›› Fruitcake ‹‹ a short film by Jaymes Thompson. 2003 | 20 mins | US. a succulent slice of gay-to-the-core festive entertainment. Dave says: Showing promise of what was to follow and here cue writer and director Jaymes Thompson's horror spoof The Gay Bed & Breakfast of Terror, here we find Thompson walk on more traditional ground in this gay festive offering. For this is the story of sisters Catherine (Georgia Jean) and Susan (Hilary Schwartz) who return home for the Christmas holiday season much to their mother's delight, bringing with them not only presents, but their current boyfriends in tow: namely Brent (Robert Borzych); an intern at the law firm where Catherine works and budding gay actor and pretend hetero boyfriend Tony (Damian F. Sandolo). All of which puts mother Jenson (Rita Furlong) on-the-spot, when she finds herself with no presents to give to her potential son-in-laws. But that's nothing that a last minute trip to the local shopping mall can't solve. Only as the Jenson clan shop 'til they drop, can the two men be trusted to keep an eye on the turkey, whilst keeping their hands off each other? And the answer to that is all but obvious, as here Thompson delivers what is in essence a succulent slice of gay-to-the-core festive entertainment. Yet in setting up his narrative stall, the opening nine minutes or so are filled with almost as many characters as in an Agatha Christie murder mystery and frankly, some of them could have done with being killed of. Given what you really wanted to see was the developing relationship between the two men. Thankfully, the balance of the short is devoted to that, with Sandolo delighting in the part of the sexually confident gay guy of the piece, a role that's nicely juxtaposed with Borzych's sensitive portrayal of the more reserved character of the two, unsure of how to respond to Tony's sexual advances, until – well, needs must! Intercut with a number of fantasy sequences to add some gay va-va-voom to the plot and complete with spirited performances for one and all, this short has a lot going for it, in spite of the odd cinematic pothole here and there. That Borzych, amongst others, would later reunite in Thompson's debut feature is perhaps of no surprise, given this work feels like the opening reel to the feature that never was. As ever; see what you think. ›› check out the Official FreeView on YouTube. ›› revised: Friday, 9th December, 2022. Gay Visibility - overt | Nudity - from the waist up | Overall - file under ... 3 stars ›› copyright © 2022 David Hall - www.gaycelluloid.com ‹‹ ›› archive reference #386 - revised ‹‹ donations are the lifeblood of Gay Celluloid; every drop helps keep it online - thank you :)