My shameful secret - Don't Look At Me!!

This movie is dripping with so much conflict resolution, it's forcing some within me. I ... I think I finally understand the stereotypical gay guy draw to the old southern classics. I think I owe some Vivien Leigh fans an apology. Is this movie ported from a play? I thought I read that somewhere, and it would explain why these characters are so theatrical.

And, damn, these actors make you feel it, don't they?! Is it just me or do these actors fill the spaces between lines with more dialog than spoken word? Everybody was just so good! Karen Black is a hoot as the nutty matriarch - just the right amount of over the top. "Oh God! Do we have freezer burns?! Just teasin'!!" Aleksa plays a perfect seething, sultry southern belle. That feisty bitch maneuvers between 'kill you with a look' to vulnerable with ease. Mucho bravo to our two leading gents. It's rare to see actors in roles like these who can sell an honest, powerful love for another man without it seeming overtly, well, gay, I guess. I mean, usually when you see two guys kiss, either you've been seeing their inner Alexis Arquette the whole time so a kiss comes as no surprise; or they play it so straight that acts of affection come across as forced, mechanical, and lack believability. True, I would have liked to see a little more intimate affection between these two; but then again perhaps it's the lack thereof that maintains the transcendent quality of their love. Again I say, these actors pour volumes into the things left unsaid, and perhaps the actions left undone are a part of it as well. Besides, if given my way things would probably devolve to the obscene pretty quickly. >;) Goggins, you charming rascal; I would have gone with you. And Dan Montgomery is seriously fulfilling some Jamie Bamber/Apollo fantasies for me (... Oh Galactica; there will always be a hole in my heart, with you gone.)

Not to mention - IT'S OTHO!!! Everytime I see him I just want to grab his face with a fist full of prawns and do the calypso! (Tim Burton fans in the house - holla!)

I didn't really care much about the whole 'his aunt is his mother' story arc. It was enough she got out of the house. And the incest angle?? Guess we're trying to make homosexuality less deviant by comparison. Plus, like so many others, I can't shake that in the end Griffith should have left with Lee. I mean, the whole damn movie is about him pining to get out of that town - to seek more out of life. Hell, Lee comes back for a proper goodbye and it takes Griffith all of ten seconds to start whining about how there's even less for him there now that Lee and Emily are gone. "So, the greatest happiness I've ever known is heading west to fulfill my lifelong dream? Have fun with that. Send me a postcard." Horsecrap. Perhaps the intention is for therein to lie the tragedy, but it just doesn't make sense - it comes across as forced, mechanical, and lacks believability. Maybe the director's setting us up for the sequel where Griffith and Otho run the fabric store together.

Movies like this aren't normally my bag, but something about this one has me hooked. Maybe, reluctant southerner that I am, I can appreciate how much is often left to subtext down here. Plus, it's nice to see a gay love story set in the south without any pervasive bigotry ... LOL, which firmly sets this story in the realm of fantasy, but still, it's a good fantasy - one I think I'll hold on to. ... Does this mean ... Do I have to subscribe to the Hallmark channel now? <=(

I could use someone's help with something, though. There's a line I've been trying to hear, but just can't quite seem to make out. It's from the scene near the end where Emily is saying her goodbyes to Summer. Emily tells Summer to take care of herself, Summer replies that she will, and then Emily mutters something and I can't figure out what it is. Summer's response is "They did." Presumably it's something about Lee and Griffith. If anyone knows, I'd be interested to find out.