Review of Interior. Leather Bar. (2013) by Jeff G — 04 Feb 2014

It's better viewed as a pure experiment: using reimagining the missing 40 minutes of "Cruising" as a premise to throw a bunch of straight and gay actors together and explore their reactions, discomforts, and interactions, and document that experience. Sort of a meta-documentary.

It's raw and experimental, very reminiscent of early queer cinema. The occasional scripted elements can be distracting but overall rather amusing, Would I watch it if James Franco wasn't involved? Probably not. Neither would anyone in this film be involved if Franco weren't attached. It's the sort of part prank, part experiment that he's famous for-an almost seemingly pointless exercise just for the experience of it. And this film is as close as it gets to being a part of that experience.

I can't say the film succeeds in making its case nor truly revelatory, but there are some enjoyable, honest unscripted dialogues. As a meta-experiment alone it's a pretty damn ballsy one.