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| Plot Synopsis A gay artist and telemarketer with a special knack for getting along well with children discovers just how closed-minded the suburbs can be when he attempts to find happiness after losing his godson in writer/director Peter Paige's affectionate, not-so-black comedy. Paul Johnson (Paige) is a Portland-based artist and telemarketer who loves nothing more in life than the time spent with his two-year-old godson, Morgan. Upon learning that his best friends the Fabers are moving to Japan and taking their son Morgan with them, Paul wallows in a state of deep denial that ultimately results in him missing the Fabers' departing flight. Encouraged by his good friend Russell (Anthony Clark) to get out of his house and spend more time with others, Paul soon ventures out to a local playground, where he finds comfort and joy in the youthful exuberance that surrounds him. When it comes to the concept of a grown homosexual spending time with young children, not everyone in the suburbs can be so accepting, though, and as Paul attempts to find ways of keeping himself surrounded by his pint-sized pals, nosy neighbor and disapproving mother Maggie Butler (Kathy Najimy) rallies a ready army of angry soccer moms to take action and keep Paul away from the local children. Reviews FELIX VASQUEZ JR. Film Threat 2006-06-21 What do you do when the only source of happiness in your life picks up and leaves? You get through your crappy telemarketing job, horrible workmates, and bad traffic every single day just to come home and find that happiness waiting for you, and then it's suddenly gone. How do you react to something like that? "Say Uncle" is a sad and human exploration of loss, and your ability to cope with loss. When your happiness is taken away, what do you do? How do you cope? Well, my reaction, as would be many others is: you'd lose it. "Say Uncle" is pretty much in theme of "Garden State" in which characters without much in their lives find that there's much more there through each other, and through losing one another. However, Paige's film is also a constantly evolving entity that starts as a bittersweet dramedy forming into a film with an actual relevant and cautionary message. Paige's film is admittedly not perfect, as it meanders into all sorts of directions, and has a very Capra-esque approach to it in many respects (would you invite someone who stands outside your house in for games?), but I enjoyed it mainly because of Paige's truly sad performance as a young gay man who visits his friend's everyday, and plays with his god son for hours. But one day they reveal that they're moving to China, and then Paul slips into his own world of anguish, and naivet�. He begins to display an alarming amount of denial even walking into the house long after his friends leave and disturbing a young couple, yet manages to befriend the wife (Gabrielle Union). And then it gets even more unsettling. "Say Uncle" is a consistently provoking dark comedy that not only sheds light on our cynical society, but on mentally unstable people who find solace in children. Peter begins hanging around playgrounds, toy stores, and even attempts to adopt a child, all the while, leaving the audience to wonder if he is a potential child molester, a man with a mental imbalance, or just a man with a Peter Pan complex. Paige touches on many misconceptions in society even humorously approaching the common misapprehension that if someone is gay they're more prone to depraved sexual activity, and Paul's efforts to be around children regardless of consequence. Its clear Paul isn't well, but we can't help but wonder what he's capable of in his desperation for companionship. Meanwhile, Kathy Najimy, in her usual scene stealing persona, plays a lonely housewife who discovers Paul in a playground, and learns he has no children and immediately builds a large pedophilia press campaign based around him and her rash assumptions. "Say Uncle" is a very intriguing dramedy that explores many societal themes about pedophilia, our ability to cope with loss, and the consequences of good intentions. But, one truly alarming aspect of this film is how far he's actually able to get into the lives of these children, and how easily he's able to incorporate himself with them. He hangs around children at a toy store, is able to talk to them, plays with them, helps a little girl to the bathroom barely being noticed by anyone, and even invites a boy selling candy into his apartment, while you're left in awe wondering why in the name of god these parents don't teach their children about strangers. I can assure you you'll ask "Where are their parents?" at least once during the course of the story. And why does it take a seemingly innocent man hanging around children for these complacent self-involved