I don't know what the problem is with some of the other reviewers, but based on their comments that they saw it at QFest, I'm guessing something along the lines of "jealousy" would be appropriate.
I was privileged to screen this movie while it was making the festival circuit. As with all festival movies, I watched it with no expectations - I go in expecting nothing, watching them with an open mind to see what I see.
What I found in The Love Patient was a movie that was clearly filmed with a low budget, but a great deal of heart and considerable considerable effort on the part of the cast and crew.
Was this a Hollywood blockbuster? No, of course not. Was it a multi-camera, special effects extravaganza, nope. Was it a well acted, well written and well directed movie that gets its point across - absolutely.
I have been an aficionado of independent gay movies. I frequently scour the Netflix movie list for anything even remotely gay, so I can screen them and check them out. In that pursuit I have seen some horribly awful movies in the written by/directed by/starring category. This movie is not one of them.
Was this movie Latter Days, 24 Days of Christmas or other such gems? No, it wasn't. Was it an enjoyable, humorous romp of the typical romcom variety? Yes it was.
What is honestly reminded me of was an episode of Three's Company or I Love Lucy. Character gets a crazy idea to win back the love of his life. Whacky plan is implemented. Craziness ensues, including crazier family, misunderstandings and miscommunication, brushes with illegality, moral ambiguities, then ultimately the right decision is made.
Adding to the whole package is an extremely attractive cast led by Benjamin Lutz, John Wersky, Jackson Palmer and the lovely Madison Gray.
As mentioned earlier, obviously budgets were limited so clearly sets were improvised and re-used. The careful viewer can see that the same sets where re-used for different scenes - but who cares? The "moral" of the story comes across easily, and the acting is - IMHO - superb. It's clear that well made movies do NOT take multi-million dollar budgets.
My hat goes off to write/director Michael Simon. He clearly had a vision for this movie, he gave his heart and soul to it and he made it happen. It is a whacky romantic comedy that may not be for everyone, but despite some of the (clearly disgruntled) reviews on IMDb this is a good movie that deserves to be seen. Judge this movie on its merits, not on other peoples' biased reviews (who probably are deeply involved in competing movies from the festival circuit).
Watch the movie, enjoy it, and make your own decision from there. I'll bet you will enjoy it and have fun.
