This is a sympathetic and very sincere movie, in which we see how main character Phil, a bright and cheerful gay high school kid, suddenly finds himself in the eye of an emotional storm: experiencing his first Great Love and subsequently the pain of loosing it again, and at the same time a big family crisis, concerning his beloved twin sister and his mother. Young actor Louis Hofmann (at the time hardly 19 years old) plays the pivotal part of Phil admirably, he is totally convincing in all the emotional turmoil that he has to endure.
I also have some reservations. Phil's best friend Kat is pictured as being totally hysterical, and with that extremely annoying, and that goes the same for Phil's mother, every scene with them made my toes curl! Why did the mother have this complicated American background? It added nothing whatsoever to the story. With almost two hours the movie is really over-long, and especially in the second half things get more and more melodramatic, it could have used at least a little bit of humor to counterbalance all the misery and tears. The big twist that shattered Phil's love came totally out of the blue, why not some signs or innuendos in advance, to make it at least a bit more believable?
On the other hand, the gay love-story is pictured very sweet and natural, without prudish restraint, which is absolutely refreshing. And as said, Louis Hofmann is really great and even by himself makes this movie worth your while!
I also have some reservations. Phil's best friend Kat is pictured as being totally hysterical, and with that extremely annoying, and that goes the same for Phil's mother, every scene with them made my toes curl! Why did the mother have this complicated American background? It added nothing whatsoever to the story. With almost two hours the movie is really over-long, and especially in the second half things get more and more melodramatic, it could have used at least a little bit of humor to counterbalance all the misery and tears. The big twist that shattered Phil's love came totally out of the blue, why not some signs or innuendos in advance, to make it at least a bit more believable?
On the other hand, the gay love-story is pictured very sweet and natural, without prudish restraint, which is absolutely refreshing. And as said, Louis Hofmann is really great and even by himself makes this movie worth your while!