Bedrooms And Hallways
Rose Troche introduced herself to us in 1994 with the small budget,
pleasant lesbian love story called Go Fish which was set in the
United States.
Her very assured Bedrooms And Hallways moves its locale to urban
England and follows the will I, won't I musings of Leo (Kevin McKidd).
He's fallen for five o'clock shadowed Irishman Brendan (James
Purefoy) but Leo fears he might have got himself into trouble. He's
terrified of falling in live with a straight man.
But is Brendan straight or gay or both? He's just come out of a
long standing relationship with a woman.
The two men meet at a men's s group run by a serious eyed and
voiced Keith (Four Weddings and a Funeral's Simon Callow).
It would seem that Rose Troche and her team find a lot that goes
on at these groups to be pretty funny. There's much clasping of
the "honesty rock" and a particularly apt solution to catering.
Meanwhile the sexually unambiguous characters get their fair
shake. The flag is flown strongly for all sexual inclinations.
Very camp Darren (Tom Hollander) knows what he wants. He's having
a great time with Jeremy a real estate agent played with terrific
intensity by Australian actor Hugo Weaving. They sneak into people's
houses which are on the market to have sex.
Leo is wavering, he's showing some interest in women as well as
in Brendan and Darren is incensed, expecting calls from the sex
police.
Meanwhile Angie and Sybil have no qualms about being happily
heterosexual. But all remains fluid.
Bedrooms and Hallways is a cheerful comedy romance with a
homosexual bent. It gathers pace in its final third when, as in
nearly all comedy romances, everyone finds a mate and/or a lover.
There are plenty of laughs in what is a smart, impressive new
movie from Rose Troche.
Things have changed over the years in films. The boys and girls
used to be nearly ten years younger in these sorts of comedies and
we were used to them finding a life long, heterosexual partner in
the final reel, to then live happily ever after.
These days a three night trial liaison is probably more than can
be expected, a situation which more suitably fits the thirty
somethings these films are about.
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