by Tom Doyle
OUT Apr 9 1999
Starring:
Kevin McKidd , Jennifer
Ehle , Tom Hollander ,
James Purefoy , Simon
Callow , Harriet Walter
Director:
Rose Troche
Screen Writer:
Robert Farrar
Details:
96 mins Cert 15 UK
Camp thirtysomething romantic comedy set in a hyper-stylised mid-90s London
Even in these apparently liberated times, gay issues can still suffer from a tendency towards the self-conscious (Jeffrey) or played-for-belly-laughs awkwardness (In And Out), which is why Go Fish director Troche and screenwriter Farrar (Bill Murray's The Man Who Knew Too Little) should be commended for the refreshingly naturalistic feel of this caper.
Bedrooms And Hallways is an ensemble offering, centred around the fretting and loveless Leo, played by McKidd (stretching himself since Trainspotting and Small Faces). Encouraged by brassy air-stewardess Angie (Julie Graham) and screamingly queeny flatmate Darren (Hollander), Leo joins a New Age men's group chaired by the toe-curlingly earnest Keith (Callow). Here, as the participants pass round the "honesty stone", Leo confesses an attraction to another in the group, devoutly straight Brendan (Purefoy). After a male bonding weekend in the woods, Brendan shows willing.
Enter Ehle as Brendan's ex and - hey! - Leo's long-lost childhood sweetheart, who rekindles his hetero urges, and the plot cleverly unfolds as both McKidd and Purefoy struggle to discover their true sexuality. Add a subplot concerning Darren and his estate agent boyfriend, whose fetish revolves around having sex in the properties in his charge while the owners are out, and stir the farcical stew.
While McKidd and Purefoy's accents sometimes let them down, the film does not shy from reasonably explicit dialogue and action, maintaining a level of humour that lunges from the bone dry to the ridiculous. Similar in tone and pace to Your Friends And Neighbors, Bedrooms And Hallways succeeds in underlying the point that romantic comedies don't have to succumb to political correctness or, worse, hellish parody.
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