The Journey of Jared Price (2000)

User Rating:

7.5/10   

Director:

Dustin Lance Black

Writer:

Dustin Lance Black (writer)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Plot:

Along a young man's search for independence and sexual discovery are deceit, loneliness and perhaps a chance to love.

Plot Keywords:

Youth Hostel | Same Sex Situation | Coming Out | Gay Teenager | Gay Interest

Cast

Corey Spears	...	Jared Price
Mark Marsh	...	Hostel Manager
Jarrad Webster	...	Javier (as Jared Lee Webster)
Josh Jacobson	...	Robert
Rocki Craigg	...	Mrs. Haines
Steve Tyler	...	Matthew Haines
Bryan Shyne	...	Andrew
Gillian Harris	...	Kate

Runtime:

96 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Singapore:(Banned) | USA:Unrated

Company:

10% Productions

Quotes:

[after deciding that he can't go through with the ménage-à-trois]
Jared Price: Please. Don't touch me right now.

A Good Script, A Fine Cast, a So-So Production

THE JOURNEY OF JARED PRICE is a small budget Indie that has so much going for it that overlooking the squeaky production values is not a problem. Though it is obvious that the film was made in a short time with a minimal budget (the quality of the film is washed out to almost variations of gray), the direction and the cast serve the screenplay by writer/director Dustin Lance Black well. It has some very fine moments.

Jared Price (Corey Spears), 19 naïve years of age, arrives in Los Angeles from Georgia with high hopes and little money and checks into a youth hostel where he meets Robert (Josh Jacobson) who is more than casually attentive to the oblivious but interested Jared, and finds a job as an attendant to blind woman Mrs. Haines (Rocki Craigg), a kind and wise wealthy lonely lady whose son Matthew (Steve Tyler) is 'paying for' someone to give his mother the attention she needs. Jared and Mrs. Haines quickly bond, each supplying the care and tenderness the other needs. Matthew is living the high life on his mother's wealth and is in a long-term (but only partially non-monogamous) relationship with Andrew (Bryan Shyne) and when he meets Jared the signals go up and Matthew introduces Jared to his first physical relationship. Matthew's only conscience is his work partner Kate (Gillian Harris) who warns Matthew to be true to Andrew and not to pursue Jared. But as the tryst between Matthew and Jared deepens, each of the men learns more about himself and what is actually important in life and the story ends with enlightened views of the meaning of love.

Each of the actors does a fine job finding the core of each character and there is enough comedy to keep the drama afloat. Yes, there are scenes of bedroom activity, but they for the most part are done with taste. This is a fine example of how a good story and crew can make a good movie on a minimal budget. Were that there were more of these...Grady Harp