Gay Club Movie With the Dangerously Unsteady Grounds
Written: Aug 26 '03
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Bizarre -- read the review, true story, SETH GREEN (wow!)
Cons: Some acting really blows
The Bottom Line: A true story of a boy, who wanted a life to be an eternal party and did everything he could to be Peter Pan of the new generation.
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| kuuleimomi's Full Review: Party Monster |
Before we go any further I have to confess my unconditional love for Macaulay Culkin and trust in his talent (which you might doubt he has at all). He was the prime reason I was interested in Party Monster (2003) and watching him doing his act was *ahem* quite interesting.
Nine years since Richie Rich (1994), Mac lost all his cute kid charms and cast prudence to the winds as a Club Kid of late 80s. His character Michael Alig flees from Indiana and moves to New York at the vulnerable age of sixteen. There he meets with a quirky James St. James (Seth Green in his most remarkable role up-to-date), who teaches him how to be fabulous. There’s no need to mention that both kids are gay – everything screams about it once you meet them (and don’t give me that look!).
Michael wants to organize the parties and after a couple mistakes with a little help from James he finds his niche. After a few successful club parties, he becomes a Club Kid. Movement started growing big in New York. Club Kids had parties in the trucks, fast food restaurants and other odd places. Naturally, they were illegal, but moreover they were bizarre, full of drugs and so gay.
While we’re there, I thought that gay part of the movie was fairly OK. It was fine with me that Mac was quite overplaying the queer side of his character, however I can see more than a few eyebrows raised in the LGBT corner. My main praise, though, goes to Seth Green, who mastered his character divinely and produced an awesome comedic performance. A die for moment – Michael cheering up James by putting some tune on and they both are dancing.
As a gay club scene addict I was quite enjoying the first part. I found both Mac and Green outrageously corny in their roles and Marilyn Manson’s Christina was not all that bad either. But just as with any “clubs and drugs” movie, the denouement went dramatically wrong. Some parts closer to the end were just purely scary – my girlfriend still can’t get one particular moment out of her head and says she’s going to have nightmares for a long time now.
The theme and cast should appeal to the young adult audience. Chloe Sevigny and Natasha Lyonne star in the episodic roles, Fes from That 70s Show (Wilmer Valderrama) plays [super star DJ] Keoki – Michael’s boyfriend, Dylan McDermott plays the club owner and in a certain sense Michael’s guardian.
As for the theme, think of it as a gay club movie with the dangerously unsteady grounds – lots of colors and shocking outfits at the party with drugs, sex and murder. Granted it’s not an easy one to survive, but those who did, enjoyed a laugh or two, even though the story was dark from the very beginning. It is based on James St. James’ book Disco Bloodbath, which is a true story (as you might’ve guessed due to the author’s name). For interested parties, there’s a documentary Party Monster (1998) starring all the characters of the real drama as themselves.
Recommended to anyone who’s interested in independent movies for its done exactly in that spirit and not gay sensitive.
Recommended:
Yes
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kuuleimomi
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