ADAM & STEVE - DVD review

"Adam & Steve" is a rare gay-themed film in that none of the characters are dead, dying or stricken with any numbers of incurable diseases. That in and of itself is a welcome change of pace. But this movie does something else not regularly seen on the big screen: two gay characters who find companionship and love, riding off into the sunset together.

The film starts off in 1980, with a goth Adam (Craig Chester) and Rhonda (Parker Posey) at a gay club in New York. A dancer with big hair, body glitter and enough cocaine for the both of them named Steve ("Caroline in the City"s Malcolm Gets) takes a liking to him and they decide to hook up. The easiest way to describe the encounter is it's a disaster. Now, 17 years later, they run into each other again, though neither remembers the other. Predictably, relationship drama rears its ugly head when Steve realizes how he knows Adam.

It should be noted, fairly early on, that this is a romantic comedy with one major gross out scene within the first twenty minutes. When it comes onto the screen, you'll know it. And that scene isn't anything like the typical first date problems most couples are apt to encounter. Unfortunately, that's about all "new" material there is in "Adam & Steve". The rest of the film is basically stock footage from any number of other films and television shows.

Both of the leads have a best (heterosexual) friend, in this case Rhonda and Michael (Chris Kattan). They are perhaps the biggest wasted opportunity here. The extent of their participation in the movie is to provide the smart comment and, presumably, a counterpoint to the gay relationship-the centerpiece of the film. These two characters (and that's exactly what they are-characters as opposed to people) aren't written or acted badly; rather, the audience doesn't need to see yet another straight relationship in what is, by its very premise, a gay film.

If Chester (the writer, director and lead actor) was hell bent on including both Posey and Kattan in the "friend" roles, it's perfectly valid. Just give them something substantial to do. It's a complete waste of both their talents for them to be relegated to a handful of scenes which are so completely over the top they aren't even merely characters anymore. They transcend into the level of caricatures. There is a scene roughly halfway through the film that becomes so unfunny it's nearly painful to watch. Rhonda, in this scene, informs Michael she can't eat a pie with him because, as she puts it, the beast will be unleashed. The next morning (according to movie time), Adam and Steve find food strewn about the apartment and the two of them in bed together.

If Rhonda and Michael display what is wrong with this movie, other parts clearly show where it stays on track. The scenes that feature the titular characters learning each other's personality quirks are where the movie finds it's footing. That's as it should be, isn't it, in a romantic comedy? Really, the only portions featuring them that do not work are the sequences with the parents. Adam's family is a Jewish family prone to accidents. While hilariously funny, there is no real point in seeing them. They aren't a factor in the plot, nor do they have to approve of Steve so the two can continue dating.

There is more of a justification for Steve's parents, though. They are a seemingly conservative couple from the Midwest who are perfectly content to love their gay son as long as he doesn't openly show he's gay. (That is mostly assumption based on the dialogue in the scene.) The crucial part for them comes when Steve decides he isn't going to hide being gay in his house anymore. There is a requisite speech to this effect. It's not a standout piece of writing, but it one of the more concrete visuals the audience is given in regards to the deepening relationship.

Chester and others claim this isn't a political film per se in the extras. However, in our current political climate, just about anything with gay lead characters is going to be political, whether it is intended or not. I point to that scene I just spoke about in regards to Steve's parents. Not only does he make a mini-speech about expressing healthy emotion with the folks around, but then he grabs Adam's hand as a punctuation mark to the statement. Adam is reluctant, mostly due to his luck with getting things thrown at him in public when he shows any feeling toward another man. And what is the parental reaction? Almost non-existent, as it should be in a perfect world. Yet these characters don't live in a perfect world. They don't even live in the audience's reality; they live in their own.

This reality lets them deal with one event at a time, namely a relationship, an injured dog, a wedding or whatever else comes their way. We never get to see their first (or any) fight. To be perfectly fair, a vicious fight scene was deleted from the final film and can be seen in the extras. For whatever reason, all these characters feel like simpler versions of what they should be. Really, the entire film feels too simple. We don't really need complex and elaborate plots in every film out there but something a little more substantial than what is presented would have been more welcome.

As is, "Adam & Steve" is an enjoyable diversion for 99 minutes. Sadly, nothing more and nothing less. It doesn't have anything of great consequence to say and no message to speak of. If anything, the message itself is even too simple: always tell the truth. A lot of the drama near the end would have been eliminated, as well as the dance-off climax. That would have been too easy, especially for this film. I can understand not mentioning the "accident" when Steve figured it out, but he terribly overreacts, as do the other three main characters. Steve runs away from Adam and steals a kid's bike. If he had enough confidence in the relationship to introduce Adam to his parents and to show affection, he should have been confident enough to be completely honest. As for that story…Steve tells Michael, Michael tells Rhonda…Michael and Rhonda tell Adam. It's like one big game of "telephone". The only thing here is that the story doesn't get distorted.

