Impossible Choice (2012)

For the minister's son, this is a summer of awakening and acceptance of his homosexuality. For his father, this is a challenge to his roots in the bible as he interprets its posture on ... See full summary »

Director:

Ronald Marquisee

Writer:

Ronald Marquisee

Stars:

Jesse Navagh, Tyler Spicer, Darian Sundberg

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jesse Navagh	...	Logan
Tyler Spicer	...	Brandon
Darian Sundberg	...	Mark
Mark Cole	...	Reverand Sholdeur
Marguerite Sundberg	...	Lorri
Nancy Roberts	...	Sarah
Drew Lazaroff	...	Dan
David Baker	...	Officer Burkett
Susannah Berryman	...	Mayor
Kevin Craig West	...	Rick / Guard
Binaifer Dabu	...	Dr. Kreitzer, MD
Peggy Droz	...	Joyce, Psychiatrist
Robert Brophy	...	Desk Clerk
Peter Moller	...	Gun Salesman (VO)
Mark Flemming	...	Peter

Storyline

For the minister's son, this is a summer of awakening and acceptance of his homosexuality. For his father, this is a challenge to his roots in the bible as he interprets its posture on sexuality that drives him to 'save' his son by killing his lover. In a broader exploration of 'acceptance', a play-within-the-film recalls two landmark tragedies in the history of gay culture: the murder of Mathew Shepard, and the suicide of Tyler Clementi. An intertwined story traces an Erie Canal cruise operator's challenges in starting a 'gay' cruise in conservative Upstate New York. The message, 'Accept what you can't change.'

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Plot Keywords:

father son relationship | gay theme | 

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Company Credits

Technical Specs

Runtime:

112 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

16:9 HD

User Reviews

The LGBT Birdemic

The basic plot of this film, such as it is, involves two young men (high school students? college students? like most everything else, it is not made clear) who are in love; one of them is the son of a local preacher, who grows increasingly unhinged over the prospect of his son being gay. Meanwhile, there is a seemingly unrelated plot involving a cruise line putting together a gay-themed cruise on the Erie Canal.

This movie is a completely disjointed mess. It jumps from scene to scene with no rhyme or reason; characters aren't introduced so much as they just show up. One scene in the movie has two Asian break dancers auditioning for... something? And they are never seen again. Acting is local community theater quality, as you would expect. And the ending, without giving away plot details, seems like it was shot to be a promotion for the Upstate New York Tourism Board or something.

Dropped in the middle of the movie, causing it to grind to a screeching halt, is a ten minute "play" about Matthew Shepard and Tyler Clementi. This is cited as a high point of the movie by others, but it's incredibly portentous, overly long, and doesn't fit in with the rest of the story (as much as anything else fits in to the story at least).

Also, there are too many characters in the movie to keep track of, especially since so many of them are so one-dimensional and either disappear from the narrative after one or two scenes or completely change their one character trait. Robert Altman this ain't.

I'm giving this two stars because there is at least a decent acoustic cover of "Take Me Home Tonight" by Eddie Money towards the beginning. Otherwise, this is just a complete mess of a film and should not be watched without copious amounts of alcohol and snark.