parents to wake up and protect them? Paul stands as more of a martyr for awareness than he does for a man who loves children. He has no ill-intentions when involving himself with kids, but the cynicism of the world he's in causes it to wake up to the potential dangers, and these self-righteous parents are intent on jailing him just to make themselves feel better, all because he can't deal with the fact that his best friends are gone. What is funny is that at one scene Najimy's character is hosting a press conference while her children are in the back out in the open engaging in dangerous activity. One aspect that makes Paige's film stand out is that it never becomes formulaic even when the climax does become cheesy with a monologue, and a comedic lynch mob. But through its flaws, "Say Uncle" is both a heartbreaking tale of loss, and a cautionary tale to parents out there, and there won't be a dry eye in the house when the film is finished. KEN FOX Tv Guide's Movie Guide Queer as Folk's Peter Paige makes a strong debut as a writer/director with this original black comedy about a childlike gay man whose love of children gets him into a heap of hot water. Paul Johnson (Paige) is a somewhat simpleminded painter whose entire life revolves around his godson, a toddler named Morgan. That life comes to a screeching when Morgan's parents, Sarah (Lisa Edelstein) and Jim Faber (Patrick Dizney), announce that they've got some good news and some bad news. Jim just landed a new job, but his new office is in Japan and the whole family - Morgan included - will leaving next week. At first Paul seems oddly unfazed by the news, but instead of bidding them goodbye, Paul spends moving day binging on donuts and shows up hours after they've gone in a manic daze, spooking the new tenants (Gabrielle Union, Mark Anthony Samuel). Bereft and heartbroken, Paul drops into deep depression and is fired from his job as a magazine telemarketer by his jerky boss (Jim Ortlieb) when he fails to show up for work. Encouraged by his best friend and (now) former-coworker Russell Trotter (Yes, Dear's Anthony Clark), Paul pulls himself together and starts filling out job applications at the kinds of places where he'll be close to kids - toy stores and baby clothing shops - and starts hanging out at the neighborhood playground and playing with the kids. At first, unhappily married mom Maggie Butler (Kathy Najimy) is happy to see a man around, pushing the merry-go-round with all the boundless energy of five-year-old. But once she learns that Paul is not only not a parent, but is gay, she begins to notice that he sort of fits the profile of a pedophile: He's male, single, awkward around adults and tends to think of kids as pure and sweet. Her somewhat understandable initial concern, however, soon turns into hysteria when she spots Paul helping a little girl into the bathroom at Toys for Boys 'n' Girls, where he now works, then erupts into a full-blown panic when she finds Paul's admittedly freaky flier advertising his services as a nanny. Now convinced that gentle, if a bit odd, Paul is indeed a monstrous child molester, she organizes a proactive city-wide awareness plan geared toward forcing Paul out of the community, and turns his life into a living nightmare. Considering the tragic travesties of justice surrounding such notorious pedophile witch hunts as the McMartin preschool case and the ordeal of Kelly Michaels, Paige's premise is really no laughing matter, and while his film is tinged with an off-kilter humor, he's really not laughing. Nor is he being entirely unfair to other side of the issue: Paul clearly has a problem with adulthood that doesn't bode well for his future, and Paige evinces a certain amount of sympathy for mothers like Maggie Butler who want to protect their kids from the very real dangers posed by child molesters, but have become so inundated by media-generated fear-mongering that they see "profiles" instead of flesh-and-blood people. |
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| SAY UNCLE 2005 - USA - 90 min. - Feature, Color Director - Peter Paige |
| Genre / Type - Comedy Drama, Black Comedy Flags - Adult Situations, Adult Humor, Not For Children, Profanity, Sexual Situations MPAA Rating - R Keywords - artist, godfather [guardian], homosexual, intolerance, suburbs, telemarketing Themes - Parenthood, Suburban Dysfunction Tones - Quirky, Irreverent, Disturbing, Satirical Moods - Comedy on the Edge Produced by - Best Little Boy Productions / Showtime Networks Release - Jun 23, 2006 (USA - Limited) Released by - TLA Releasing DVD Street Date - Sep 5, 2006 Studio - Tla Cast Peter Paige -- Paul Kathy Najimy -- Maggie Gabrielle Union -- Elise Anthony Clark -- Russell Lisa Edelstein -- Sarah Jim Ortlieb -- Berman Melanie Lynskey -- Susan |
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