Review of The Big Gay Musical (2009) by Ryan J — 05 Jun 2010

This movie had a lot of potential that it never met. It addresses a lot of issues that queer men encounter but in a very after-school-special way. The dialog often felt like it was ripped right from a self-help book due to the crappy writing and equally awful acting.

While meta musicals work in some instances (think "Chicago" and "Dreamgirls"), this film's attempt to weave a musical narrative along with the spoken one was often a giant stretch. All the characters could carry a tune, but none of the leads stuck out during their performances. In fact, the most powerful musical performance comes from a character only seen in the musical narrative, but even it was out of place and seemed to drag along. You would think the last big musical exclamation would go to the leads of both stories, but their voices could never do it justice.

HIV, hooking up, dating, musicals, coming out, sex, losing one's virginity: They're all topics that could entertainingly covered in a campy musical, but it has to be done with charm, actual direction, great actors and witty banter.