The Skinny (2012)

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

I find all the extremely positive reviews quite interesting. In my opinion, this movie was horribly overrated. While it is not a bad film and there is certainly plenty of eye candy, there were some logic holes in the plot that I could have driven a truck through and that could have easily been fixed with a bit more ingenuity. I can't understand what Ryan's past has to do with his need to lie about going to sex parties and filming porn in his boyfriend's condo. I could understand the omission of his past but to use it as an explanation for cheating and lying simply does not make sense. When Sebastian gets raped, Kyle's character is only mildly apologetic and supposedly by the end he's feeling really remorseful but I cannot understand how this guy who was a virgin, who just went through a hugely traumatic event, and who dodged a bullet, can forgive Kyle so easily. Moreover, I can't believe Kyle's friends didn't immediately send him packing after what he did to Sebastian

Once upon a time, there were few enough gay-themed films to count on your hands (and few enough with minority leads to count on just ONE of them). But since those days are LONG gone, we, the viewing audience, have to stop giving a "pass" to sub-par gay-themed cinema, or else it just will not get better. I think everyone here agrees Noah's Ark was as ground-breaking as it was satisfying for its day. But throwing us a bone by a cameo from Noah and Janito doesn't cut it: we're looking for something more substantive these days. The Skinny seems more of an attempt to cobble together any number of black gay fantasies; the cultured doctor, the witty Brit, the shy inexperienced romantic, the effeminate "best friend" who turns out to be wild and hot, and of course, the mandatory hyper-sexual narcissist. Unfortunately, there is just not enough time to turn these characters into anything less than clichés. And the "resolutions" to the story-line just come off as contrived and campy (once again...find for Noah's Ark, but not if you want to be taken seriously).

Summarizing: I did not like that movie. First of all: I did not see ONE white person in the movie ... Are there any white people in New York or even in Atlanta? And besides that: WHAT kind of lesbian is that, what does she want from life besides watching gay porn? Her character made ​​no sense to me at all. Okay, the movie has some sexy and fun atmosphere to it, and it is technically well done, but already after half of the movie I thought: "Where the hell is this movie going?! What is the subject, the theme?!". And soon after I thought that, the boy was drugged and raped by two guys, without a condom.... WHAT HORROR!! But worse: Right the next day, he already goes rocking and rolling and smiling and celebrating Gay Pride!! Yeah, I'd do the SAME thing after I was raped by two men without a condom until blood comes out of my butt ... How insensitive!! In various scenes there was this contradiction between FUN FUN FUN and then horrible things happening. But these opposites were not worked well at all!! The movie could have been MUCH better ... So it was a great salad of too many ingredients that did not blend.

This film shows Patrik-Ian Polk at his best, or what I perceive to be his best. His work has gotten progressively better with each film I've seen. All show gay men pretty much being themselves in their everyday lives, but the characters have warmth and heart and, of course, drama. From 'Punks' to 'Noah's Arc' (the series and the film, 'Jumping the Broom') I honestly enjoy his work. But, 'The Skinny' is better. 'Noah' regular touched on issues that affect the glbt community, this film seems to take subject of AIDS, promiscuity and the party scene a lot more seriously and to good effect. Well acted with an attractive cast, during Pride weekend in Harlem. Highly recommended.