Customer Reviews

A Very Serious Person

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

A VERY SERIOUS PERSON is a tight little film with a fine story, solid cast and enough thoughts about connecting isolated individuals to make the movie both entertaining and touching. Spanning the ages from young teenagers to middle age to elderly, each focusing on basically needy souls trying to find solid ground, writer (with Carl Andress)/director/actor Charles Busch has developed an ensemble effect in casting just the right actors to relate his ideas.

As a summer for consolation for the elderly ill Mrs. Aronson (Polly Bergen, reminding us what a fine performer she is!) has requested that her 13-year-old grandson Gil (P.J. Verhoest), whose parents are deceased, come live with her on the Jersey shore. Mrs. A is known for being a difficult patient, going through live-in nurses like wildfire, and living with her trusty housekeeper Betty (veteran actress Dana Ivey), but she is in for a surprise when young Gil moves in - a slightly feminine lad with a penchant for old Hollywood movies, writing grand stories about great heroines, dressing like Marie Antoinette, and refusing to learn swimming or any outdoor activities in favor of watching 'Gone with the Wind' whenever possible.

Into this household enters the latest 'nurse', a gay Danish ex-dancer Jan (Charles Busch) who by admission is 'a very serious person' - obsessive compulsive in his care for Mrs. A, coping with the flustered Betty, and rarely smiling at the antics of the overpowering Gil. Each of these three rather glitzy people is lonely, and each in his/her own way wants acceptance and love. The story is how the three learn from each other, give and take, and find the niche that proves the summer was not wasted.

Busch draws marvelous performances from Bergen, Verhoest, and Ivey as well as creating lovable side characters: the outrageous gay hairdresser (Carl Andress) and his associate (Alexa Eisenstein), Jan's love interest (Simon Fortin) among others. The growing relationship between Jan and Gil provides a platform for some serious issues about accepting sexuality and the interaction of all the characters on the failing Mrs. A is warmly managed. This is a comedy with an edge and above all it is a solidly entertaining movie. Grady Harp, January 08

Raised by his grandmother after his parents death, Gil is a shy but enthusiastically creative 13 year old boy, who loves show tunes and "Gone With The Wind". Unfortunately, Mrs. A (played with her usual panache by Polly Bergen) isn't likely to live out the year, so Gil looks forward to sharing what may be their last summer together on the Jersey shore. Assisting her with practical matters at home has been her friend Betty (Dana Ivey), as well as a live-in nurse, which the still-feisty Mrs. A has a tendency to frustrate. When the agency sends Jan, a somewhat fey Danish male nurse, Betty and Gil assume he won't last long, but surprisingly he and Mrs. A get along well. Jan also becomes the primary male role model for Gil, and tries to tame some of his acting-out and conflicts with his grandmother.

In his directorial debut (and one of his few movie roles out of drag), Charles Bush portrays Jan as a strong-minded, no-nonsense, sophisticated taskmaster with a heart of gold, who worries about how Gil's rather flamboyant peraonality will go over when he has to go live with an aunt and cousins in Florida, after his grandmother passes on. Jan even feuds with a local male hairdresser, who sees himself in the boy and wants to encourage him to be proud of who and what he is. It's a sweet, quite original coming-of-age story with added aspects of dealing with death and dying. DVD (out 11/20/2007) has commentary by Bush, deleted scenes and a short. I give it four stars out of five.

A Very Serious Person is instantly the classic heart-warming gay film for the ages. Its a coming-of-age film set in Florida with a cast to die for. Charles Bush, is the gay Danish nanny and pseudo father-figure to new-comer P.J. Verhoest, who plays Gil, a 13 year-old Hollywood-obsessed boy, bound for stage and the multi-colored life, and Dana Ivey, who plays the dying Betty is marvelous in this gently picture about love and respect in American. This film touches on many themes and manages to give them all the respect that is due to them. I recommend you watch it again and again.

This movie has an odd quality that is hard to pin-down. You will see some "typical" stereotypes/characters...and when all is said and done, you will likely feel a bit sad. The characters are a bit Great Expectations and a bit Who's the Boss... the plot is neither and well thought out.

A Very Serious Person
This is a film thats very seldom thought about, much less made in this country! The quanity and depth, which the story line explores the characters, is nothing short of inspirational! The director has seen to it that the audience is feted to a feast of glimpses in the maturation of not only the young kid but also the primary care giver! Just a true delight to observe such a cinemagraphic brilliance! This film has to be added to your Collection, if not, just for the characterizations!! THE EVOLUTION OF SEXUAL IDENITY!!!

I have to admit, bad person that I am, that I didn't expect this movie to be what it was. I am used to seeing Mr Busch in his campier roles. He is brilliant here as the tightly-laced danish male nurse to (the brilliant) Polly Bergen, an ailing matriarch intent upon having a last summer with her orphaned grandson (a perfect P.J. Verhoest) before she dies and sends him off the relatives in Florida.

Any of this could have been played for cheap laughs and high camp, and audiences would have lapped it up like cream. But Busch takes a higher road here; each character is a fully realised person, flawed, hopeful heroic and base. If you don't tear up at the end of this, you just might be dead.

Having purchased "The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros", I was led to this
little known film starring Polly Bergen. I was unaware it was a truly
gay film, though it's coming of age theme summary hinted at it. Polly
Bergen plays a dying woman whose grandson, a 13 year old, spends summers
with her. He is artistic, intellectual, and somewhat effeminate, and on
the brink of adolescence. His grandmother has just hired a new nurse,
who happens to be a gay male. He is the character of the title. At first he is very standoffish to the boy, and takes great care of Ms.
Bergen, but gradually he develops a rapport with him, and they become
friendly. The boy is to be sent to live in Florida after his grand-
mother dies, where he will not get a lot of attention from adults and
may be picked on by an older quite masculine boy. The movie handles
all this with humor, sensitivity, and intelligence, and has a smart
if not expected ending. Were a sex scene between the nurse (the films
director) and another gay man he meets, omitted or edited, it could
have been a mainstream PG-13 film, instead of unrated. It is very
honest, and the performances are excellent, especially the 13 year old.
I liked it far more than "Brokeback Mountain".

I stumbled on this gem on television one night and only caught about half of the story but I knew immedietly that I wanted to see it in its entirety. A very moving and emotional theme with top performances by Miss Polly Bergen and newcomer PJ Verhoest as well as the fabulous Charles Busch who also directed. Buy it and enjoy a most memorable film.

A very different and unique movie. I've loved Polly Bergen all along and she does a fabulous job as the ailing yet strong-willed grandmother. Judith Ivey is wonderful as the no-nonsense housekeeper. PJ Verhoest is a young man to watch. He's lovable and funny as the queen-in-training. But the movie really belongs to Charles Busch who wrote and directed this little gem. It is his character Jan who persuades Mrs. A to conform to her medical treatments. It's Jan who takes Gil under his wing and asks the essential question, "But do you like boys?" It's Jan who teaches Gil how to swim, although I personally would have spent more time curbing his tantrums and bratty behavior. There are outrageous situations such as when Gil picks out a dress for a costume photographer at Coney Island. And there are also serious discussions as when Jan and the male hairdresser discuss Gil's future in an alley near the hair shop. There are a few problems. For example, near the end, Gil has to make a very adult decision about whether to live with Jan or a distant aunt. I would have liked a little more insight into how he arrived at his decision. Overall, though, despite its title, this is a very fun and rewarding movie.