M.O. of M.I. (2002)

User Rating:

5.8/10   

Director:

Susan Turley

Writer:

Aaron Brown (writer)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Michael and Tom are a happy gay couple in Austin Texas until the sexy performance artist/hustler, Jonathon enters their lives. Jonnathon is in hiding. He has a past with Michael and all is not as it seems. |

Plot Keywords:

Gay | Texas | Gay Couple | Ex Boyfriend | Performance Artist

Cast

David Stokey	...	Michael Bradley
David Christopher	...	Jonathon Tori
Cory Schneider	...	Tom Graham
Titos Menchaca	...	Brace
Luis Olmeda	...	Juno
Lane West	...	Charlie
Stephen Clifton	...	Bernard
Edwin Neal	...	Bill
Alan Behr	...	Chip
Brian Stanton	...	Steven
Sallie Guy	...	Jennifer
Tyler Waldrop	...	Cody
Francis Sanchez	...	Detective #1
Nick Harper	...	Stacy Valletti
William Luke	...	Detective #2

MPAA:

Rated R for sexuality, language, violence and drug content.

Runtime:

USA:90 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

USA:R

Filming Locations:

Austin, Texas, USA

Excruciating movie, yet one that exhibits clearly why most gay dramas do not work...

Clever title (aka "The Modus Operandi of Male Intimacy") actually has very little to do with this woeful, overly-ambitious script about a gay hustler (into drugs and blackmail, and involved with gangster types) who appears to come between a gay male couple who can't get through an evening together without arguing. Grafting a pseudo-twisty underworld plot onto a gay scenario (or is that the other way around?) probably sounded like a good idea to writer-director SL (aka Susan) Turley, but it's a bad match. Turley has the germ of a good idea in at least one instance, but she can't seem to get her ambitions onto the high-wire where they need to work (she eventually does go over-the-top, but it's too late). Homosexual dramas involving bickering boyfriends usually exhaust straight viewers (and here, the petty jealousies and immature squabbling are not modulated for a wide audience). Most gay audiences may only want some hotter action--this one coyly cuts away as soon as the clothes get stripped off. The performances are amateurish, yet they do work fleetingly; however, these actors just aren't directed right, and all the men are in need of refining their tics for the camera (they are immediately off-putting). The low-budget film was advertised as a sexy, bare-chested thriller, but director Turley never gets heated up; she's too involved in her formula (which is clichéd anyway) and lets her cast evaporate into the genre shtick. * from ****