Ben is a 35 year old rather handsome single gay man who’s looking for love. He part owns a successful Gym which means he is both fit and also exposed to a whole range of men working out on a daily basis. But that evidently doesn’t help his quest at all, so he turns to video and Internet dating to find a suitable boyfriend but that turns out to be a disaster. And just as he is about to give up on it all, the answer to his search turns up on his front door. Well, Gray literally jogs past his house everyday in the hope that Ben will eventually speak to him.
A chat leads to a date, and very soon both guys are completely smitten with each other. Ben is the old fashioned type that believes in true love and living happily ever after with one man, but Gray on the other hand pronounces that he has never ever been sexually monogamous. Ben thinks that will all change now that they are dating, but it doesn’t and when Gray feels the need to confess that he had sex with another guy, Ben is devastated. They have ‘words’, some great (explicit) make-up sex, and Ben recovers. Until the next time. This time he cannot deal with Gray saying that he loves him and in the next breath says he has been playing away again.
That’s too much for Ben who asks Gray to leave once and for all, and that is the end of the matter. Or is it?
This movie is based on actor/writer/producer Ronnie Kerr’s (Ben) own story so I guess for him this is very much like a very public therapy session. It has a great deal of resonance for gay men who are having trouble finding a traditional mate in a contemporary dating society where both the methods and the goals have changed somewhat. It’s a fun and amusing take on the whole dating dilemma but don’t expect anything new or startling to be revealed here or you any tips for your own love life.
Ben’s well-meaning straight friends were annoyingly patronizing, but credit where it is due, the performances by the two charming leads (Scott Gabelin and Mr Kerr) were convincingly real and a joy to watch. Brownie point too for the excellent way that they covered the delicate topic of HIV in relation to meeting prospective new partners.
A wee sweet romantic film that has its moments and at least shows you that there is gay life and love beyond bars and clubs.
