Customer Reviews

Regarding Billy

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

This is a sweet and touching little movie. I rented it not knowing what to expect. I honestly expected to be disappointed since there are so many really bad gay themed movies out on the market, but what a pleasant suprise...this one is a winner.

Billy (Ronnie Kerr)has to return back home to look after his younger brother Johnny (Jack Sway). Billy's best friend from childhood Dean (Jason Van Eman) returns from the Iraq war after receiving an head injury. Both Billy and Dean have deep feelings for each other but have no idea how to let the other know. Both men believe that the other is straight and are therefore affraid to let their feelings be known. What unfolds over the next hour and fifteen minutes of play is a story of commitment, love and understanding between family and best friends. I was really touched and suprised at how lovely this movie really was. Both men are very attractive, especially Jason Van Eman who plays Dean, I couldn't take my eyes off his beautiful face and that smile just melts your hearts. The acting from both Jason Van Eman and Rhonnie Kerr was very good. Making the most of their environment on what was a meager $20,000 budget, the guys did the best they could. And the chemistry between the two men was amazing. I sensed that on screen bond which many gay screen couples lack. I had no doubt of the love and phyical attraction they felt for one another. The kisses shared between the two men was also beautiful. I would love to see these two guys star together again in a movie with a larger budget and higher production values.

I now own Regarding Billy and have since watched it many times. I highly recommend this sweet and touching little love story. If you're having a down day just pop it in your DVD player and it will brighten your feelings and leave you with a smile.

Yes, it has flaws - a little talky, a little heavy on the crying - but at the core of this film is a sweetness and a sincerity that is hard for even the most jaded among us to resist completely.

While it's no Brokeback Mountain, the acting is decent enough (the eyes on Mr. Kerr are quite distracting) and the story easy enough to relate to. I applaud filmmakers who are trying to take gay cinema more into the real and the relevant; not every film has to have a diva soundtrack, a throng of muscle clones or a revalation about what it means to be gay. Ultimately, our lives, our hopes and our fears are the same - love, loss, family and the pursuit of happiness. While it doesn't dive deep into any of these topics, it touches on them just enough to make the 71-minutes journey well worth the investment, and one you may want to repeat from time to time, whenever you need a reminder that it's the little things - and those closest to us - that hold the keys to happiness in life.. everything else is icing.

Only 71 minutes long, this sweet little film has an engaging ensemble of three actors and a sympathetic musical score. Ronnie Kerr is perfect as Billy. He is genuine, childlike, honest, handsome, wistful, and well-built, with remarkably expressive eyes. Dean, his long-time best friend, announces unexpectedly that he has enlisted, and abruptly leaves home. Jason Van Eman plays Dean in a warm, forthright manner, and the two good-looking leads have a nice, playful - but very frustrating - friendship. Incapable of articulating their feelings, Dean departs with much left unsaid.

By the time the injured Dean returns, Billy is caring for his learning-disabled younger brother, and the story really begins. The three young men learn to become a family and, though each has a handicap to deal with, their unerring love pre-ordains the powerful and intimate conclusion.

The film has its faults, to be sure, which would be more bothersome in a less engaging film. There is a lot of crying, for example, but the actors themselves laugh about this excess in the commentary track. On a purely physical level, one could wish for Billy to take his shirt off at least once, considering the look of his arms and chest in his tight T-shirt!

But the sincerity, skill, and earnestness of the actors overrides any flaws. This is a highly personal statement by writer/director Jeff London and his quietly seductive cast.

If you want to experience a "feel good" love story, especially around Christmastime, then you need to see "Regarding Billy." The principal character, Billy, played by Ronnie Kerr, is a truly believable--and loveable--person who always puts the needs of others before his own, as seen in his unselfish love toward his mentally challenged brother, Johnny, played by Jack Sway, after the death of their parents. Billy's unspoken and unexpressed love for his boyhood friend Dean, played by Jason Van Eman, brings just the right amount of tension to the storyline to keep everything interesting. And, of course, we are rewarded with a great ending when Billy summons his courage to tell Dean how he truly feels about him, and discovers that Dean feels the same way. Yes, indeed, it's always great to see the good guys win every now and then. If you're a hopeless romantic at heart, then check out "Regarding Billy." You won't be disappointed.

First, the bad: it's short (by feature film standards,) the acting is a little spotty, the story is kinda sad, and the dialog is a little rough in places. All these things I can forgive, and this film is on par with most other independent films.

Now the good: Wow. I was really moved by this film. Now I consider myself The Grinch, but even my heart couldn't bear the weight of the sincerity of this film and the resolve of the characters in it. It's a study in hope and love and faith in family and each other.

Two boyhood friends, both clearly in love with the other, go their separate ways in adulthood, fearing how the other would feel about their gay feelings. Through a set of tragic circumstances, both are thrust back together, some time later, along with a mentally challenged sibling, to finally express their love and try to form a family.

This film is definitely not for everybody. I can understand some viewers' diappointment. I wasn't disappointed. If you are interested in family dynamics and appreciate the nuances of gay relationships, and you're not up for the latest mind-numbing blockbuster filled with bullets and special effects, this would be, in my opinion, far more worth your time. Highly recommended.

Jeff London (The Last Year, And Then Came Summer) is a writer and director who takes on some tough subject matter about the ordinary men in gay life and fashions simple stories that, while not earth shattering, are delicate reminders of the non-sensational aspects of coming to grips with sexuality. In REGARDING BILLY, his best film to date, he has assembled a small cast of fine young actors (only three), and offers a film that for a $[...]. budget and two weeks of shooting time shows how sensitive little movies can be.

