|
|
28 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Sweet, well written, light comedy looks at friendship and "love", September 23, 2007
At the urging of his brother, Barry (Jonathan Silverman), Todd (Jonathan Bray) makes a blind date with someone he had been chatting with online, courtesy of an ad placed by Barry. Once it has been established that they had not exchanged photos during their chats, most viewers can guess the first punchline of the movie ... that his date, Kelly, is actually a man (played by Wilson Cruz), since Barry had placed the ad for his romance-starved, straight brother in the "M4M" message board.
But "Coffee Date" (2006) ... whichw as based on a short film released at some gay film festivals in 2001 ... handles this seemingly simplistic slapstick-worthy plot with realism, warmth and humor, allowing Todd and Kelly to get to know each other, and find out that they have a lot of interests in common, before either one realizes that their elusive "date" is actually with each other. It also turns the joke around on the brother, when Todd brings Kelly home (and then he sneaks out the window, so Barry believes Todd spent the night with a man), which works too well, since Barry won't believe that Todd isn't really gay, and moves out of Todd's apartment. Barry also calls their mother, played to the hilt by veteran actress Sally Kirkland, who arrives for an extended visit with her "just out" son, proudly wearing a PFLAG t-shirt, and also refusing to give credence to Todd's claim that he is really straight. Meanwhile, Todd continues to go with Kelly (and occasionally his friends) to see a movie, have a drink or coffee, and when the office blabbermouth (Jason Stuart) sees Todd with a group of gay men, he "outs" him to everyone else at work, who accept and embrace the revelation. It gets to the point where Todd begins to doubt his own belief that he's not gay, but is afraid that the one way of finding out for sure could jeopardize his friendship with Kelly.
Excellent treatment of the "labels" people put on themselves (and have put upon them), which also makes good natured fun of some of the stereotypes straight people have about gays (and vice versa.) Ultimately, this is a light romantic comedy about friendship and defining "love" on different levels, with life lessons for people hung up on worrying about how they "should" feel in a situation. DVD extras include many deleted scenes, gag reel and a "making of" featurette. I give it a full 5 stars out of 5.
|
Video On Demand ~ Dusan Dukic
Video On Demand ~ Amber Benson
Video On Demand ~ Bill Sage
Video On Demand ~ Alexis Arquette
Video On Demand ~ Lea Coco
Video On Demand ~ Steve Callahan
Video On Demand ~ Alexandra Billings
