Eating Out (2004)

I will not write of the non existent talent in this piece of trash, nor that I think any person (gay straight or refined beyond that) who writes positively about this is either playing tongue in cheek or totally high. Rather, I only add my 2 cents to the comments that we need to be supportive and gentle to reviews of gay indie films because they are so "hard to get made." Well, if this is an example of the product put before filmmakers or distributors it's no wonder! There is no excuse for this movie - I honestly cannot believe that all the people on camera are as talentless as they come off - they just bet on our lowered standards so long as they throw us a few tight torso's and full frontals. The ancillary characters were like penance for the good stuff, but there was no good stuff.

So long as we praise this poop, we'll continue to get dribbles of it. If we aim higher we might just make a film that we can be truly proud of.

I only hope that Ang Lee, and Annie Proulx save us from ourselves.

Fmovies: Saw this at OUTFEST and the director said he was inspired by John Hughes and the teen sex comedy genre. It seemed like he was inspired more by television sitcoms, though. The script and the dialogue suck but the actors are pretty good and they're able to make most of it palatable. Unfortunately, the basic premise is just really uninspired.

There is a phone sex scene which IS really well done, though, and it feels like the rest of the movie is just a sloppy construction designed to frame that scene. There's a really bad scene where four people play two pianos at a party - it just goes on and on forever in the most unrealistic way, and then you realize that the whole interminable scene was constructed to set up a punch line that is only mildly amusing.

The thing that keeps you interested in the movie is how cute the actors are... overall, a forced, boring movie where you get to see the exploitation of two cute/good actors' genitals for five seconds. 4 out of 10.

Eating Out (2004) C-90 min. D: Q. Allan Brocka. Scott Lunsford, Jim Verraros, Emily Stiles, Ryan Carnes, Rebekah Kochan, Jillian Nusbaum, Billy Shepard. Straight hunk Lunsford has a thing for fag hag Stiles, who only falls in love with gay men. So Lunsford's gay roommate Verraros (from American Idol fame) has an idea: pretend that he's gay. However, complications arise when Stiles hooks her new admirer up with her gay roommate CarnesÂ…and so on and so forth. In the mold of the late 30s-early 40s Cary Grant-Katharine Hepburn comic farces, this screwball delight features the most talented cast in an independent feature one could possibly ask for (especially Stiles, who definitely has a career ahead of her) and filled with laugh after laugh. It definitely helps when the cast is beautiful to look at (Verraros is hot as usual but wow, Carnes is a real looker). Wild, funny, sexy, raunchy, and excellent in every way. FYI: According to director Brocka, who introduced this film and had a Q & A (along with Stiles) at the 2004 Philadelphia International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival, EATING OUT was shot in 10 days on a budget of just $50,000. The phone sex scene was shot in one take. RATING: 10 out of 10.

Eating Out fmovies. Yes, the two leads are cute and they do some (awkward, almost chuckle producing) frontal nudity, but beware this stinker. Nothing is as tasteless as a soufflé that doesn't rise, and this gay rom-com has all the tasty buoyancy of a hockey puck. Forget the cheap sets, poor cinematography and weak soundtrack; a gay indie with a bunch of newcomers is entitled to take short cuts. But the script! So much lame drivel masquerading as dialogue, with an occasional "hip" quip -- about Meat Loaf or Anne Heche -- that stands out like a sixth finger on a hand it's so clumsy.

The actors, no matter how cute, are at sea with this poor a script. Scott Lunsford is a total cypher in the impossible role of a deeply passive straight guy who pretends to be gay so he can romance a screechy straight woman. She's Emily Hands, and you haven't seen this raspy a performance since Elizabeth Berkley in Showgirls. Ryan Carnes is way cute as a gay stud, but has little presence. He and Lunsford share the silliest, most embarrassing nude scene in recent history. After some (poorly shot and choreographed) oral sex, the director actually shoots them pulling up their pants so we can see their weenies! A new low of sorts. And yes that Jim guy from American Idol is the gay geek. His character is the closest to a real person, but he's no actor.

This is the worst gay comedy I've seen since All Over the Guy. If you flipped for the West Hollywood drivel, run out and rent this. Otherwise, stick with Trick or Passing Glances, real movies about real gay people.

I only go on so long because I am AMAZED at all the good reviews this film has received. Does the director have hundreds of dear friends, or have gay people lost their common sense and good taste?

Having seen numerous 'funny' or supposedly funny queer films over the years, I have begun to believe that the gay romantic comedy was doomed.

While films like TRICK and others of its nature are pretty, much like cotton candy at the state fair, it's pretty but eventually it makes you kind of sick.

Imagine my joy and complete surprise when I saw EATING OUT. Warned in advance that it was a queer take on the college sex comedy ala PORKY'S and ANIMAL HOUSE, I was concerned that it was going to be another one of those good faith efforts that falls far too flat, BUT NO!

The cast was brilliant, carrying off incredibly witty and sharp dialog that snapped harder than Rupaul. With characters that had big personalities to carry, it is impressive that no one delved into cartoonish behavior or stereotypes. And as for any haters that have trouble with some of the non-pc language, let me remind you that the bland and non-offensive is rarely funny (see Chris Rock, Richard Pryor, Bernie Mac, etc for examples)

I have not laughed harder or enjoyed a film more since the first PULP FICTION (in a completely different way) and I cannot wait to see what Q.Allan Brocka brings to the big screen next.

This is the perfect date movie, friend movie, or rent it at home and eat popcorn kind of movie. Completely entertaining and worth far more than the usual admission. Anecdote - at the screening I attended that sold out show received a standing ovation, 1400 fans can't be wrong!

I just got in from watching this movie with a friend of mine. Though, he laughed at maybe 3 jokes this movie tried to force feed us I'd have to say we were more amused and embarrassed by this movie if we had to explain why others heard us laugh. The dialog was wretched. It was Buffy-like speak and at the beginning it was way over done. I had to turn to my friend and ask him if we as gay men were expected to talk like this all the time. The acting was over the top by almost all the actors save for Caleb which was so understated that it made his passive character seem like a doormat. I think the only character that was remotely interesting was Tiffany (the dildo-wielding gal) since we could understand why she had to be over the top. There's nothing to expect from her as a character.

The two lead guys are hot to watch but not much to write home about when it comes to their acting abilities. The blonde gal with the freaky hair at the end was excruciating. If I were her roommate I would have moved out a long time ago and changed Social Security numbers. The worst was that whole dinner scene with the parents. Talk about the need for acting classes and while we're at - directing classes or a whole new 4 year degree at another film school.

As far as the nude scene by the two guys, while it was gratuitous I say why the hell not? Women are subjected to this 50 times more than men are in mainstream movies. It's time the USA caught up with the rest of the world when it comes to the nude male form in film. I keep thinking Jack Valenti sitting in his personal screening room sweating bullets at the mere thought of a man's penis flashed in his face. It is what is and while it didn't add anything to this film or speak highly of the director's creative acumen it at least is a step in the right direction for the male form in cinema.