A Four Letter Word (2007)

Don't listen to the Hype. It's awful

Absolutely Fantastic

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

Many four letter words define A Four Letter Word which rains from life and love to an old English expletive. This film is a romantic comedy about the young gay world early 21st century New York. The film mostly centers two vastly different gay men Jesse Archer and Cory Grant who has a great name for the cinema.Both work at a sex shop and between dispensing dildos and candy flavored negligees talk a lot about how they see the world. Archer takes life as it comes it's the sex store by day and the man hunt by night. Grant is all absorbed into the state of gay life and the many issues to be resolved. Cory has little time for a love life and Jesse has time for nothing else but sex.Things might be changing when Archer falls for Charlie David who goes to school, but doubles as an escort. But folks in that line of work lie a lot and it becomes second nature after a while, maybe even first nature. Or he could be just a pathological liar. I knew one like that myself many years ago. I can sympathize with Archer you never know when you're being conned.Secondary plots revolve around another couple J.R. Rolley and Steven M. Goldsmith who are having their crises. Goldsmith is a compulsive control freak and Rolley sort of lets everything slide until the big blow up. There's also Virginia Bryan a straight friend who is having wedding jitters and then gets kissed by a girl - friend and then starts questioning her own sexuality and should make the girl, a girlfriend.Still it's the primary triangle that drives the film. Archer needs to take life a little more seriously and Grant needs to take himself a little less seriously.A Four Lettered Word is a nice view of New York City young urban gay life circa 2007. You'll recognize many character in your own lives seeing this film.

A Four Letter Word is not a ground-breaking piece of cinema by any stretch. But for all its failings, there is enough substance to enjoy.The plot leans on the weak side and the main character (Luke) extremely unlikeable. I found myself, at times, feeling very disengaged with his experiences in the film.But pushing past this, there are laughs along the way and some of the minor characters actually steal the limelight.The problem with this film is that it throws together all the major gay clichés, and for this reason it stumbles constantly. The director surely must have had more vision than to peddle worn-out and tired gay stereotypes.Successful gay cinema celebrates diversity and breaks free of the constraints and expectations society imposes on homosexuality.If anything, A Four Letter Word is a major disappointment in this regard. I expected a lot more.It's easy to pick holes in this film but there is enough to keep watching until the end.I have given it a solid 5 for a pass and the power of the support cast saves me from a harsher judgment.

I saw this at the Cleveland International Film Festival this week.Luke is a promiscuous gay male who spends his time cruising bars and working in a sex toy shop. He is surrounded by a small group of friends, whose stories we learn more about as the film progresses. While out one night, Luke stumbles upon Stephen, a "straight acting" (as the characters define the behavior) hottie who makes a few comments about just how Luke fits the gay stereotype so well. This bothers Luke and begins his journey to self discovery, although it's not exactly rocket science.I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys the silly gay comedies. "Another Gay Movie," "Adam and Steve," "Noah's Arc (TV Series)," etc. etc... If you've seen and enjoyed these mentioned movies and shows, I have no doubt you will love "A Four Letter Word." The film is a bit silly and you and your friends may squirm at some of the lines, but there is a heartfelt message and you will walk away from the film feeling pretty good about yourself (although you may feel like hitting the gym right away and puking up that movie theater popcorn after staring at the gorgeous actors for 90 minutes)

The first five minutes of this film had my friend and me squirming in our seats, convinced we were about to see another tired gay comedy with stereotypical characters and an all-too-obvious plot line.But looking back, I think we were purposely, and perhaps masterfully duped by the director to trigger our own stereotypes and preconceived ideas about what it means to be young, gay and living in New York. He flipped the stereotype switch gently, providing everything from drunk boys in bars, to gratuitous and seemingly premature skin shots. It was a useful tool that invited us to confirm the unspoken notions of our gay identities in order to bring about a more genuine deconstruction.The art of the film lies not in the acting, which sometimes stumbles; save of course, for Cory Grant who delivers a consistent and unique authenticity. Instead, the film's soul is truly in the scripted storyline and in the very digestible way we are taken on one character's drunken and stumbling path to the first spark of his own electric and glittery evolution.