Eban and Charley (2000)

User Rating:

5.4/10   

Director:

James Bolton

Writer:

James Bolton (written by)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Plot:

Charley is turning 15. For the past year, since his mother's death, he has lived in Seaside, Oregon...

Plot Keywords:

Gay | Man Boy Love | First Gay Sexual Experience | Pedophile | Youth

Cast

Brent Fellows	...	Eban
Gio Black Peter	...	Charley (as Giovanni Andrade)
Ellie Nicholson	...	Sunshine
Drew Zeller	...	Kevin
Pam Munter	...	Eban's Mother
Ron Upton	...	Eban's Father
Nolan Chard	...	Charley's Father (as Nolan V. Chard)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Deanna Alexich	...	Girlfriend
Greg McMickle	...	Cab Driver
Jennifer Utley	...	Record Store Clerk

Runtime:

86 min

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Filming Locations:

Astoria, Oregon, USA

Company:

Harcamone Films

What is Mr. Bean doing in your room?

Realistically, it is not exactly uncommon for adults (especially males) to be physically attracted to someone who is young, even below the age of consent. Someone who has just come into full physical development, someone who is fresh, lean, and taut, can be pretty exciting eye candy for more people than government and cultural leaders would like to admit -- and it's also a far cry from pedophilia (key term being "full physical development"). But with this uncomfortable reality check should come another -- if you actually have a conversation with a 15-year-old for more than three minutes, you should realize why it's completely inappropriate to date one.

This film seems to be nothing more than a justification for such a relationship. And within this justification is one embarrassing scenario after another. The 29-year-old Eban character is completely infatuated with 15-year-old Charley, and Eban woos in a variety of ways that could only be construed as awkward and downright creepy (this is not helped by the amateur dialogue pauses and the poor acting performance of Brent Fellows). Even the writing and presentation of many of the scenes intended to move the film's audiences are incredibly juvenile, something an adolescent might take seriously beyond an idle daydream.

...which brings me to another point. The controversial message of the film has one especially glaring contradiction. If the film is trying to open the minds of its audiences, to break down the seemingly arbitrary barriers of age in the name of love, it actually ends up underscoring the inappropriateness of a relationship involving an adolescent and an adult. Maybe this was all intended by writer/director James Bolton, which would add an interesting dimension to the film, but judging by the places he takes us, I somehow doubt it. At one point in the film Eban declares, "I like younger people" -- it is made clear that his attractions are exclusive to adolescent males. If Eban discovers the spirit that love come before all else, in the face of all adversity, and that this is a good thing, one can't help but wonder what happens to the magical relationship when Charlie passes into adulthood. And this is how the futility and inappropriateness of the relationship is inadvertently revealed. Most importantly, one should remember, as physically developed as a 15-year-old may be (i.e. "grass on the field"), there is no 15-year-old, no matter how bright and on what level of natural genius, that has reached an acceptably sane degree of emotional development. But it is also clear that the population of adult men and women who do not see this in their pursuits of adolescents have severe emotional blocks of their own.

All that said, my one extra star is meant to applaud the acting performances of both Giovanni Andrade, playing Charlie (whose natural talent was miles ahead of Brent Fellows (Eban)), and Ron Upton, who despite a lack of appearances played Eban's father with an acting professionalism and skill not to be seen elsewhere in the film.