First of all, everything about the producer's promo material is like cinematic Clickbait:
So having pointed out all that, I still rated the film a 7 out of 10. Because despite all the the "clickbait" promo most of it was pretty good. It seemed to be building up to a great satisfying, feel-good love story. I enjoyed it right up until the last 5 minutes or so. And then...BAM! Yet another film with gay protagonists leaves the viewers feeling let down and disappointed, if not downright bad.
I can't even say Like A Brother had a *bad* ending.. It had *NO* ending, as if the filmmakers ran out of money after they filmed a random scene and never went back to finish it. In fact, the very end of the film is what the Clickbait promo promised as.the whole premise of the movie: Friend of a small town boy comes to Paris and boy confronts unrequited feelings for friend, yada yada yada."
I was actually angry when the film ended because I felt cheated by a movie that finally got me hooked and interested after a steady buildup and then... just ended with no dénouement, no resolution, not even anything thought-provoking. The filmmaker should have made a sequel this movie to tie up so many loose ends, Similar to "Present Perfect", a great film that had a bad ending... but a sequel was made, "Present Still Perfect", that tied everything up with a satisfactory bow.
- The promotional photo is very misleading. It's a photo of a main character with a minor character in a minor scene that has nothing to do with the title or premise of the film.
- The title of the film is misleading. I mean,no matter how much he had to drink, my brother never took my face in his hands and tenderly kissed me on the lips in a lingering romantic way as Bruno did with Sebastien at one point. Not at all "like a brother". Gay Bruno and straight Sebastien were weirdly all over each other throughout.
- The producer's brief storyline synopsis is misleading: "Sebastien is a small town boy who moves to Paris and begins to explore the gay night life there. When a friend from back home calls to announce he's coming to Paris, Sebastien confronts some unrequited feelings. (Actually Sebastien's friend came to Paris at the very end of the film,and that line makes it sound as if it's the whole basis of the movie. Not only that, his friend coming to Paris did not cause Sebastien to "confront unrequited feelings" -- unless that happened after the cameras stopped rolling at the end and it was left on the cutting room floor.
So having pointed out all that, I still rated the film a 7 out of 10. Because despite all the the "clickbait" promo most of it was pretty good. It seemed to be building up to a great satisfying, feel-good love story. I enjoyed it right up until the last 5 minutes or so. And then...BAM! Yet another film with gay protagonists leaves the viewers feeling let down and disappointed, if not downright bad.
I can't even say Like A Brother had a *bad* ending.. It had *NO* ending, as if the filmmakers ran out of money after they filmed a random scene and never went back to finish it. In fact, the very end of the film is what the Clickbait promo promised as.the whole premise of the movie: Friend of a small town boy comes to Paris and boy confronts unrequited feelings for friend, yada yada yada."
I was actually angry when the film ended because I felt cheated by a movie that finally got me hooked and interested after a steady buildup and then... just ended with no dénouement, no resolution, not even anything thought-provoking. The filmmaker should have made a sequel this movie to tie up so many loose ends, Similar to "Present Perfect", a great film that had a bad ending... but a sequel was made, "Present Still Perfect", that tied everything up with a satisfactory bow.