GAY
FILM REVIEWS BY MICHAEL D. KLEMM
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GAY
FILM REVIEWS BY MICHAEL D. KLEMM
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East Side Story Wolfe
Video, Director: Screenplay: Starring: Unrated, 88 minutes |
Three
To Tango
Carlos Portugal's East Side Story is a romantic comedy that also hammers the audience over the head with a subplot involving neighborhood prejudice. Rene Alvarado stars as Diego, a cute young Latino who works in his grandmother's L.A. Mexican eatery. He is a Culinary Institute graduate who dreams of someday opening a much trendier restaurant. "How can you leave here?" his grandmother asks, "There are so many memories. You were toilet trained in that kitchen." |
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 Things
get even more complicated when Diego meets the new neighbors who have just
moved next door to the home that he shares with his grandmother. When he
takes a plate of his grandmother's enchiladas over as a housewarming present,
Wesley (Steve Callahan) answers the door, shirtless, and Diego's heart is
aflutter. It seems that the attraction may be mutual but Wesley has a rather
bitchy partner named Jonathon (Cory Schneider) who, upon seeing Diego, assumes
he is a delivery boy. Jonathon, we soon discover, is quite bigoted towards
Latinos and, when Diego answers his nosy questions and remarks that his
parents are dead, Jonathon loudly asks "Was it gang related?" Wesley
sees their domicile as being their first real home together while Jonathon
views it as merely a business investment and, distrusting their new surroundings,
wants to flip it as soon as possible. Which brings us to the secondary plot...
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Many old school Latinos in the neighborhood see the affluent gay couples moving in as an invasion and a sign of the apocalypse. One of them, an old man who works in the restaurant, has just written an angry letter to the newspaper in which he rants that "white homos are buying our houses" and that "if we don't do something now we will all wind up being their gardeners." Bianca berates the old man for his views, outing Diego, in the process. This will cause much ado as the story unfolds. While Diego fumes over being outed and being dumped by Pablo, he finds that Wesley is paying a lot of attention to him. Don't tell me you didn't see this coming... |
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 At
times it is rather sweet, often it is a bit over the top to the point of
becoming a bad sitcom - albeit an R-rated one. Injecting social commentary
to make the film more serious, the levity is frequently broken by bits of
bigotry from the surrounding environs. First, and foremost, is the old cook
from the restaurant. His character is not in the least bit funny and is,
in fact, downright ugly. He might as well be the Reverend Fred Phelps. His
refusal to prepare a dinner, for two gay patrons, sparks a confrontation
that becomes just a tad too extreme when he drops dead of a heart
attack in the middle of his anti-gay tirade. Here's where the film gets
too heavy handed, the writing becomes forced, and I think a little more
restraint was in order. |
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However, most of the movie is a comedy and there is no shortage of amusing and witty dialogue. I especially liked when Bianca told Diego to live a little and that he has plenty of time to meet a guy, settle down and adopt a crack baby. Diego is unable, at first, to confess his hook-ups with Pablo and when he hints that her new boyfriend might have done it with other guys, Bianca answers "So what! I've done it with girls. There was this Swedish model named Ingrid..." |
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Most viewers will fall for this film too and, unlike me, will probably overlook its flaws. This one is perfect to curl up with a date and a bowl of popcorn.
Steve Callahan
also appears in:
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Diego
also has a "straight" boyfriend. His fuck-buddy, Pablo (David Beron),
is a young realtor who insists on keeping his personal and professional
lives separate. Diego sees them as being a couple while Pablo is a closeted
gay man who wants it both ways. Despite the role playing games they enjoy
whenever they have sex, Pablo wants a trophy wife to go with his business
persona and he finds one when he meets Diego's young and beautiful aunt,
Bianca (Gladys Jimenez). Bianca has just returned from Europe with tales
of yet another failed relationship, this time with a Count. She gets involved
with the wrong man again when she falls in love with Pablo - who has ordered
Diego to keep his mouth shut regarding their past trysts. 
For
the most part, East Side Story
is a funny movie that explores the trials and tribulations of two tangled
love triangles. The volatility of each situation promises explosive payoffs
for the audience and the film is anything but dull. The humor
is, at times, a bit broad but it usually delivers. Masculinity roles are
given a workout. When Diego confesses that he is love with him, Pablo
tells him that he's "starting to sound like a woman." But when Bianca's
sexual advances become too aggressive for Pablo, he abandons the traditional
hetero male role and says that he wants to wait. This guy is so
unsure of himself sexually that his discomfort is actually a pleasure
to watch. Look for the scene where Bianca goes down on Pablo and the only
way he can get aroused is to pretend he is the evil Border Patrol guard
from the play-acting he did with Diego in the film's opening.
To
their credit, the filmmakers attempt some balance by making Wesley's partner,
Jonathon, a xenophobe who thinks every Latino he sees is a gangbanger.
His hatred of Diego is motivated as much by racism as it is by jealousy.
Rather than being a complete cartoon, Jonathan is given a reason
to be afraid of the neighborhood; he grew up in a trailer in Mississippi
and doesn't want to go through that again. Meanwhile, gays and
Latinos alike have stopped patronizing the restaurant and Diego, who has
never felt comfortable being out as a gay man here, wants to open his
dream bistro in another city.
East
Side Story
is a pleasant movie, professionally filmed and nicely acted by all. Irene
DeBari is a delight as the grandmother who knows more about what is going
on than she first lets on. There are genuine sparks between Diego and
Pablo and between Diego and Wesley. There are sensuous kisses and
several shirtless scenes but not much shown in the way of actual lovemaking.
Not that there's anything wrong with that, it's just a change of pace
for an American queer indie to not have a gratuitous sex scene
at every available opportunity. What it certainly has is romance. As Diego
says, "Latinos, we don't mess around. When we fall [for someone], we fall."