All Kinds of Love is a comedy-drama about the complex love lives of a collection of people living at a relatively slow pace in a small town in the US. We first meet the rather intense, slightly melancholy, Max (Matthew Montgomery) and his more relaxed partner Josh (Steve Callahan), who are splitting up just as the Supreme Court has ruled in favour of marriage equality (2015). They split up because Josh wants an open relationship but that’s not something Max can accept. Max has to eventually move out of their house as Josh is always bringing men home, including the sexy local cop Pete, (Spike Meyer) who is also a stripper. He ends up sharing a place with a much younger room-mate, hip nerdy coder Conrad (Cody Duke). Max is soon to turn 40 and is quite different to Conrad who’s only 25, but the two soon find some common ground and start seeing each other.
We then meet Max’s parents Timothy (Nick Salamone) and Lila (Molly O’Leary), who are new-age hippies and very relaxed about life and their sexuality. They are in a throuple with their tax attorney Drew (Mark Nordike), and we follow the trio as they negotiate some of the issues that being in a throuple can generate. We also meet Conrad’s best friend Trey (Marval A Rex), who is a transman, and is enjoying a phase of hook-ups with lots of men.
Written and directed by David Lewis, All Kinds of Love is refreshing in that the diverse group of queer characters don’t conform to any established queer stereotypes. The small-town USA setting is cute and the characters are mostly quite nerdy, wearing geeky knitwear etc; and not shy to hide what’s different about themselves. None of the men are shy about full-frontal nudity either! The film feels a little like a queer episode of Dawson’s Creek. That’s fine if that’s what you want, but if you’re looking for innovative filmmaking, then you might find the script, cinematography, and acting a little unchallenging.
Queerguru’s Contributing Editor Ris Fatah is a successful fashion/luxury business consultant (when he can be bothered) who divides and wastes his time between London and Ibiza. He is a lover of all things queer, feminist, and human rights in general. @ris.fatah
