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A Four Letter Word

Self-reflection and parody
By PETER KEOUGH  |  April 30, 2008
2.5 2.5 Stars
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Jes Archer and Charlie David in A Four Letter Word

At a certain point in its history, a movie genre achieves self-reflection, pondering the validity of its conventions before it sets forth toward self-parody. That point in the Gay Romantic Comedy genre may have been reached in Casper Andreas’s raunchy Men’s Opening Night Film at this year’s Boston Gay & Lesbian Film Festival. Would-be pick-up Stephen (Charlie David) accuses Luke (Jess Archer), a swishy, flagrant, hedonistic stereotype who thinks only about sex, of being a gay cliché. Could he be right, Luke asks himself? Of course, Stephen, a macho Tom Cruise look-alike, is himself a gay cliché, and so is every other character in the movie: the self-righteous gay-rights activist; the recovering alcoholic fag hag obsessed with her upcoming marriage; the anal harridan with his easy-going housemate. Just by this act of introspection, Luke becomes a funnier, more ironic stereotype, and Andreas’s film, though eventually succumbing to platitudes, also broaches moments of truth. (Director Casper Andreas will be present at this screening.) 87 minutes | MFA: May 7
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