a short film by Dennis Shinners 2007 | 15 mins | US ›› Area X a wide-eyed boy gets captivated by a seductive hustler Cited as being the story of a father who takes his gay son to a seedy motel in order to ‘make him a man,’ this is in reality the tale of a teenage runaway who finds himself having to fend for himself when he hurriedly exits stage left in order to avoid the heterosexual services of a local hooker, not much older than himself. Ending up at a run down bar in New York City, Paul aka ‘Ron’ to strangers, soon finds himself the object of attention of Marco; a seductive hustler who after a beer or two, takes ‘Ron’ in to the back room - up close and personal style. Only what specific part of this young mans’ body is street wise Marco really interested in? Written, produced and directed by Dennis Shinners, this poignant short has much to say about life. Yet its central theme, namely the plight of a young man who ends up alone in the big city in the middle of the night, is not delivered sermon style. For this is a dialogue driven work, akin to eavesdropping on the private conversation between two people in a bar; one worldly wise and the other new to the pros and cons of city life. To that end, Matt Schuneman is every inch the wide-eyed boy of the piece, captivated by the fast-talking charm of Antony Raymond, who as Marco shines in the role. That it ends with you yearning to learn more of the relationship between the two and indeed if Paul survives the night, makes this more than just an engaging short, given it highlights those who arrive in the Big Apple by way of the Port Authority Bus Terminal, only to end up on the streets below, known locally as 'Area X.' available on DVD as part of the Peccadillo Pictures catalogue - 'Boys on Film 3: American Boy' release starring: Matt Schuneman, Antony Raymond, Joseph De Santis, Tom Gibson, Anthony Galluccio Copyright 2009 David Hall - www.gaycelluloid.com. archive reference #246 ›› previous page | back to top | print me ‹‹