A likable comedy with some famous comedians, it is an unlikable event in reality. This is a story which came out a prank by two brothers. Barry (Jonathan Silvers) places an Internet ad for his brother Todd (Jonathan Bray) on a gay website. When Todd goes to meet his date at a gay coffee shop he had no idea it was a man, Kelly (Wilson Cruz.) They both have a lot of things in common and a friendship develops. But everybody in Todd’s world, including his co-workers, starts believing that he is gay. His mother (Sally Kirkland) arrives into town to see the news and tries to be the newly understanding mother of a gay son.

Kelly and Todd finally have sex as an experiment but proves what Todd has been saying all along, he is not gay. The movie ends with a reversal where Barry claims that he is gay (his mother thinks that he is doing it to get attention.) Todd and Kelly remain friends and even discuss about having a family.

This movie is in the same style of Eating Out, with a similar dumb scheme. Even though Coffee Date is a pleasant comedy, the idea of gay men even considering to convert straight guys is preposterous. It is not in the genes and it will never happen. And this idea has been portrayed in many movies, DUMB!!! The movie does have one redeeming quality, true friendship goes beyond all barriers. It gets a plus for that.

“Coffee Date”

OOOps!!!!

Amos Lassen

A hit at GLBT festivals, “Coffee Date” is still going strong. It’s a very funny and touching look at the nature of friendship and sexual preference. Within it are some of the best performances and good writing that we have had in independent gay cinema in quite some time

The beginning of the film is about an internet date that goes all wrong. That very same date ends up being the start of a beautiful friendship. The director, Steward Wade, expanded what was originally a short film to a full length movie by having the friendship between the two main characters, Todd and Kelly, develop in many different directions.

There is a lot to admire here. For a low budget film it has a lot to say about sexual identity as it looks carefully at hetero-homo angst. Here it is what would happen to a straight man if everyone he knew thought he was gay.

Jonathan Bray is Todd, the straight man in the film. He is not just straight but he thinks himself to be the epitome of straightness. Having been a âaefratâ boy, he aspires to the world of the yuppies but looking for something more than dates of one night. When he goes on a blind date arranged by his brother, he is surprised that his date, Kelly (Wilson Cruz) is a man. What surprises him more that despite their sexual differences, they have a great deal in common.

Todd, in retaliation against his brother, plays a joke by pretending that he and Kelly slept together. Todd could have never expected what was to follow. His mother adores gay men and fees as if she has a new lease on life with a gay son while, at the same time, Kelly is grappling with feelings that he has for his new straight friend.

What makes the entire situation even more interesting is that is something that, indeed, could happen. We have seen that in our struggle for acceptance and equality, many straight men have aligned themselves with us. Even the most self-secure heterosexuals can possibly doubt themselves when they are faced with complete disbelief. With that, âaeCoffee Dateâ falls into all the areas associated with the premise. Masquerading as comedy are the old, tired ideas of both homo- and hetero- sexual behavior and the real laughs are few and far between because the entire situation is plausible.

However, “Coffee Date” does play with stereotypical notions which meant as comedy do not amuse. When Kelly shakes hands with Todd, Todd, who realizes that Kelly is gay, wipes his hand on his shirt and I found this to be somewhat insulting. I also found Todd’s reaction to a gay man standing next to him at a urinal to be insulting as well as the standard gay palaver about Streisand and Garland.

With that said, the movie is by and large entertaining. All of us, at one time or another, have been labeled as what we are not. Some of us have fallen for straight guys as well even though we know that affection will never be returned. I am sure that all of us have had blind dates and they were not always what we expected. If you focus on the plot which is somewhat shallow and superficial, you wonâ’t get much from the movie. However, if you sit back and relax, you will not only have some great laughs but a story that is easy to identify with. Even with the laughs, the film is quite sensitive and touching.