Plot Details: This opinion reveals minor details about the movie's plot.

Cowboy Junction (2006) Written, Directed and Starring Gregory Christian.

"Yuh see I kinda like Cowboys, not Cowgirls." The Cowboy.

There has been an odd phenomenon in gay theatre in recent years.  It exists.  This is really odd when you compare it to, say, the 60's, 70's, 80's and even the 90's.  It used to be that ‘The Love That Dare Not Speak It's Name' didn't.  Now, Brokeback Mountain not only depicts the romance of two men in love, it wins Oscars.

This sort of liberation is not without fall out, and one of the funniest and most vexing phenomena for me is the Indie Gay Movie.  It is a wonderful thing, since it actually opens the closet door.  On the other hand, there are issues of quality.  Some are shoestring productions made by dedicated film buffs taking advantage of new technologies that make filming more accessible, and their innate fashion sense, to make quirky little labors of love.  Like the ashtrays your kids made you for Father's Day, the results vary.  They are made on a shoestring budget, with talented amateurs.  Often the results seem like class projects for a film course.  Some rate A or B and some rate lower.

So how do you review these movies? Many of them are spot on brilliant in some particular aspect.  Do you allow the shadow of the mike over the lovers detract from their heart wrenching confessions?  How do you compare these rhinestone tiaras to Brokeback Mountain?  Maybe we need a new scale.

This particular production is called Cowboy Junction, after the cruise spot where our hero the husband (Gregory Christian) picks up a hunky young trick Cowboy (James Michael Bobby).  After their meeting, husband decides to take his trick home with him to work as a handy man.  Of course the fact that he has a wife (Elyse Mirto) does complicate things.

Cowboy is desperate to reestablish a connection with another man, just getting over losing his boyfriend to a hit and run driver a year before.  Husband and wife have grown apart.  She was pregnant when they married, but the baby died.  Now, he is picking up rough trade, and she is taking sleeping pills.  Needless to say, it is a household with issues.

Some of the issues include fidelity, how dishonesty hurts the wife, how Cowboy wants a partner, and husband wants a trick on tap.  How social standing and expectation can trap you in a loveless marriage.   How the Cowboy and the Wife become friends, their secret bond ticking away between them.  It is all very dramatic, and angsty. 

It is also, surprisingly, not bad.  The actors strike me as a cut above summer stock.  The real strength though is in the writing.  It needs work, there are awkward bits, but Christian is onto several really good things here, and does a fair job of working them through.

Okay, there are a few problems.  The film was shot in 9 days, and looks it.  And I wonder if that horrible set was condemned; the walls of the living room are a radioactive green.  The bedroom is a purple that makes me think of sleeping in a grape, and the kitchen is bright red.  Are the garish colors supposed to be symbolic, or was the house donated by a blind friend of the producer?

On the plus side, James Michael Bobby does get naked for this, and that is something worth writing home about.  His scenes with the husband are sweetly passionate, but not too lurid.  There is a sweet honesty to the entire production that sort of elevates it above its own limitations.  It makes me wonder about Mr. Christian's own past; is this perhaps semi autobiographical?

Story and actors, four and half stars.  Production values and technical goofs, 2.  Works out to around three stars, I suppose.  We will call it a B+.

Gay Movies:

La Mission***Burnt Money***8: The Mormon Propo$ition***In The Flesh***The Sensei***The 24th Day***Wrangler: Anatomy of an Icon***ZMD: Zombies of Mass Destruction***East Side Story***Dorian Blues***Creatures From the Pink Lagoon***Satyricon***Ice Men***Richard O'Briens Rocky Horror Tribute Show***Prom Queen***The Kids are All Right***Between Love and Goodbye***The Mudge Boy***That Man: Peter Berlin***A Single Man***Almost Normal***Outing Riley***Outrage!***Law of Desire***Love is the Devil***Cowboy Junction***Horror in the Wind***Bedrooms and Hallways***Cut Sleeve Boys***Big Eden***For A Lost Soldier***Midnight Cowboy***Redwoods***The Massuer***Boy Culture***Breakfast With Scot***The Fluffer***Flesh***Little Ashes***L.I.E. ***Dorian Gray***9 Dead Gay Guys***Shank***I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry***Beautiful Boxer***Bangkok Love Story***Schoolboy Crush***Shelter***Back Soon***Dog Tags***Theft***The Mulligans***The Velvet Goldmine***Swashbuckler***Smoke Signals
***C'Thulhu***Milk***The Picture of Dorian Gray***Brideshead Revisited***Notes on a Scandal***RocknRolla***Mamma Mia!
***Priscillia: Queen of the Desert***The History Boys***Brokeback Mountain***The Broken Hearts Club*** Yaji and Kita: Midnight Pilgrims ***Surge of Power ***In & Out ***Mambo Italiano ***Touch of Pink ***To Wong Foo, Thanks For Everything, Julie Newmar ***Wolves of Kromer ***Rocky Horror Picture Show ***Taboo ***Deathtrap 


Gay Themed Series:

Spartacus: Blood and Sand
Dante's Cove
Hex
Carnivale Season One
Carnivale Season Two
Rome Season One
Rome Season Two
True Blood
True Blood: Season Two
The Book of Daniel: The Complete Series
Torchwood: Children of Earth
Torchwood: Season One


Gay Animation:

Pirate's Booty***Sensitive Pornograph***Loveless: The Complete Series***Loveless: Hope on the Run***Loveless: Soul of Chains***Loveless: Lost and Found***Embracing Love: A Cicada in Winter***Embracing Love: Cherished Spring ***Stonewall & Riot***Drawn Together Movie: The Movie***Drawn Together: Season 2***Drawn Together: Season 3

Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Good Date Movie
Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age