O Beautiful (2002)

Being gay bashed and left in a corn field in rural America takes an unusual turn when one of the bashers returns with remorse and a secret.

Director:

Alan Brown

Writer:

Alan Brown

Stars:

Jay Gillespie, David Clayton Rogers

1 win.

Cast

Credited cast:
Jay Gillespie	...	Brad
David Clayton Rogers	...	Andy (as David Rogers)

Storyline

Being gay bashed and left in a corn field in rural America takes an unusual turn when one of the bashers returns with remorse and a secret.

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Plot Keywords:

boy scout salute | abuse | rural setting | teenage boy | boy scouts | 

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Genres:

Short | Drama

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

7 August 2002 (USA)

Also Known As:

Hills West

Filming Locations:

Denville, New Jersey, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Gecko Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

29 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This short was the second film of the collection called "Boys Life 4: Four Play (2003)".

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Connections

Edited into Boys Life 4: Four Play (2003)

User Reviews

Get a Grip, indeed!

I watched this in 2 parts on YouTube's queerflix and came right away to IMDb, excitedly hoping to learn more.

First, if you've watched numerous crappy commercial gay movies that people excuse for being low budget (or for a pandering full frontal), seeing this short film gives lie to the idea that low-budget is ever any excuse for crap or that an exposed willy is the ultimate measure of cinema.

Second, investing your thought and imagination into appreciating anything will return those gifts, just as political dogma and snide cynicism will return only that.

>>What some saw as a non-Grammy performance of O Beautiful, I heard as an attempt to block out the anxiety of awkward regret and shame. Or, like his speaking Spanish, it might just be Andy's way of trying to establish trust. Whatever, isn't it better to think than scoff?

>>What some misunderstood as pica, I felt as eating dirt to scrub a bad taste out of his mouth. Or maybe Jay was anticipating an earlier degradation to forfend what he feared was a return attack.

>>What some derided as an extra-legal transfer of property, I took for naive adolescent impulse aimed at making amends with abject sincerity.

>>What some saw as seduction I know as the suspension of responsibility afforded by playing at hypnosis. See also, "boy, was I drunk last night."

>>And what some don't get is that in thrall to a small cornfield town you can have sex every weekend for the last 2 years of high school and still not realize that you're gay and he's your boyfriend.

Whether you understood them or not, you've got to admit the director's choices stayed with you enough to make it worth a comment. I also found that the two affecting performances in this movie make it hard to forget. Being gay or experiencing gay bashing is not necessary to finding something worthwhile in this movie, anymore than being a straight MMA fighter is necessary to appreciating Warrior.

Definitely worth tracking down and experiencing for yourself.