Gypsy Boys (1999) User Reviews

Seriously Flawed "Gay Date" Flick

[JetBoy · 3/10 · 11 July 2000]

This film tries to be a fun, funny look at a the intertwined lives of a group of young gay men in San Francisco and their search for love. (It bills itself as the "Gay Date" film of the year.)

While the writing has its moments, the movie suffers from incoherent editing, bad directing, deficient acting and a poorly-mixed soundtrack. In many scenes it appears that the actors are reading (badly) from cards. Delivery of most lines is of soap-opera quality. The casting makes one wonder if any thought at all went into choices for some important roles. The dialog is inaudible whenever the boys are in a bar or are otherwise playing music.

In short, a clever idea that went horribly wrong in its execution (which is what should happen to this unfortunate picture).

Broken Hearts Club Sequel

[guil12 · 14 November 2001]

Although I wasn't too crazy about Broken Hearts, this one is even worse. Again, we're subjected to a group of gay guys, this time in San Francisco, have many friends out there, that seem to get nowhere. With the exception of Manuel, played by cutie Alberto Rosas, who at least comes off realistic. Don't remember half the guys names so forget trying to give that synopsis. Brian Shepp wrote and directed this sudsy film about tricking, making out in closets, making out in bars, making out in bedrooms, betraying one's lover and bar hopping. But no one has any salvation in this film. Is that the message? That gay guys have fun? Or do they?

A new low for gay "cinema"

[dumpster_cakes · 1/10 · 28 June 2007]

Horrid "comedy"; bad dialogue, even worse acting, contrived, cringe-worthy all the way through. Just because gay audiences feel underrepresented doesn't mean they should put up with dreck like "Gypsy Boys"; bad movies are bad movies no matter how much they might validate the needs of a community to see themselves on screen.

The 'Gay Circle of Friends' genre of gay cinema has been done to death but "Gypsy Boys"'s biggest crime is that doesn't even reach a minimum of competence in its writing, directing, acting, editing, pretty much everything. The romantic "dialogue" hits new levels of embarrassment but it was a shade better than the director's attempts at comedy which were beyond the pale. The substandard acting in this movie barely reaches the level of porno performers.

I've seen better movies at first-year film student shows. Even the furniture placement sucks.

A terrible movie not worth renting

[Gregory_Wu · 2/10 · 5 July 2001]

I understand where this movie might have been thought of as a "great idea", but it was so poorly executed that it was unbearable to watch. The dialog was terrible, the storyline did not flow, the characters were complete cliches, and the casting was poorly chosen. When casting for a character that is supposed to be "attractive, the first rule is to cast an attractive actor.

The scripts needs a lot of cutting and rewriting. Actually it just needs to be thrown in the trash.

Not a bad film...

[Havan_IronOak · 7/10 · 21 July 2001]

This is the story of several groups of gay men in late 90's San Francisco over the course of a weekend. There are the bitchy queens, the writer with an overactive imagination, the steroid queens and all the others clichés that only are clichés because they so often exist.

The story is told as an overlapping jumble that eventually sorts itself out but many folks won't be willing to pay enough attention to this film to get that far. The stories are mostly sweet and the boys are certainly attractive enough to make this film eminently watchable. There are some 'indie film' moments where it's obvious that this film isn't as slick as the major studio releases but it does have heart even though the plot lines are pretty standard.

This movie won't change your life but it does make for a good evening's viewing.

Rowan and Martin do Broken Hearts Club

[Vanyel · 8/10 · 9 July 2001]

I liked the movie, and in particular did not experience the audio problems the other commenter did, but maybe they fixed that on the DVD, which is where I saw it. There are lots of good extras (interviews and an audio commentary) on the DVD also, unusual for a low-budget indie film. The editing style may not be to everyone's taste, but I liked it. It did remind me of the old Rowan and Martin show where they kept bouncing between people dancing to stop and get a one-liner. Gypsy Boys is a lot more coherent than that, but similar in how the perspective flows from one clique to another, especially in the introductory scenes at the beginning. And like Queer As Folk, I think this movie makes an important statement on how people (gay men in this case) mistake highs of various sorts for happiness while studiously ignoring the real thing when it stares them in the face.

Low budget. Good vibe. Great mood.

[stan2000-1 · 8/10 · 16 March 2005]

Low budget. Good vibe. Great mood. Funny, heartfelt and sincere. Convincing performances, especially by Alberto Rosas. Very good cast and crew work - good production quality for only $30.000. I'd recommend it to everyone who liked "The Broken Hearts Club". The best thing about this movie is that it doesn't pretend to be anything else but itself - low budget film with witty and honest script, good cinematography and solid performances. In the interviews on DVD director says that before he made this movie he watched a lot of "gay" films where gay people were either coming out, or crazy maniacs, or dying some horrible death. Instead of it "Gyspy Boys" takes viewer on a very enjoyable ride with it's charming characters exploring everyday life problems anyone can relate to. P.S.: Also reminded me of sort of low budget "Queer As Folk".