As romantic comedies go, "Adam & Steve" is neither the best nor the worst. It features pretty good acting and actors who are completely invested in their characters. It's the "comedy" part that fails. It's too broad, as if it were intentionally throwing a net wider than it knows it should in order to rope in a large audience. Had the humor been tailored for the correct audience ( read: gay and gay friendly), "Adam & Steve" might have turned out better.

Video:
In the video department, we have a 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer, which does a fairly good job of not drawing attention to itself. By that I mean it doesn't do anything terribly wrong or terribly right in rendering the images on screen. There is slight grain in most of the shots; I'd chalk it up to an indie film shot on a rigorous 22-day shoot. The extremes in the color palate-white and black-are rendered relatively well, with the blacks looking slightly worse than the whites. It is as sharp as can be expected and the print is devoid of any major artifacting or other quality problems.

Audio:
There are two audio tracks available on the disc. One is an English 5.1 mix while the other is a simple 2.0 track. Predictably, the 5.1 choice is more robust and "fuller" sounding than its companion. In most scenes, it really doesn't matter. However, in isolated instances such as the opening bar sequence, the "full" effect of the 5.1 mix draws us into the action just a bit more. Neither one has any problems to speak of and the most important part of the audio, the dialogue, is clear and free of obstructions. The movie also includes English subtitles.

Extras:
TLA Releasing pulled out nearly all the stops for this release. First up and most likely the crown jewel here is a feature length commentary with Chester, Gets and producer George Bendele. For reference's sake, there is about 10 minutes total throughout the entire film that somebody is not talking about the production. Topics range from the use of CGI in the film (surprisingly in a number of sequences), issues with food production on the shoot and a lot of talk about various cuts made to the film. It is a laid back and fun track to listen to and only rarely does it delve into the political aspects of the storyline. The worst offender on that count is near the very end. These three men have a wonderful rapport and seem to genuinely like being with each other. Kudos to getting all three of them in on the track as opposed to letting Chester carry it by himself. The option to turn the track on isn't under the "Bonus Features" menu; rather, it is listed as an alternate audio track under "Set Up".

Next up is a rather lengthy (24:45) featurette titled "The Making of Adam & Steve". Here, a lot of the information heard in the commentary is reiterated by the four main characters and the producers. The stories that didn't get told in the commentary are here: Parker Posey didn't have access to ice on the set when she was dressed in a fat suit; Chester indicates his philosophy is that if there is emotional honesty with the audience, then the characters can get away with anything; and a great many actors read for the various parts in both New York and Los Angeles before this final cast was assembled. A couple steps up from the usual fluffy making of, this one also effuses praise for the dance choreographer and composer (Troy Christiansen and Roddy Bottom, respectively).

A total of ten deleted scenes running for 16:47 with optional commentary by Chester are also included. All the cuts talked about in the commentary are present. This reminded me just why some scenes are cut before a movie premieres: they don't work. For instance, the first fight between Adam and Steve is a bit too vicious for characters the audience is supposed to root for. However, it has a great payoff and perhaps one of the best laughs in the entire film. Predictably, most of the sequences were cut for reasons of time and pacing. There is one scene between Michael and Rhonda that had nothing to do with time. It had everything to do with the body microphone on Kattan becoming plainly visible halfway through the scene. And since it dealt with food, it couldn't be reshot.

Troy Christiansen hosts "Learn the Battle Dance", a 9:51 featurette detailing how to perform the dance seen in the climax of the movie. He apparently went to a bar and taught some of the patrons how to do it. Along with that footage, we also have some audition footage as well as rehearsal video for the dance scenes. An interesting and inventive feature, but for a guy who has two left feet and no interest in dancing, it's a little dry.

Finishing up, there is a nearly 7 minute gag reel that doesn't leave any lasting impressions. And finally, a whole slew of theatrical trailers are available: "Adam & Steve" (1:42), "Another Gay Movie" (2:14), "Beverly Kills" (1:16) and "Say Uncle" (1:41). All in all, a pretty impressive package for a movie that undoubtedly flew under everyone's radar.

Parting Thoughts:
"Adam & Steve" isn't a perfect film by any stretch of the imagination. The humor is too broad, making the characters less believable than they really should be. Some sequences don't seem to fit in the grand scheme of the story and two supporting players are horribly underused. All that being said, it is a valiant attempt at making a different kind of gay movie. Now who can really argue with that?