I don't know why, but I can't quite understand what's going on there. It was very sweet, but why did Vincent hold Alex's hand? Is Alex gay and Vincent was just trying to be nice? I loved the movie, but that moment left me wondering.
shareJust friends. Alex had OCD. He took off his glove and actually touched Vincent's hand/made skin to skin contact. It was more of an exercise for his condition.
"How would you know? You can't even shake someone's hand?" - Vincent to Alex after Alex told Vincent that Marie didn't love him.
"Each ending is merely a new beginning."
Thanks, man
shareI think it's a lot more complicated than that, but before I explain any further, I'll start by saying *I'm* gay, just so you this isn't about bashing anybody or making rash judgments. I'm telling you what I see as an "insider" who recognizes the little signs that straight people miss.
Dev Patel is a good enough actor to really make you wonder, "Is he or isn't he?" But there are several clues throughout the movie that Alex is really gay. The biggest comes near the beginning when he's afraid that Dr. Ross might have told Vincent that he (Alex) was gay. This would never have occurred to him if Dr. Ross didn't already know Alex's orientation (which you *would* tell a therapist if you wanted her to really understand you). I mean, sure, he has delusions of hitting a person when he drives though a pothole - but he's not schizophrenic, so his delusions don't come out of nowhere. They start with facts and his fear makes him interpret them in the worst way possible. So His delusion that Dr. Ross told Vincent he was gay must have started with the *fact* that Dr. Ross knows he's gay.
Then there are other clues, like Marie teasing him about wanting to go to San Francisco and flashing her boobs at him to make him stop watching her and Vincent. There's also a bit where Alex is driving and looks at Vincent in the car mirror - looking *just* at Vincent - and he has a subtle expression of longing on his face.
Now to the hand-holding scene. First Alex tries to touch Vincent's hair. That's what you do when you're into someone. And even I, as a lesbian, can appreciate the beauty of Vincent's dark curls. I'd love to run my fingers through them. Alex backs off at the last second, but notice - really study - Alex's expression when he gets to hold Vincent's hand. He's not just happy to have made a breakthrough by touching someone. It's partly that, but he's also got a "shy kid having his first kiss" kind of look. Then a moment later he turns his head and snuggles into his pillow in just the same body position as Vincent is snuggling against Marie. Alex is imagining snuggling against Vincent the same way.
Now, none of this cheapens the scene for either character; it makes it more significant. Alex *has* still made a breakthrough by touching someone without his gloves on. Vincent's mostly supporting him in that breakthrough - but also in accepting him as gay (Remember that at the beginning, Alex was afraid of him finding out). Vincent must have sensed Alex's hand near his hair, which clued him in to what Alex was attempting; and when Alex failed, Vincent put his hand out as a safe alternative.
Incidentally, when the two of them end up going off alone at the end of the movie, they'll always just be friends even if Vincent wishes they could be more. This is totally realistic. How many of us have been in a relationship like that? We *can* still be friends with our crushes, and that's what Alex will do, now that he knows Vincent accepts him...well, unless Vincent turns out to be bi, but that's just my fantasy. ;-)