base, he gets detoured to a place where he meets up with Andy, a seemingly free spirited young gay man who is on a "road trip" to leave his responsibilities behind. The two misfits form a mutually supportive friendship, and travel together, visiting Andy's mother (a Hollywood actress turned recluse) and looking for Nate's father whom he has never met. Along the way, their friendship turns from platonic to a sexual affair, and the two take a big step toward becoming responsible adults.

This isn't really a gay romance, as the sexuality of the young men seems as confused as they are, meaning this might just be one side trip in their paths to adulthood. But it is a beautifully-told story of life and love, how loneliness and lack of direction can affect a person, and how much difference a good friend can make. Film is not rated, but would be a soft R for sexual content and rear nudity. DVD has director commentary and trailers. I give it 4 stars out of 5.

This is a story about a young man with an identity crisis who finds his father, with the help of an unlikely companion. Nate, played by gorgious hunk Paul Preiss, is a young man who finds little emotional support in the two women in his life---his trashy mother, and equally trashy and unfaithful girlfriend.

Coaxed by the women into becoming a Marine, he has just finished boot camp and headed for Iraq. Of course, before he goes he wants to meet his father, whom he knows nothing about. By mistake he meets goth gayboy Andy, played by Bart Fletcher, who is immediately infatuated with handsome masculine Nate, and latches onto him. Interestingly enough, Nate is has a baby boy, and Nate responds to the pair in a protective masculine way. Andy is also a empathetic confident, providing Nate with the emotional support he does not get from his mother or his girlfriend. So naturally emotionally wounded Nate connects with Andy, and they end up having sex.

This plot could have worked just as well if Andy had been an unwed mother, but the fact that he is a guy just adds a gay theme to a story that was not really about gay issues. Sadly, the script has some confusing twists that just do not make for a coherent satisfying story...which is why I gave this 3 stars.

For starter, the beginning sequense that seems to conflict with the rest of the story. And what were those gratitious sex scenes between Andy and someone other then Nate supposed to have been about? Also, Bart Fletcher is really a little too old to be playing a teenage Hollywood goth gay boy, and seems a lot older then 18 year old Nate.

It would be sweet to imagine that after connecting so intimately, and Andy being the perfect yang to Nate's masculine ying, that Andy would move in with Nate's mother and wait patiently for his man to come home from Iraq. If Nate was killed in combat, the beginning sequense---and perhaps the sex scenes with a guy resembling Nate---would have made some sense. But instead we get what we got, and thus a great potential is reduced to a somewhat confusing story.

However, there is enough substance to this movie, and some great performances---espcially by Paul Preiss---that with a little imagination you would find this movie to be a sweet, warm-hearted experience. But it is sad that you have to use your imagination to do so. But bad as most gay movies are, this one is really tolerable, if not enjoyable. Cautiously recommended, especially if you are bored with conventional "gay' movies.

From the title "Dog Tags," and the "come hither" photograph of sexy, alluring actor Paul Preiss above the words "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" on the DVD cover, you might initially think this film is a military variation on "Brokeback Mountain." It really is not. Dog tags are, of course, a military means of identification. The film tells the story of two guys, (Paul Preiss and the extremely sad eyed but strangely attractive Bart Fletcher) both dealing with indentity crisis; both struggling to find their place and purpose in the world.
Nate (Preiss) joins the Marines out of a sense of obligation to his mother (Candy Clark) and his fiancee (Amy Lindsay). She seems anxious for Nate to get her pregnant before he goes away to boot camp. Nate later discovers his fiancee is a deceitful tramp anxious to get pregnant by ANY man! He tells his mother, if he had known about her trampy ways, he wouldn't have signed up for the Marines. He also discoveres that his mother has lied to him for years about who his father is. By this time, Nate has met Andy, (Fletcher) who believes in the freedom of the open road, clean slates, and infinity. Nate considers going AWOL and running away with Andy.
Nate and Andy meet in the weirdest way. Their friendship begins when they escape from a Porno Producer named "Uncle Sam." Nate and Andy travel to meet Andy's mother Louise, a faded actress who is a marginally better mother than Nate's. Here, we learn that Andy has an infant son named Travis; the result of a drunken picnic with a girl he barely remembers, if at all. Andy doesn't want to be a dad, but he does feel a slight sense of responsibility. So Baby Travis joins Nate and Andy on their journey to find Nate's real dad... and themselves.
In a hotel room, Nate and Andy's relationship becomes briefly but intensely sexual. The next morning, Andy says, "there are no 'supposed tos'...What does Nate want to do?" Nate promptly joins Andy in the shower.
The editing makes the film difficult to follow.
At the end of the film, both Nate and Andy are on the road to responsibility; although obviously and sadly without each other. The DVD includes an Audio Commentary from writer/director Damion Dietz. Perhaps he explains here why he told the story the way he did, with such confusing editing. The movie is often very touching and moving, but the
viewer is left going back and forth; having to put too many pieces together.

