"Toeing the Line" is an American 15-minute live action short film from 2013, so this one is approaching its 5th anniversary. It was written and directed by William Branden Blinn, who apparently has made himself a career in the last years/decades mostly through gay-themed movies and he we got one of his works. It is about two buddies talking about how one of them wants to have sex with a colleague despite her being married with children. However, the talk quickly switches into a different direction when they suddenly talk about how one guy has been crushing on the other for a very long time and if that is not already too much the other is not against them making out either as in every unrealistic somewhat feel-good romantic gay-themed short film like there are so many out there at this point. I am really tempted to give this an even lower rating as story-wise this was quite a mess. Still I won't because the actors weren't too bad and at some occasions even came close to making this messy script work. Especially the White male actor was fine, of course he also had the baitiest material in here. Okay what else? Oh yeah the reactions from the other restaurant guests at the screaming and dick grabbing were somewhat hilarious in an unintentional fashion. All in all, not a good film and I have to give it a thumbs-down. Watch something else instead. This is a very dialogue driven little film that lacks strong dialogues though.
3 Reviews
Toeing the Line
ChicoraSaltyDog19 August 2014
Warning: Spoilers
While I don't feel I am giving away the story, better safe than sorry. So here goes;
Wow! So much is packed into such a brief amount of time. Production values are top notch. The actors are also more than up to the task and give awesome performances. The tension and uncertainty of the situation are beautifully developed and portrayed. Male bonding given flight is the focus here and its treated with deference and sensitivity. The brevity of the film belies the powerful impact of its presentation.
JP is superb as the unwitting friend who is surprised by his own passion. D'Andre captivates the screen with his determination and vulnerability as he drops his defenses with his friend. I wanted this film to continue on. An extended follow-up is definitely a requirement. BBFG has a winner on its hands here.
Wow! So much is packed into such a brief amount of time. Production values are top notch. The actors are also more than up to the task and give awesome performances. The tension and uncertainty of the situation are beautifully developed and portrayed. Male bonding given flight is the focus here and its treated with deference and sensitivity. The brevity of the film belies the powerful impact of its presentation.
JP is superb as the unwitting friend who is surprised by his own passion. D'Andre captivates the screen with his determination and vulnerability as he drops his defenses with his friend. I wanted this film to continue on. An extended follow-up is definitely a requirement. BBFG has a winner on its hands here.
Sexual assault as a seduction technique? No thanks!
ella-4818 August 2020
Warning: Spoilers
Despite my female-sounding IMDb username, I am in fact male. A bisexual man.
I started watching this short film out of curiosity, as it had been recommended by someone on an LGBT web forum. What I saw left me angry.
In the opening cafe scene, Lamar is (very clumsily and directly) trying to coax his old high-school friend Zach (who is married to a woman) into admitting that he is bisexual and that he is attracted to Lamar. Note here that Lamar isn't trying to FIND OUT whether Zach is into him: he's far too (if you'll pardon the pun) cocksure for that - he's CERTAIN that Zach must secretly be into him - an assumption apparently based purely on the gargantuan dimensions of his own penis. His arrogance is astounding!
Far worse than this, though, is his physical behaviour. 6 minutes into the scene (which, let's not forget, takes place in a busy cafe), in order to confirm his suspicion that Zach has an erection, Lamar makes a completely unprovoked, unasked-for, non-consensual grab at Zach's crotch.
And it doesn't stop there. At the 9 minute mark - having been told firmly and repeatedly by Zach "I am not making out with you man - no way!" - Lamar leans in, and with Zach still protesting that he DOESN'T want this, he grabs Zach by the neck and tries to force him into a kiss. Bizarrely, none of the cafe's other customers pay the slightest attention to this overtly non-consensual sexual advance. Lamar then stares into Zach's eyes and says "My place or yours?" - at which point, Zach is seen to stop fighting the inevitable: he and Lamar are going to have sex, whether he feels comfortable about it or not.
Honestly, I have seen Gay porn shoots with a better sense of fundamental morality and respect for the principle of consent than is displayed in this piece of ill-written crap. Its message - that seduction is the imposition of one person's will over another, regardless of their wishes - is downright dangerous. If anyone were ever to try Lamar's behaviour on me, they'd be very lucky not to end up in a police station, facing a sexual assault charge. Learn the lesson, film-makers! When it comes to sex, consent is EVERYTHING. End of.
I started watching this short film out of curiosity, as it had been recommended by someone on an LGBT web forum. What I saw left me angry.
In the opening cafe scene, Lamar is (very clumsily and directly) trying to coax his old high-school friend Zach (who is married to a woman) into admitting that he is bisexual and that he is attracted to Lamar. Note here that Lamar isn't trying to FIND OUT whether Zach is into him: he's far too (if you'll pardon the pun) cocksure for that - he's CERTAIN that Zach must secretly be into him - an assumption apparently based purely on the gargantuan dimensions of his own penis. His arrogance is astounding!
Far worse than this, though, is his physical behaviour. 6 minutes into the scene (which, let's not forget, takes place in a busy cafe), in order to confirm his suspicion that Zach has an erection, Lamar makes a completely unprovoked, unasked-for, non-consensual grab at Zach's crotch.
And it doesn't stop there. At the 9 minute mark - having been told firmly and repeatedly by Zach "I am not making out with you man - no way!" - Lamar leans in, and with Zach still protesting that he DOESN'T want this, he grabs Zach by the neck and tries to force him into a kiss. Bizarrely, none of the cafe's other customers pay the slightest attention to this overtly non-consensual sexual advance. Lamar then stares into Zach's eyes and says "My place or yours?" - at which point, Zach is seen to stop fighting the inevitable: he and Lamar are going to have sex, whether he feels comfortable about it or not.
Honestly, I have seen Gay porn shoots with a better sense of fundamental morality and respect for the principle of consent than is displayed in this piece of ill-written crap. Its message - that seduction is the imposition of one person's will over another, regardless of their wishes - is downright dangerous. If anyone were ever to try Lamar's behaviour on me, they'd be very lucky not to end up in a police station, facing a sexual assault charge. Learn the lesson, film-makers! When it comes to sex, consent is EVERYTHING. End of.
See also
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