Longhorns (2011)

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Brilliant and touching

Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Before the end of Longhorns all four of the macho frat guys from the University of Texas get down and naked and show their gay side. The only one comfortable in his sexuality is the Latino student Derek Efrain Villanueva who is out and heads the campus gay organization. But he's also the happiest of the lot.Longhorns begins with a sex scene as Jacob Newton is getting ridden hard by some coed and we see he's fantasizing about being a mechanical bull being ridden by some fellow Longhorn. Doing some tutoring is Villanueva and I have to say he is one seductive young man. Believe me seeing Newton and Villanueva took me back a few decades and I know exactly how Newton felt fulfilling what he really wanted.It doesn't happen all at once though and Newton is still trying to keep up his good old boy image. Turns out that his friends Dylan Vox and Stephen Matzke are also doing a little sexual exploring when some promised females don't arrive.And big man on campus Kevin Held might be homophobic, but he does need a passing grade in English.Longhorns is a gay youthful romp through the Reagan years in that bluest of states Texas. You could probably make the same film now and date it as contemporary, attitudes have changed a bit, but it's slow.And this review is dedicated to the late Donald 'Butch' Buchecker of Consohocken, Pennsylvania who made it right for me.

Nothing about this so called comedy is "risque" or "sexy". Not one of the actors are particularly good looking. I could have easily done without any of the nudity. And I usually enjoy a good sex scene or 2 in a gay themed movie. All the male full frontal scenes in here just seemed completely unnecessary. The acting is pathetic. The whole all-American, Texas boy thing wasn't even remotely believable. The only reason I would consider this a comedy is because the whole movie in itself is a joke. You can't help but laugh at how ridiculous every moment of this film is. Everything from the opening fantasy scene to the constant mutual "pleasure" sessions.Seriously, don't waste your time.

This film is a delight from the moment it starts and doesn't let up until the very end - didn't even take time for a pit stop I was so caught up in the playfulness of this film. The cast is uniformly hot - all the guys and the gals too - lots of flesh - especially full frontal nudity - in fact all the male leads show it all - very unexpected and fun, fun, fun - not much of a story but the cast is so great to look at who cares? Some incredible eroticism done in a most unusual way - which catches you completely by surprise. In fact this film is full of surprises. A real winner. The Texas shots were all great - really gave you a sense of the way Texas looks - that part also surprised me.

A cast of unexciting, not especially good-looking actors, most of whom would not make the cut in an audition for a high school play, certainly complement the mediocre, sophomoric story.All the indoor scenes appear to have been shot in various rooms of a $5 a night motel and one suspects their rental expense probably consumed most of the production budget.The standard over-worked components of a gay-themed movie, homophobia, state of denial and self-revelation, are played out awkwardly, are totally unbelievable and generate no emotion other than acute embarrassment for all concerned, especially the viewer.This might have been cutting-edge 40 years ago, but these days there is no shortage of well written, superbly acted and beautifully produced movies dealing with all aspects of gay life. This oeuvre is to 21st century gay-themed movies what Amos & Andy would be to modern Black cinematic entertainment.Even worse, it appears to have been mistakenly labeled a comedy. The comedic highlights include: (a)One of the characters has given names to his three house plants and (b) The same character unintentionally wears blue jeans on Wear Blue Jeans if You're Gay Day. I hope revealing that didn't spoil the hilarity for anyone.Don't bother.