Beautiful Something

An amazing film, this intimate nod to gay and bi-sexual men, "Beautiful Something," has been subtly written and boldly directed by Joseph Graham, with his examination of what male-on-male love is often, in addition to its well-delineated erotic moments.

What stands out just below his impressive writing is the casting. Seldom do indie films like this, shot in Philadelphia with SAG/AFTRA actors, seem so real. The stories interconnect vividly, beginning with early 20s poet, Brian (Brian Sheppard), broke and suffering from writer's block (poet's block?), so he takes his last few bucks and spends it on booze at his local gay bar. There he picks up Chris (David Melissaratos), a handsome Greek-American who is desperate to partake in gay sex, but then flips out on himself after he satisfies that need to be topped.

We then meet Jim (Zack Ryan), a strikingly beautiful young actor/lover of a famous gay sculptor, Drew (dominating Coleman Domingo), who is in love with Jim but is deeply insensitive to his emotional needs, even as he satisfies him with rough anal.

In between we are met by Bob (John Lescault), a rich early-60s showbiz agent, in need of younger flesh, cruising in his rented white limo. Eventually Jim runs into Brian at a bar, they cruise and Jim brings him home, hoping to show Drew that others are attracted to him. When that doesn't happen, after sex, Jim is seduced by Bob's limo and his charm into going to his apartment where a revealing dance is coxed out of the younger man. Bob gives him $500 to stay, but when he falls asleep in his drunken stupor, Jim returns it to his side, going back to the one man who truly loves him.

One other idea which works well in this 97-minute film is when Brian, after striking out with the man he's in love with, a former flame, Dan (Grant Lancaster), who's more into women than men, he meets a street fellow, Sergio (Matthew Rios), who is both into poetry and into Brian, which breaks the poet's road-block and gives him hope for his future.

While the storylines work themselves out, with the actors totally committed to making it real, Graham's use of nudity and sexuality never compromises his vision, even as he protects his actors (and the audience?) from the close-up graphics of what could be. Stimulating, however, it be, in mind and in spirit. Which leads us to the observation that we have no idea who in this cast in gay or bi; you shouldn't anyway as that's up to the individual to disclose if he or she cares to, but not knowing does makes the fantasy work better.

Nicely shot by cinematographer Matthew Boyd, with his wide-frame shots of Philly at night and by day, well-matched with the production design of Clare Hart Joslyn, and the crisp editing of Sharon Franklin, Graham's film is a long-term winner, playing expertly that tightrope of romance, eroticism, and the uses of art in our lives. You have to see this.

"Something Beautiful"
DVD
$24.99
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