Saturday, November 5, 2016

'Lazy Eye' Theatrical: Gay Men Rekindling Flame Ignites Inferno








[EDITOR'S NOTE: Unreal TV has run an interview with "Lazy Eye" star Lucas Near-Verbbugghe.]

The new gay-themed film, which opens in Los Angeles and New York City on November 11 2016, "Lazy Eye" from Breaking Glass Pictures offers good commentary on both modern gay culture and cinema.  The metaphorical title refers to the worsening eyesight of late-30s successful graphic designer Dean coinciding with his reflecting on his coasting through life.

Other than now needing trifocals, Dean is relatively at peace when we meet him. He is living the good life in Los Angeles and happily working with his former college classmate/current gal pal (or fag hag depending on your perspective) Mel; well-known indie actress Michaela Watkins plays that role.

Dean's orderly life gets turned upside down on receiving an out-of-the-blue email from former flame (love of his life?) Alex. The back story of these lovers is that they meet in a New York bar in the wake of Alex attending the graduation ceremony for his MBA program. The love (or lust) at first sight that they experience leads to a summer of love (or lust). This ends when Alex literally disappears without a trace.

Viewers who sit through the cliched exchange of electronic messages are rewarded with the satisfying in visuals and story in the scenes that follow. This occurs when the action shifts to the shot-on-location scenes that are set in and around the Joshua Tree weekend home of Dean. An awesome aspect of this is that it gives "Lazy" the live-stage vibe that always enhances a film. (The extensive Broadway experience of Dean portrayor Lucas Near-Verbbugghe comes through regarding this.)

A surprisingly explicit (but not X-rated) early scene in this portion of the film has Dean edging to take the edge off the night before the arrival of Alex. The first of several fun and endearing flashbacks of  New York days fuels that session. One spoiler is that the attempt to have restraint on seeing Alex fails.

The sex and lies (but no videotape) that comprise a great deal of the interaction during this reunion help make "Lazy" particularly good and relatable to everyone approaching, experiencing, or beyond middle age. It is rare that the career (or lack thereof) that we have is the one we envision when we enter adulthood; "Lazy" also shows that the same can be true regarding our romantic relationships.

The largest fulfilled fantasy regarding all this is that our boys get the rare experience of getting to bed "the one who got away," to express their feelings regarding the break-up and get a comprehensive reason for the break-up, get a second chance at true love, and work through all this feelings without requiring either a trip to the emergency room or finding yourself a sobbing ball curled in the corner of a room.

Suffice it to say that the weekend ends on a good note for our heroes.

Anyone with questions or comments regarding "Lazy" is encouraged to either email me or to connect on Twitter via @tvdvdguy.







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