Were the World Mine (2008)

Good start, but then it gets ruined

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Taking the concept of a "love potion" (the elixir which, painted on the eyes of a sleeper, will cause the "victim" to become enamored with the first he or she sees on awakening) from Shakespeare's MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM (being done in a high school production at the behest of a strangely "arty" teacher), but eschewing all the other substance of the play, WERE ALL THE WORLD MINE is a semi-musical whose healthy but overly optimistic premise is that bigotry will not survive experiencing the object of the bigotry first hand. It is only a semi-musical although it would seem to like to be more. Nearly all Shakespeare's plays had music in them, but seldom more than the two or three passing songs that the play-within-a-play in WERE THE WORLD... indulges in, and more to the pity, none of these are set to the Bard's lyrics. While somewhat shaky in construction, the cast and physical production of WERE THE WORLD... make it a mild pleasure, but it would be far *more* pleasurable had the author/director incorporated more of Shakespeare and less of well meaning contemporary farce.

I watched Were The World Mine this afternoon on DVD and was completely under the spell ! People on the boards have criticized this movie in every way, from every angle and in every detail. Get real folks ! This film is a fantasy, it's sole objective to entertain and to make us dream, to get us away from our dull everyday existences and just enjoy ourselves. As far as I'm concerned, the director ,crew and cast succeeded admirably ! It's never going to be easy for a gay-theme movie to find popularity in main-stream cinema and even more so when things are done on a tight budget, but Were The World has done just that ! Even the gay-clichés made me laugh,as there weren't too many and they fitted into the story-line smoothly. I truly hope that the largely unknown cast go on to long, successful careers !I gave it a 10, simply because the film entertained me and I couldn't ask for anything more !

Despite a great deal of male-to-male affection (bare-chested hugging, kissing, and cuddling), "Were the World Mine" is overloaded with bigots. What's worse is, they win out! This 'fantasy' for open-minded audiences doesn't really have a happy ending at all...in fact, this is the least progressive gay-themed film in a good while. Handsome prep school lad, about to perform in Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" along with his classmates, is aided by his music teacher in coming up with an elixir which can turn heterosexuals gay. This naturally leads to confusion and anger when the newfound gays and lesbians (acting like horny pod people) descent upon the straights, begging for their returned affections. An ambitious, colorful production sense (with beautifully scored musical interludes) captivates the attention for a spell; however, the third act (switching the gays back to their hateful hetero selves) doesn't exactly inspire the quirky sweetness director and co-screenwriter Tom Gustafson was probably aiming for. *1/2 from ****

Timothy (Tanner Cohen) is a rugby player in school and openly gay. The other guys treat him like dirt. Then he's cast as Puck in the school's production of "A Midsummer's Night Dream". He finds a flower that makes the person he squirts it at fall in love magically with the first person they see. He starts off by making the whole rugby team AND the coach fall in love with other men...but things quickly get out of hand. Oh yes--and there are musical numbers! Now I DO applaud what this film is doing--updating (kind of) Shakespeare's play but I didn't like it. For starters Cohen isn't exactly a good actor. He seems too nervous--but he sings beautifully. The humor here also seems too forced--I think I smiled once. The plot also derails more than once and things stop making sense. However, seeing young men openly kissing and making out was hot and very romantic, the musical numbers were great and (Cohen aside) the acting was perfect. Still I was bored and annoyed more than once. It's message is great (accept people for who they are) but the execution is clumsy. I can only give this a 6.