This movie is "acceptable"... compared to some other gay movies out there it's almost Shakespearian (I'M TALKING ABOUT YOU "HELLBENT") but in no way "good"

Sometimes the cinematography was a bit hard to follow... I COULD understand what was happening (because I was gifted with an abnormally high amount of deductive reasoning skills) but there were odd moments that just... I have no idea what the hell the director was thinking. Most of the movie felt completely disjointed, as though on the way to the movie house some under paid intern had accidentally dropped the film into a wood chipper and then dug each piece out and painstakingly taped them back together.

Also, the story is a tad bit unbelievable. Why would a man with no homosexual inclinations jump into bed with another man and start making out (don't get your hopes up... one kiss and they cut to the next scene) it makes no form of logical sense. And why was there a baby? What the hell happened? What is going on?!? Why even bring in all of these ridiculous plot points if they will NEVER be explored?

*sigh* It's sad that this movie was so awful because the premise had the potential to be sooooo good. A lower class, disillusioned soldier has a chance meeting with an upper class, disillusioned rebel wherein they begin to explore the depths of their sexuality, emotions, lives, and the boundaries of their existence... but no.

Some reviewers here have complained about the dvd jacket being a bit misleading, and maybe so. Still, I found Dog Tags to be a wonderful independent movie, of good caliber in its making, and engaging in its story. The coming together of these two very different guys sets the stage for a story about facing one's need to change life and the reasons why the change is needed. Most of the story only covers a period of a few days, but the emotions explored and the self-discovery made left me with a real caring for both of the main characters, and a sense of hope that even through disappointment and some loss, moving ahead with the future is promising. The musical soundtrack on this film is also quite enjoyable.

This film is not about "don't ask, don't tell" or about a gay romance. It is about fatherhood -- about two men, one with a need to know his biological father and the other with a need to become a nurturing father. Each of them also has strengths. They develop a friendship that allows each to give to the other what he needs. As other reviwers have noted, this film is confusing because of the editing. I recommend watching the film and then rewatching it listening to the director's commentary.

For anyone who has had issues in a father-son relationship, this film is a punch in the gut. I strongly recommend it.

I rented this rather than bought it, and personally I'm glad I did. It's a good film - the camera shots are very persuasive and give themselves over to feeling more in touch with the characters. But the plot was lacking in development and I thought that there was much room for improvement in it.

Two very different men, a marine in search of his father and a gay Goth, embark on a road journey to find themselves. The film attempts to explore a variety of issues including parent/sibling relationships, responsibilities in life and a thin gay romance that seems to be thrown in for good measure. This morose film never really gets off the ground and the characters simply do not click. A film like this needs viewer empathy to care about the characters plight but they only come across as flat and uninteresting. It is hard to tell if the lead characters are suffering from severe mental depression or just plain stupdity (they both do a lot of dumb things in the film). The only thing I did like about 'Dog Tags' was the acting, which is very good. It is not enough to save this film which is about as exciting as watching paint dry.

This is not really a truly gay film. It's about two guys, one straight, one gay, who meet up in an unlikely world. There is some frontal nudity, but not from the two stars. The single sex scene is hardly worth watching.

From an actor persepective, Paul Preiss did a superb job acting as Nate Merrit, the lost Marine who goes searching for his real father. Bart Fletcher, who plays an equally lost Andy Forte in the movie, also did a nice job, yet does not seem to play the gay role well.

Each guy's respective mother actresses either had poor scripts or cheesy acting skills. The inclusion of Andy's orphaned child was an outlier that truly did not belong in the script.

Some of the scenes are long and boring, music that plays endlessly, while the shots remain still or zoomed in. It reminds me a lot of European filming. I did think Paul's role was well-done, a guy who steps into the gay world for only one night of his life. Andy is still lost throughout the whole movie, never finding himself, letting his future to be governed by "the universe".

The movie is okay, obviously nothing like Shelter, yet shows us an interesting twist on two unlikely souls that would ever cross paths, and yet still raises several good viewer questions -

Is Paul deep-down a straight man, yet perhaps longing for male love from men to replace the love that he never had from the father he never knew? And what about Andy? Is he really capable of being responsible for anything in his own life?

Finally, having played it over and over again several times, I could swear that it is not really Nate who is kissing Andy in the hotel scene, but a double for Paul Preiss who plays Nate in this scene. The reason I say that is that the sideburns on Paul are hardly existent, due to his Marine haircut. Yet, in the single intense kissing scene with Andy, the guy has more hair, has sideburns, and does not appear to be as strong as Paul. Only when Nate lays on his back on the hotel bed can one see the immediate differences in haircuts. Not only that, the lip structures on both men appear to be different.

I could be wrong, but it looks like a stand-in double for Paul Preiss who may have not wanted to quite get that intimate with Bart Fletcher. Or they were scenes shot at different times, allowing for haircut differences. Or, it's the lighting. Anyway, it made me wonder.