Save Me, starring Chad Allen, Robert Gant and Judith Light, narrowly (by 1 point) beat out Opening Night favorite Breakfast with Scot to snag the Reel Affirmations Audience Award.
The intersection of homosexuality and religion comes into sharp focus at the ex-gay ministry run by Judith and her husband. The Christian aspect of life at Genesis House is rarely played for laughs and is afforded a nobility of cause that in other scripts might have been lost. The men residing at the home, a fairly whitebread assortment of gay men in various stages of "acceptance" are treated as family members, privy to secrets and (and often quick to exploit shared confidences in moments of pique).
Chad Allen, the bad boy battling both meth and mommy issues, soon falls into an easy comraderie with Robert Gant, whose long tenure, ties to the area and affable nature has accorded him favored status among the other men, the townsfolk and Judith.
What lends Save Me its heart is the struggle both men endure as they grow closer, foregoing the "embrace, then agonize" motif expected. Alan is genuinely torn - he basks in praise earned for a scripture reading and takes to heart his role as friend and mentor to the younger men.
Inevitably, matters come to a head - in ways both gasp-inducing and laugh out-loud funny, as the two men's live become more entwined. In the end, though, the dignity and reason that seems to be so often lost on either side of the culture war prevails- imbuing the film with a profound acceptance of what can be gained - by simply adhering to a few basic commandments.
-mm
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
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