Frank and Percy ✩✩✩✩
The Other Palace, London
Loneliness has a special fear for a generation of senior gay men. There were those who lived before the legalization of gay sex, those who loved before the establishment of marriage equality, and those who lost friends, lovers and peers to the AIDS crisis before medication became available. Loneliness is a misery to all, but for some it has had the added dread of inevitability.
Even though loneliness is the unspoken backdrop of Frank and Percy, written by Ben Weatherill and directed by Sean Matthias there is such consistent charm and humour to the story of Frank, (Roger Allam) a so far largely straight widower, and Percy (Ian McKellen) a gay divorcee who meet on a park bench while walking their dogs, that it easily strides into rom-com territory. Some of the challenges they face are of a distinctly senior origin, the wait for viagra to kick in takes the shine off their first intimate tryst, but the rest is reassuringly standard rom-com fare. They each have their personal issues to overcome before they are ready for love. Percy is used to being the progressive champion. He is devastated when his latest book causes him to get canceled due to his reactionary views on climate change by the very generation who benefited from his campaigning on gay rights. He struggles to accept that Frank’s views are now deemed more progressive than his. Frank has been adjacent to the gay cause due to his dead wife’s service to AIDS patients as a nurse but has never actually had to acknowledge his own bisexual desires. Frank can’t see a new love for Percy as anything but a betrayal of his first love for his wife. It may seem a little complicated, but like any rom com, it boils down to one thing, love flourishes once people get out of their own way.
The humor is the most consistent element of this tale. There is a bucket full of one-liners nicely delivered and well received by the audience, The story itself rambles, but like a wander through the Yorkshire Dales, it has delights around each bend. Maybe not the high drama of ascending Everest but certainly the reward of delicious lemon drizzle cake and quenching Earl Grey once the rocky bits are out of the way. McKellen delivers an ageless mischievous charm that, if we dare utter the word about an actor over 80, shows that sexy isn’t dependent on how many times you have been around the block or the blokes. It is possible to be the romantic gay lead at 84. Allam also deftly avoids being the ‘straight man’ in the comedy with his easy affability and ability to puncture Percy’s ego without skewering his heart.
While it’s refreshing to have a tale about senior gay love that
properly addresses its challenges, especially for a generation
for whom loneliness seemed inevitable, here at Queerguru we
don’t want to bury the headline.Gays deserve rom-coms!
Older gays deserve rom-coms! But only good ones.
And Frank and Percy is.
Queerguru Contributing Editor ANDREW HEBDEN is a MEDIA & CULTURAL STUDIES graduate spending his career between London, Beijing, and NYC as an expert in media and social trends. As part of the expanding minimalist FIRE movement, he recently returned to the UK and lives in Soho. He devotes as much time as possible to the movies, theatre, and the gym. His favorite thing is to try something (anything) new every day”
Labels: 2023, Andrew Hebden, Frank and Percy, Ian McKellen, London, review, Roger Allam, Rom com, Sean Mathias, The Other Palace
