The Seminarian (2010)

Simply Perfect

Great movie! If you want to be entertained and have a few good laughs, see this movie. The music is also very good,

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

I am a product of the Harvey Milk Days and this film illustrates a new kind of 21st Century gay. Oh sure, the "good 'ol days" had their share of pathos and heartbreak - drama - but I find it curious that in this day and age, after 40 years of come out, come out and teaching in schools that homosexuality is okay and everything, that this kind of shallow, passive-aggressive, timidity among young gays (particularly on campus) still exists.Early on our hero poses to his Academic adviser (he attends a top religious-based school and refs to himself as a seminarian) that his belief is that if God is "good", then why does he make "love" so difficult to achieve? He fails to complete the thought, however, in that he stops short of saying, why does God make it so difficult for homosexuals? If he had gone that far and perhaps examined his own life and all those he surrounds himself with, he might find his answer.He has two or three equally closeted co-students and they have to be the most boring crowd anyone can imagine. They are all cute in a nauseating way, concerned about their physiques, etc. They get online and cam-sex. They all give varying rationalizations for even being at seminary, none of which have anything to do with having faith in Jesus. I would feel better if they just admitted that they came to meet guys.In what has to be some of the most stilted dialogue ever and equally dull performances, this film is the flip side to the flamboyance of say Bear City, although both illustrate the desperation and hopelessness of pursuing the homosexual "lifestyle." And all of this couched in that magic word that has been so bastardized - love.Hey seminarian, lust is not love; sex is not love; you are not making love in the back seat of some trick's car nor in the tea room at college - right there, where anybody could walk in and see you, Mr. in-the-closet!!!!Love is not difficult if you do it the way God designed. It isn't. Only when you go outside of His plan, do the complications occur. Likewise with any of Jesus' prohibitions: drink too much, smoke too much, fool around on your wife, steal a car, lie on your taxes, etc. There is a REASON God says don't do it. Because it will hurt you!!!Usually, in these gay Christian vs. the Bible flicks, homosexuality wins, mainly because the subject finds some way to justify their "love" for another man through the so-called love of Jesus. No where have I ever seen one of these that acknowledges the existence of Satan or the possibility that sodomy itself is a product of evil intentions on the part of Satan. Jesus talks about Satan a lot so he must exist. We know that men can love one another with no hint of homosexuality whatsoever too. So, if the belief is that God created man and woman to be together and not the proverbial "Adam and Steve", if we acknowledge that God does not "make mistakes", then like the fall of Adam and Eve at the slithering of the serpent, it can also be true that sodomy was part of the curse inflicted upon mankind as part pf that Original Sin. In other words, were the serpent to say to a man of another man: God says do not put that into your mouth but He just wants you to be miserable; He knows you will like it, i.e. forbidden fruit, and you fall for that line, then guess what?You wanna tell these poor slobs to just get a life. Sitting around waiting for the phone to ring from some guy who is even sicker than you are, even more guilt-ridden than you are doesn't sound like much fun, particularly when all of you are such beta doormats it isn't even funny. Makes you wonder what would happen to any of these twinks were they to find themselves in a rough leather bar. All, however, would make excellent prison fish.Heck, I am straight and even I would smack them around and make them do what I wanted.

Is it a spoiler when I say this movie left me depressed?If you want to watch a seemingly endless rambling movie that is depressing, then I highly recommend The Seminarian. If on the other hand you don't want to waste one hour and 41 minutes where when you get to the end you sit there wondering why anyone would even make such a film—then I don't recommend it. My guess is that the author of this piece is a very unhappy man and wants you do be as well. Like, "Love is a curse from God and why should I be the only one that suffers? I want my audience to suffer as well." This film was not for me and I am pretty angry that Josh Middleton of GPhilly recommended it. I wish I could sue to get my time back. I obviously won't watch anything else he recommends or that Joshua Lim, the writer and director, makes. I don't need my every movie to have a happy go lucky happily ever after ending...but God. It's a good thing I'm not suicidal!

Truly, I went into this movie with curiosity, interest as the film deals with a seminary student, I had attended a seminary for a time, and I too have been watching a number of gay films recently.When the film was over, I was joyful, I was satisfied with regard to my curiosity, and I was able to relate in many ways with the ups and downs experienced by the main character.Because I could relate to the character, because I believed the actor was portraying a gay character, because the other people were like people I have encountered so far in life, and because the film pretty well answered and addressed some of my questions as a gay Christian, I give this film a 9 out of 10.

I bought this movie somewhat on a whim after reading reviews on several sites, and I'm glad I did. "The Seminarian" is a thoughtful -- and thought-provoking -- study not only of main character Ryan's quest for love, but of how each person has to find his or her own path to happiness. Some people try to find this through religion, others through friendship, others through romantic relationships, others through purely sexual encounters. Ryan is trying to balance all of these, and sometimes his intense focus on one makes him lose sight of the importance of the others. The other characters represent these different parts of Ryan's existence -- Eugene & Kelli are God's love; Gerald & Anthony are friendship; Bradley is romance; and Kevin is sex. As an allegory, then, these interrelationships worked well for me. Other reviewers have commented on the slow pace, and they're right that this isn't exactly an action flick. But it wasn't meant to be. Some reviews mention the brief nudity in a couple of scenes, and yes, it was probably put there by the director solely to titillate certain audiences. But it was also realistic... No one wears clothes 24/7, so why should the characters in a movie? Bottom line: Take "The Seminarian" for what it is, accept it for what it's not, and I think most people will find it worth their time.