Product Details

• Actors: Stephen D. Gill; Stephanie Kirchen; Jill Cozine; Keith A. Bearden
• Directors: Damion Dietz
• Format: Color, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating: Unrated
• Studio: Water Bearer Films
• DVD Release Date: May 15, 2007
• Run Time: 72 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000OVLMLQ
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #44,443 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Love Life" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

The perfect marriage. The secret affairs. The love that will set them free...
Are the sexual secrets behind Joe and Mary's marriage of convenience strong enough to melt their perfect facade?
Joe, a gorgeous former professional baseball player turned coach, and Mary, his trophy wife with a trust fund, entered an unconventional union with an agreed upon code of conduct: outside affairs were acceptable under the precept of emotional detachment.
While renovating their dream home, however, Joe and Mary's arrangement begins to crack. Joe indulges his homosexual desires with secretive, anonymous sex... until his true emotions are unleashed after a dangerous liaison with the landscaper. Meanwhile, Mary's beautiful best friend from college (an out lesbian), coerces Mary to confront the fragile suppression of their past tryst.
With the truth out in the open, Joe and Mary must decide... can they continue their "comfortable" life of self-deception, or will they have the courage to set themselves free - to love honestly, regardless of the social price?
A cool, intelligent, and provocatively erotic examination of the illusory choices we make and the personal redemption we doggedly pursue, Love Life is as stunning and sexy as it is emotionally uplifting - an essential gay and lesbian-themed romantic drama from award-winning writer/director Damion Dietz ( Neverland ).

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A nice look at a gilded cage of denial..., June 10, 2007

By	Brett D. Cullum (Houston, TX United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Gay marriage and the idea of what if a gay man and a lesbian wed for convenience form the basis for this the latest film from indie auteur Damion Dietz. It's all about an arranged marriage of Mary and Joe for finances and appearances between a washed up pro ball player and his wealthy wife who wants to hide behind the facade of a happy homemaker. Joe has clandestine quickies on the side with men he finds in parks, and Mary just gives up sex completely. Everything is fine as long as neither of them finds emotional attachment. They are challenged by two people who ask for more than just sex from them - a handsome out landscaper and Mary's old college flame.

Dietz is a great visualist, and the film has an icy cool sheen that follows the construct far more than the characters. There is a great deal of nudity, but not too much of anyone is revealed. Everyone is wrapped in a protective layer that only barely gets dropped on occasion in the film. All of that is intentional as the movie has a languid pace similar to a Bergman film where things just happen and we witness events without too much explanation. If you like stylized melodrama, then this is the perfect film to sit down and soak up. Pretty people, pretty places, and an icy cool meditation on what happiness is and what it means to give it up are what you'll get.

The DVD is fullframe with a commentary from Dietz and lead actress Stephanie Kirchen (who you can see in every Damion Dietz film). It's a nicely made film, and the commentary is very enlightening and congenial (yes, I listen to these tracks). This is not a typical "gay" film. It's cool, removed, and detatched in style. It also features women equally as much as men. It's intelligent and meditative. Very interesting piece of work, and a must see for anyone who appreciates innovative and daring GLBT cinema that challenges the audience to think a good bit and fill in the blanks.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An Arragement, May 26, 2007

By	Amos Lassen (Little Rock, Arkansas) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

"Love Life"

An Arrangement

Amos Lassen and Cinema Pride

Damion Dietz has been quite a productive director lately. In the last couple of years we have seen the DVD releases of three of his films, "Beverly Kills", "Neverland" and "Love Life" (WaterBearer Films)--his newest and most compelling and complex.
"Love Life" hits you hard emotionally. It is the story of a couple in an unhappy marriage of convenience. Joe, the husband, had been a professional baseball player who just happens to desire men but in need of a "beard". His wife, Mary, is a lesbian who needs a husband so that she can have access to her trust fund. Together they both get what they need. "Love Life" looks equally at both sides of the marriage. Everything with their arrangement seems to work just perfectly. One day in a park, Joe picks up a man, apparently not for the first time. It seems that he has quite a long run of casual encounters and as long as the sex does not become complicated he is happy and has no need to exist in the closet. Mary's roommate from college comes to visit her and we learn that they had once been lovers. Everything gains complications when Joe goes to bed with their landscaper and Mary has sex with her ex-lover. At this point, we can only wonder what is next for the "happy" couple.
As you can probably guess, this is a dark and disturbing movie. Mary (Stephanie Kirchen) and Joe (Stephen D. Gill) live a life of a secret that is not so secret. Mary has deluded herself into believing that she is happy but this all falls to pieces when her college roommate appears and Joe embarks on his affair with the landscaper. They both realize that the time has come to face the reality of their lives. What makes this movie unique is that the relationship is shown from both sides.
The movie is a melodrama in all of its aspects--quite a change from the earlier genre of film that he has worked in. The idea of the movie may not be new but the way in which it presented is fresh. As both masks ad clothes are striped away, we get an inside look at two people living a lie and we watch too adults forced to struggle with their emotions as well as their romantic leanings.
The movie is completely minimalist as it peers into the lives of two people who are unhappy with the way they live and with their sexuality. "Be yourself" is the message that comes across loud and clear and the drama of denial slaps the viewer across the face. The price that was paid for wealth and social standing is very high if happiness is not included. The film peels away the outer layer of sham happiness as the subtext rises to the surface.
What the film is about is pretense and living a lie. The nudity and sexuality of the film are well integrated into the film and are there to show that this is functional to the story.
The characters here do not suffer the oppression of society as much as they suffer from self-oppression. They are in a closet that they have put themselves into. We all have to look at ourselves to ask where we fit.

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars OK for what you can actually see, November 3, 2007

By	Michael Ducharme (Providence, RI) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

When I first saw the cover box at Blockbuster I was in awe of Stephen Gill's picture. He's a very handsome man in a beefcake sort of way. The storyline and Stephen were sure to make this a good movie. Unfortunately, the movie has a very weak story, a cheap porn-like soundtrack, and is very dark. I think they forgot to hire a lighting crew. I wouldn't not recommend it, but I also wouldn't say you had to rush out and buy it. Lucky for me I rented it.