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Movie Preview: My Girlfriend's Boyfriend

Dateline: 05/08/98

Yes it's true, there are more and more "mainstream" movies with GLBT themes. Philadelphia probably started what has become a trend due to its commercial and critical success, and both Birdcage and In & Out scored big with audiences who also loved the flamboyant "gay friend" role in My Best Friend's Wedding. Chasing Amy was more about the angst of love than orientation, but the gay themes and vibes, without judgment, were certainly there.

However, with the exception of Chasing Amy, smaller "Gay and Lesbian" films are generally relegated to small film houses with minimal screenings or GLBT Film Festivals. In recent memory Desert Hearts seems to fit into this category.

A film like Bar Girls may eventually wend its way to the shelves of Blockbuster (which it has, at least in my neighborhood), but that's highly unusual, and most smaller GLBT films are only seen by a small group of people.

Scheduled for release this summer is a new film called My Girlfriend's Boyfriend, which I had the privilege of previewing earlier this week.

An Enlightenment Productions film by Kenneth Shapiro, My Girlfriend's Boyfriend can best be described as a comedy, with a little screwball and bedroom farce thrown in for good measure. Although the writing wasn't quite on par with Neil Simon standards, some of the situations did remind me of Simon's earlier works; situations such as those found in California Suite.

My Girlfriend's Boyfriend stars some known names such as Valerie Perrine and Deborah Gibson (better known as 70's pop star Debbie Gibson), along with Chris Bruno of All My Children and a very lovely actress from Beverly Hills 90210 who looks super in her lingerie.

The basic plot is simple - Male Soap Hunk Star "needs" to wed in order to protect his career. Fiance doesn't know he's gay. His lover of six years isn't too happy about the concept. And the Maid of Honor's boyfriend of the moment gets caught up in all the shenanigans with a few twists for him as well.

Is this a "gay" movie? I don't know. I can't define what a "gay" movie is, frankly. Is this a fun movie? Absolutely. Nobody is stereotyped (other than the oversexed - or at least wannabe oversexed - mother of the bride) and everybody is an intregal part of the plot in one way or another, including a couple of surprising twists.

What's nicest about the film is that you truly don't know what's going to happen next, and just when you think you do, or you've decided who is "right" and who is "wrong" - something happens to change your mind. While you won't be going crazy wondering what's going to happen, you do come to care about each of the characters and want to know what's "next" for each and every one of them.

Do me a favor. Make it a point to find where this film is playing this summer (I'll do my best to keep you posted) and go see it with some friends - - - including straight friends. Let's show we can support more than just the big name and big money productions so that one day there will be more and more movies to go to where we can say, "Yeah! That's me up there!"

[can't you just picture RuPaul on the bow of a ship shouting, "I'm Queen of the Woooooooooooorld!"]

In Pride,
Deborah

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