a short film by Dave O'Brien 2006 | 14 mins | US ›› Straight Boys an earnest take on falling in love, the best friend way. Oh if only I had a penny for every time the well worn scenario of "a gay guy falling in love with his straight best friend" reared its cinematic head. And sure enough this marks yet another outing of the genre, one that tells the story of gay boy Ben, besotted as he is with his roommate Morgan. Trouble is, Morgan's straight and in love with Sarah; a girl increasingly aware of the direction of Ben's sexual longing. That is, before a word from Ben's best friend Lori forces him to get real with a love, forever unrequited. Or is it? Enjoyable, if hardly groundbreaking and yet this University of Southern California production has an earnest quality to it that rings true to life. For how many of us at some point have fallen in love, the best friend way? That this work sets out to illustrate the reality of the situation, is a positive side to an otherwise pedestrian piece, one that plays it all too safe for my liking and not just the ending. Thankfully a couple of fantasy sequences add some spice to a mix that includes Damian Pelliccione as Ben and Ethan Mechare as looking for love Alex, both of prior He Was Perfect / True Love credit. Enough said. Gay Visibility - overt.  Nudity - strictly from the waist up.  Overall - file under ... 2+ stars.  available on DVD as part of the Wolfe Video catalogue - 'Available Men' release starring: Damian Pelliccione / Ben, Nick Bartzen / Morgan, Vanessa Born / Lori, Jenna Allen / Sarah and Ethan Mechare as Alex. Copyright 2011 David Hall - www.gaycelluloid.com. archive reference #392 ›› previous page | back to top | print me ‹‹