Andrew Sandoval
STAFF WRITER
Review
"I am tired of being broke and loveless," says the title character in Billy's Hollywood Screen Kiss, a mostly enjoyable and quirky romantic comedy.
Billy (Sean P. Hayes) carries his Polaroid almost everywhere he goes and enjoys taking pictures of his friends. He is always hoping to snap Mr. Right at the unexpected moment.
The plot here shares similarities with other romantic comedies. Billy's simple desire to be liked puts him in ridiculous situations during his search for an ideal male partner. When he finally seems to find him, it all just gets crazier.
Writer and director Tommy O'Haver says he wants people to forget this is a gay man experiencing these things. He wants Billy to represent an Everyman.
"It could be anyone," O'Haver says.
Inevitably, Billy soon falls for Gabriel (Brad Rowe), a young, handsome man who is new to the city and seems uncertain about what he wants from life. Billy does not feel completely comfortable pursuing Gabriel, since Gabriel is ambivalent about his sexuality. Nevertheless, Billy soon becomes a bit obsessed.
Gabriel has a girlfriend in San Francisco and tells Billy that he is not gay, but he enjoys Billy's company and is very friendly. This situation leads the characters into ridiculous and funny dialogues and plots. For example, Billy and Gabriel discuss their tastes in music: "I thought gay people only listened to groups like Erasure and The Pet Shop Boys."
Another explained, effective method for knowing if a person is gay or straight, according to the film, is his innate taste for musicals.
Billy's roommate Georgina (Meredith Scott Lynn) is a fun and care-free woman.
She listens and advises Billy on how to deal with his problems while trying to muddle through her own boy troubles with her boyfriend Andrew (Christopher Bradley).
The most outrageous characters in the movie are a trio of drag queens, played by Chad Boardman, Rodney Chester and Eric Davenport, who dance and sing in almost all of Billy's dreams. In one, a dance number resembles a Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers movie. Dressed all in white, Billy and Gabriel dance while the trio sing in the background. It's one of the film's funnier moments.
O'Haver recaptures some of the other images from the Golden Age of cinema here. One moment comes during the re-creation of the famous beach scene in From Here to Eternity. In this spoof of the classic film, a man and a drag queen play the roles of Sgt. Milton Warden and Karen Holmes.
For the most part, Billy's Hollywood Screen Kiss is a lighthearted, entertaining comedy. The main characters are likable people searching for happiness, and we want to root for them. On the other hand, the movie is a bit juvenile, and relationships are idealized to the point of being corny.
Just as unfortunately, Billy's Hollywood Screen Kiss presents a contradiction that changes the mood of the movie. After famous photographer Rex Webster (Paul Bartel) appears, the mood of the movie changes for the worse. He hires Gabriel for a shoot on the Catalina Islands, and it is immediately suggested that Rex takes "liberties" with his models.
The situation is presented like another clever joke, but this scene stands out from the rest of the movie.
Billy and Gabriel also use each other for personal reasons. Gabriel wishes to become a famous model with the help of his friend, and Billy wants to have a relationship with Gabriel. This kind of agreement seems harmless for both friends, but it seems out of context with the rest of the movie and doesn't fit with the initial scheme of things.
These subjects are not really developed in the movie. Instead, harassment is made into some kind of joke and something that people should be used to in the '90s. The movie seems to trivialize how people use each other to obtain status and power.
Billy's Hollywood Screen Kiss presents a strong admiration for classic movies, a clever sense of humor and a good soundtrack. Bad taste and contradictions, however, cause the otherwise fluffy film to lose some of its bounce.
Rated
R
Running Time
92 min
Playing
Landmark River Oaks (Opens Friday)