A late friend of mine who was a film maker told me that when he did a documentary about the fight for the gay rights law in New York City the hardest thing he had to deal with was finding creditable spokespeople who would go on camera and not look like they're loony tunes. If you had been at those City Council hearings back then you would know exactly what I'm talking about. In fact just look at some of what speaks against same sex marriage now at various venues.
So the hardest thing in making a film like Save Me is to find players who will not descend into caricature which is so easy to do with these people. This is what makes the performances of Stephen Lang and Judith Light who run the the Christian ex-gay ministry portrayed in Save Me so good. Especially Light, she could have just done a clone of Dana Carvey's church lady.
Chad Allen who's been kicked out of his home for substance abuse and for his gay orientation gets involved with Lang and Light's ministry for young men trying to kick being gay. But while Allen seems to get with the program for awhile those same gender urges keep reappearing, especially when Allen and fellow client Robert Gant start getting those urges for each other.
Gant is an interesting character here, he reminds Light of her late son who was gay and whom she kicked out of her house and who committed suicide. Gant just by his presence provokes a whole lot of guilt in Light she won't confront, just brushing it aside with religion.
There's also a very touching performance by Robert Baker who happens to spot Allen and Gant in a tender moment. It so bothers Baker that he tries to commit suicide because he feels guilt about his own feelings.
Because this film stayed away from caricature, I recommend this film highly, especially to younger gay audiences. And I dedicate this review to the late Phil Zwickler who produced Rights&Reactions who also overcame the same situation in his work.
So the hardest thing in making a film like Save Me is to find players who will not descend into caricature which is so easy to do with these people. This is what makes the performances of Stephen Lang and Judith Light who run the the Christian ex-gay ministry portrayed in Save Me so good. Especially Light, she could have just done a clone of Dana Carvey's church lady.
Chad Allen who's been kicked out of his home for substance abuse and for his gay orientation gets involved with Lang and Light's ministry for young men trying to kick being gay. But while Allen seems to get with the program for awhile those same gender urges keep reappearing, especially when Allen and fellow client Robert Gant start getting those urges for each other.
Gant is an interesting character here, he reminds Light of her late son who was gay and whom she kicked out of her house and who committed suicide. Gant just by his presence provokes a whole lot of guilt in Light she won't confront, just brushing it aside with religion.
There's also a very touching performance by Robert Baker who happens to spot Allen and Gant in a tender moment. It so bothers Baker that he tries to commit suicide because he feels guilt about his own feelings.
Because this film stayed away from caricature, I recommend this film highly, especially to younger gay audiences. And I dedicate this review to the late Phil Zwickler who produced Rights&Reactions who also overcame the same situation in his work.