Indie Gems: Latter Days

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Why are you all named Elmer?

Elder Aaron Davis (Steve Sandvoss) is a Mormon missionary that is sent to Los Angeles. It's his first time away from home. He meets his new neighbor, Christian (Wes Ramsey) a gay man that doesn't hide his sexuality, even though it makes Aaron's fellow Elders (Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Rob McElhenney and Dave Power) angry. Christian at first is amused at their discomfort, so when his friends casually bet him to try to sleep with Aaron, he's all for it.

There's plenty of movies with this plot line, but none quite like Latter Days. It's a very green film, in fact the opening scene almost looks right out of a corny 80's movie despite being filmed in 2003. But don't let that throw you off. I felt very moved by the story, even though you can tell only some of the actors were seasoned. It's a testament of how much heart it really has.

While I watched it for Joseph Gordon-Levitt, his part is very small. Sandvoss and Ramsey have incredible chemistry together. They may be a bit stereotypical but they have enough depth not to feel like caricatures.  While it's not the best made film out there, it keeps you interested and leaves you with a lot to think about.

Grade: B

Memorable Quote: "Having sex for my career would be noble." - Andrew (Khary Payton)


Comments

  1. StephFebruary 22, 2017 at 6:21 PM

    I hadn't heard of this one. It sounds like it's worth a look.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamFebruary 23, 2017 at 6:40 AM

      It is. It has a bad first 5-10 minutes but the story is great afterwards.

      Delete
  2. DanielFebruary 23, 2017 at 9:22 AM

    This is one of my favorite movies. Yeah, it's not exactly "good", but we get so few gay movies with a happy ending (or at least we didn't back when this came out), and the leads have really good chemistry. I cry every time Aaron walks into that restaurant at the end. It's kind of crazy how many good "name" actors they got in bit parts in this lol.

    So glad you liked it!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamFebruary 23, 2017 at 11:09 AM

      Yes! I loved that it was a happy ending. That feels so rare nowadays.

      Delete

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