GAY
FILM REVIEWS BY MICHAEL D. KLEMM
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GAY
FILM REVIEWS BY MICHAEL D. KLEMM
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Choose Connor Strand Releasing,
Director/Screenplay:
Starring: Unrated, 109 minutes |
Poisonous
Politics
Tales of lost innocence can often be compelling cinema. This is the subject of Choose Connor, a new film written and directed by Luke Eberl. Owen Norris (Alex Linz) is 15; he is an academic nerd who receives the Merit Of Excellence when he graduates from Middle School. The award is presented to him by Congressman Lawrence Connor (Steven Weber), an upstanding politician who prefaces each of his speeches with the slogan, "Children are our future." Owen screws up the courage to speak with Connor and the Congressman is so impressed by the lad's grasp of politics that he invites him to visit his office. |
 Owen
is excited when he gets there but he also questions the Congressman's endorsement
of an environmental bill that offers too many corporate loopholes. Connor
is stunned by the kid's knowledge but also looks as if he has just been
caught with his pants down. Connor's answer becomes Owen's first exposure
to political doublespeak and the young acolyte is clearly trying to reconcile
this perceived dishonesty with the smiling face of the public servant whom
he holds in such high esteem. Owen manages to push his misgivings aside
when Connor offers him a job on his Senatorial campaign as "Youth Campaign
Spokesman." Connor puts his hand on the youth's shoulder and says "I like
you. Let's see if you have what it really takes to be in politics." When
Owen asks what that is, Connor whispers in his ear, "Balls." |
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I will leave the rest of the film for my readers to discover on their own but it is a given that our golden boy Congressman is not what he appears to be. After all, we wouldn't have a movie if he did turn out to be Gandhi. But there is more than one way to corrupt a young man, and Connor, we will soon learn, is poison in politics personified. |
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 Choose
Connor
is a very believable movie that doesn't resort to gratuitous shock tactics
in order to get its point across. Most of the more sordid details are revealed
subtly without banging the audience over the head with a sledgehammer. "The
devil is in the details," Connor remarks at one point and he uses the tooth
fairy as an analogy of how figures in authority deceive the public while
appearing benevolent. He offers much counsel on how to work the system to
your own advantage. "Think of what I said," he adds, "as the fine print
in a pharmaceutical commercial." |
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 Choose
Connor
boasts a sharp script, and superb direction and the audience will relish
the trip into the underbelly of politics. Director Eberl has a nice eye
for the ironic image - consider a shot of Owen looking at his own face on
an election poster that urges the public to vote for the very bill that
he, himself, now harbors doubts. Unlike the amateur cinematography prevalent
in so many queer independent releases, this one is professionally shot and
boasts an effective use of long takes and moving cameras. It is crisply
edited and never boring. |
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 The
cast is excellent. Steven Weber (Wings, Jeffrey, Common
Ground) was a perfect choice as Lawrence Connor. Aside from his
acting talent, Weber has one of those attractive faces with a perpetual
smirk that could also be a mask to hide something sinister beneath the surface.
As Connor, he is creepily charismatic; the consummate corrupt politician.
Alex Linz strikes the right note of innocence as Owen, and Escher Holloway's
Caleb adds a bohemian breath of fresh air to contrast the structured and
two-faced world of politics that dominates the rest of the film. |
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Steven Weber also
appears in: Richard Riehle also
appears in: |
Owen
will divide his time between two newfound friends that summer - Connor
and the Congressman's teen-aged nephew, Caleb. The two boys are polar
opposites. Owen is middle class and Caleb lives a life of idle privilege.
Caleb has dropped out of school and spends his time crafting large artistic
collages and sculpting S&M transgendered marionettes. Caleb introduces
Owen to marijuana and asks him if he has any friends or if he just
fritters his life away studying. Owen is beginning to ask himself the
same questions and, though he is reveling in his newfound celebrity as
Connor's youth spokesman, he also responds to his rebellious new pal.
Caleb, like his uncle, also seems to enjoy touching, or sitting close
to, Owen whenever the opportunity arises. This is one of two possible
queer storylines that viewers will no doubt notice during the opening
exposition.
The
other possibility, of course, is that Connor may just be taking too
much of an interest in his new protege. Connor goes out of his way to
flatter the kid, announcing to all of his colleagues that Owen will someday
be President of the United States. At Owen's first party, Connor tells
him how "sharp" he looks and gives him a glass of Scotch (even though
the boy is underage). Later, when they are alone, he remarks that they
need to have a little chat - "Man to man. We're friends now." Now, it
is possible that his casual remarks, as well as the hands on the
lad's shoulders, could be innocent...
At
one point, Connor will make a speech in which he mocks dissent and invokes
God to help "unify" this country. This oration, accompanied by
thunderous cheers, is scarier than any horror film. Don't look for a James
Bond-style conclusion but you will see a young man's faith in
the system get totally shattered. Choose Connor
is a very compelling film and it comes highly recommended. Not a bad film
to wind up being my first review in 2009.