Opening inside a tent on a camping trip, we meet Billy (Ronnie Kerr) and Dean (Jason Van Eman) who have been best friends since childhood. Dean announces he has joined the military to address his life stance (his parents are long gone) and will be going to Iraq. Billy is obviously sad and both young men begin to tell each other something...'but it can wait until morning'. In the next scene Billy is seen with his mentally challenged sweet kid brother Johnny (Jack Sway) as they have returned from the funeral of their parents who have died in an accident. Billy comforts Johnny and moves back to the home he had left to care for his brother. While Dean is in Iraq he writes Billy and Billy fantasizes about Dean's returning home. When indeed Dean does come back from his tour of duty, injured irreparably in the war, Billy insists that Dean move in with the brothers. Despite the obvious new happiness of the three young men living together, there remains an underlying tension between Billy and Dean, a tension broken only by a moment of confession regarding feelings that is one of the more tender 'coming out' scenes yet filmed. The film ends as quietly as it begins with the power of love and extended family as the theme.

All three of the actors perform well despite a script that calls for excessive crying. Kerr and Van Eman are understated hunks that make the attraction and resolution of the plot completely credible. Yes, there are some awkward lines and shaky moments in the film, but the overall effect is one of a loving product that dares to be sentimental in the face of criticism because the creators obviously believe in the story. REGARDING BILLY is a refreshing change from the usual over the top gay films, a film more about core people than the peripheral characters usually in focus. Recommended. Grady Harp, June 07

I've been watching a fair number of independent gay-themed films over the past few months (those with a very low---or NO---budget), just to see what all is out there. Quite honestly, a lot of them really are not very good. But I have to say that I enjoyed "Regarding Billy" more so than about 80% of the similarly-themed independent films I've seen.

Oh, no doubt about it, this is a sentimental tear-jerker sort of story. Think of a very small-scale Lifetime made-for-television film, with a gay twist. But hey, I tend to be a sentimental kind of guy, and sometimes I really am in the mood for just such a picture. And this one fit the bill admirably. It's not perfect, but it really did engage me on an emotional level.

I do wish that the relationship between the two leads was explored in more depth; they were an appealing couple and had great chemistry together, and I simply wanted to see more interaction between them. Perhaps that is the greatest drawback of this film; with its modest running time, it seems rather like a sketch of a story---lightly drawn, just waiting to be made into a two-hour feature. There are a lot of interesting ideas here waiting to be more thoroughly explored. But taken on its own modest terms, I can say that I really did enjoy this picture. (I would REALLY have liked to see a bit more snogging between the two leads, however, that is certain! As I said, they were an appealing pair.)

The DVD contains a handful of outtakes, a couple of which are quite funny. And the commentary track, with the director and three actors, is a lot of fun (despite a couple of silent spots early on). It's just those four guys in a room, laughing around and joking and having a good time while talking about the film. (It cracked me up, when they themselves were laughing about how many doe-eyed, teary reaction shots the lead character had to give.) I recommend this one.

i was pleasantly surprised by this movie. it came in the mail yesterday and have watched it three times since. for the life of me i couldn't understand what was going on the that dark tent. i suppose it was dark since i think they were trying to give the illusion that these two guys were a bit younger than in the rest of the movie. i didn't care much for jack sway who played the so-called mentally challenged younger brother. the other two guys were very easy to look at and were sincere, even with all the crying by ronnie kerr. this movie is listed on the jacket as 80 minutes long but havea feeling that included the credits. i would have liked this movie better had they added another 15-30 minutes to it. was quite surprised when it ended. i really do recommend this movie, if for nothing more than ronnie kerr and jason van eman. both are beautiful youngsters and seem to be able to act, which is certainly refreshing. i tried to visit guardian pictures web site but they wanted me to download some program just to watch it. i de-cided not to since you never know about some of these programs. i still feel that the extras at the end of some of these films are the best parts of them. even if this one is very short, watch it. i really enjoyed it.
gary in az.

Hmm. I wasn't really expecting anything spectacular, and this wasn't...but I was kinda half-expecting something awful, and it definitely wasn't that either.

Let's see. The other reviewers have pretty much hit the flaws. It's awfully short, it's kinda unpolished, it's supremely predictable, and I smiled at one review where the reviewer mentioned what a pity it was that Ronnie Kerr didn't so much as take his shirt off (and got a nasty comment for it, but the reviewer had it right...whoo-boy).

But the flaws are all pretty easy to overlook. Now let's face it - most gay movies out there are pretty bad. The marginal ones get watched over and over again because, really, they're as good as we're gonna get. Truthfully, this was a sweet, sad-ish, but still very heartwarming story. Yes, it was predictable, but we all could have predicted the plot just by reading the summary blurb before buying it. It was a little on the weepy side, but I guess I make allowances for a couple of young men who've gone through some rotten experiences with no one else to talk to; I'd probably be weepy, too. I do wish it had been a little longer - the story could have been fleshed out a little more, and maybe a little more angst added (or maybe that last is just my general irritation with people more well-adjusted than I).

The negatives are pretty minor, in my opinion. Ultimately, it's a sweet little film that I'm not sorry to have watched.

A feel good movie. no violence and has a good ending. Even with all that has happened to the pair and wall that will happen they still care for each other.