Love! Valour! Compassion! Review
by James Berardinelli (berardin AT bc DOT cybernex DOT net)May 20th, 1997
LOVE! VALOUR! COMPASSION!
A film review by James Berardinelli
Copyright 1997 James Berardinelli
RATING (0 TO 10): 7.0
Alternative Scale: *** out of ****
United States, 1997
U.S. Release Date: beginning 5/16/97 (limited)
Running Length: 1:54
MPAA Classification: R (Graphic nudity, profanity, sex, mature themes) Theatrical Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Cast: John Glover, Stephen Bogardus, Jason Alexander, Randy Becker, John Benjamin Hickey, Stephen Spinella, Justin Kirk Director: Joe Mantello
Producers: Doug Chapin, Barry Krost
Screenplay: Terrence McNally
Cinematography: Alik Sakharov
Music: Harold Wheeler
U.S. Distributor: Fine Line Features
Gay movies have come a long way since the release of the seminal THE BOYS IN THE BAND more than twenty-five years ago. With the advent of the millennium, film makers have taken a more even-handed approach to homosexuality. Mainstream films such as PHILADELPHIA and JEFFREY have attracted big-name actors to play sympathetically-written gay men. Now, with the release of first time film director Joe Mantello's LOVE! VALOUR! COMPASSION!, the American movie industry has taken another step forward.
LOVE! VALOUR! COMPASSION! began life in 1994 as an off-Broadway stage production. It drew rave reviews and eventually captured the Tony Award for best play. Now, only three years later, the celluloid adaptation has reached screens, and will become the first widely- available American motion picture to address issues of male intimacy openly and honestly, without resorting to hooks like PHILADELPHIA's courtroom battle. During the last two weeks of May and into June, Fine Line Features intends to distribute the film in dozens of cities across the United States, beginning in New York, San Francisco, and Los Angeles, and spreading outwards from there.
While LOVE! VALOUR! COMPASSION! will obviously appeal to gay audiences (considering that all eight characters are homosexual), the film has plenty to offer straight viewers as well. Much of the humor and drama presented here is universal -- love is, after all, love, regardless of whether it's between a man and a woman, a woman and a woman, or a man and a man. LOVE! VALOUR! COMPASSION! doesn't use homosexual shock tactics to enliven the proceedings. Instead, it carefully and realistically examines a series of relationships, both sexual and platonic, between men.
The eight characters in LOVE! VALOUR! COMPASSION! are not intended to represent a cross-section of gay America, and, as a result, there's little evidence of stereotyping. It's rare for homosexuals in mainstream motion pictures to be presented as individuals rather than icons; LOVE! VALOUR! COMPASSION! defies tradition by proffering its characters as real people with believable problems.
Over the course of three holiday weekends during one summer, a group of eight friends gathers together at a secluded Victorian house for swimming, picnicking, volleyball, and talking. The house is owned by an aging dance choreographer, Gregory (Stephen Bogardus), who lives with his younger, blind companion, Bobby (Justin Kirk). Their guests include John Jeckyll (John Glover), a surly British composer, and his current lover, Ramon (Randy Becker); John's twin, James (also Glover), who is as nice as his brother is nasty; Buzz Hauser (Jason Alexander), a flamboyant showtune aficionado whose HIV+ status casts a grim shadow over his life; and Arthur (John Benjamin Hickey) and Perry (Stephen Spinella), a couple who have been together for fourteen years. As the season progresses from Memorial Day to Independence Day to Labor Day, relationships begin and end, revelations occur, and betrayals are committed.
As is often true of stage productions adapted for film, LOVE! VALOUR! COMPASSION! turns out to be a talky affair, and, even though the dialogue is rich, there are times when the characters seem to be speaking just to hear the poetry of their words. The film also takes a while to get going. This is not an unusual trait for an ensemble piece -- until you get to know the characters a little, it's difficult to become involved in the story. After about the first half-hour, however, LOVE! VALOUR! COMPASSION! hits its stride, and, from that point on, it becomes consistently more engrossing.
Six of the seven New York actors who were featured in the stage version of LOVE! VALOUR! COMPASSION! have re-created their characters for the film, including Tony Award-winner John Glover. The lone no-show is Nathan Lane, who played Buzz and has been replaced by Jason Alexander. Alexander's portrayal is curious, since there are many instances when he appears to be mimicking Lane rather than just playing the character. It's not an ineffective approach, but it occasionally becomes distracting.
For the most part, since the actors know their characters so well, we are treated to a relaxed set of performances. There are hiccups, such as when Justin Kirk goes over-the-top reacting to a family tragedy, but such occasional flaws can attributed to the inherent differences between performing for a camera and on stage. The chemistry developed within the group is evident even to the most casual observer.
As play-to-movie transitions go, LOVE! VALOUR! COMPASSION! is about average. Mantello, who helmed the stage version but has never before directed a film, doesn't do anything especially interesting or radical. He opens things up a little bit, and occasionally uses the closeup effectively, but this is by no means a stunning motion picture debut. Nevertheless, the material he's working with is so strong that even a mundane approach like this fashions a funny, poignant motion picture that's worth seeing regardless of your sexual orientation.
- James Berardinelli
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ReelViews web site: http://www.cybernex.net/~berardin
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