Holding Trevor [2008] Brent Gorski

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Holding Trevor (2007)


http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0960770/

Holding Trevor is a 2008 gay American romantic-drama written by and starring Brent Gorski.

Brent Gorski ... Trevor
Christopher Wyllie ... Darrell
Melissa Searing ... Andie
Jay Brannan ... Jake
Eli Kranski ... Ephram
Dawn Mondie ... Mary C
Joseph Roslan ... Naked Guy
Mathew Pasillas ... Bar Boy
Monica Todd ... HIV Counselor
Isaiah Garnica ... BBQ Boy
Yaniv Madmon ... Party Guy
Megan Sheperd ... Co-Worker

Young, beautiful and intelligent, Trevor (screenwriter Brent Gorski) is in a stalemate. Entangled in an unhealthy relationship with Darrell, a self-destructive heroin addict, and trapped in a telemarketing job, Trevor finds scant comfort in Los Angeles' vapid party scene, where conversation rarely rises above inquiries like "So, are you an actor?" Worse still, he and his two best friends - roommate Andie and singer Jake - are being pulled apart by boredom and discontent.

Despite its low-budget scruffiness, this gentle Los Angeles drama finds surprising depth in its characters and situations, examining a group of people struggling to move forward with their lives.

The film's offhanded, improvised style lends authenticity through sharp humour and intense melodrama. While the script indulges in some cautionary plotting and cod-psychology dialog, it centres engagingly on the characters and their interaction, with intriguing flashbacks of recent events that allow us to see them in striking perspective. This vividly brings out the central idea that it's sometimes necessary to painfully cut connections with those around us.

Performances are real and extremely naturalistic, with Gorski holding the film together superbly. We don't always like Trevor, but we do root for him to sort out his relationships and make the right decisions. The romantic chemistry between Gorski and Kranski is cute and sweet rather than hot and bothered, which is perhaps unlikely. But Brannan and Searing add a sharp edge to the film with their dry cynicism. And as all of the characters' secrets and failings come to a head, the film has a forceful kick.

Basically this is a story about a group of apparently happy people who are suddenly forced to face up to the things that are eating them away from the inside. Even if the plot opts out of some of the most difficult confrontations, the filmmakers acknowledge that making these decisions isn't easy, and that sometimes having supportive friends isn't enough. These undercurrents add a level of interest that transcends the film's otherwise soapy style and makes it thoroughly identifiable to anyone who's ever felt helpless to control the direction of their life.

On one level it is yet another gay flick, which translates to: yet another turbulent gay romance; yet another supporting gay character who sleeps around too much; yet another fag hag clutching a Cosmo. But in Holding Trevor, thereΓΓé¼Γäós a depressed form of anger bubbling beneath the surface. Trevor (screenwriter Brent Gorski) seems incapable of making a decision. His boyfriend Darrell (Christopher Wylie) is a strung-out addict, and while they may have broken up, Trevor remains unable to cut the ties that bind them togetherΓΓé¼ΓÇ¥not even when the ER doctor who admits Darrell one night after an overdose turns out to be the hunky Ephram, who pursues Trevor with all the ardency that the sedentary Trevor lacks. Working at an answering service in L.A., and content to come home at night to his roommate Andie (Melissa Searing) and friend Jake (Jay Brannan), TrevorΓΓé¼Γäós life is a study in stasis. HeΓΓé¼Γäós even too terrified of change to realize that Andie and Jake operate more as frenemies than as actual friends, never missing an opportunity to undermine him.

Strangely, however, the friendship between Andie, Jake and Trevor is what separates Holding Trevor from the rest of the mediocre gay movie pack. While Ephram and JakeΓΓé¼Γäós rocky relationship is numbingly predictable, Searing, Brannan and Gorski turn their scenes into an uncomfortable concoction of simmering resentments, double-edged teases, and lonely desperation. While Gorski may have intended their banter to be light and fun (which would have resulted in the same strained sense of badinage that envelops every scene between a fag and his hag in low-budget gay indies), the three actorsΓΓé¼Γäó flat tones and blunt sense of comedic timing turns their dialogue into painful fights for dominance. Even as Trevor wonders aloud if he should move across the country with Ephram, Jake interrupts to ask if his popsicle turned his tongue blue, which doesnΓΓé¼Γäót come across as a defense mechanism so much as boredom made bitchy.

But while BrannanΓΓé¼Γäós Jake has a few choice lines and a musical career that allows him to sing a semi-applicable song over a montage, itΓΓé¼Γäós SearingΓΓé¼Γäós Andie who turns into a full-fledged monster. When she finds out that sheΓΓé¼Γäós HIV-positive during a moral support trip for the slutty Jake, she mutters to her doctor that if anyone should have it, Jake should. Later, she blackmails Trevor into not abandoning their stagnant, repellant life together for the possibility of a healthier one with Ephram by finally coming clean about her status.

And although Ephram is a doctor who says all of the right things at the right time, how can he possibly compete with a house filled with drama, backbiting and bitchiness? He canΓΓé¼Γäót, and so Trevor decides to stay behind to pull his life together. How heΓΓé¼Γäós going to accomplish that with emotional vampires like Jake and Andie sucking the little life force he has running through his veins remains unclear as the final credits roll, but despite TrevorΓΓé¼Γäós hopeful closing monologue, the outcome doesnΓΓé¼Γäót look good. After watching him reject the chance for real happiness again and again over the course of 80-odd minutes, feeling any sort of sympathy or respect for his decision to let Ephram move to New York alone is almost impossible. Especially once Trevor himself admits that other than Andie and Jake, he has no real reason to stay in L.A. Friends may be great,Trev, but an adorable doctor whoΓΓé¼Γäós in love with you is in money in the bank.