Love and Death on Long Island (1998)

Too much of everything

Strong and Moving!

I'll tell you why so serious

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

I recently re-saw this some years after my first viewing, and in spite of its humble mission and budget, it's still arresting and touching. A mere plot summary does not do justice to the excellent acting, the thoughtful details and dry British wit that bubbles throughout. I highly recommend it to anyone who cares about stories based on clever scripts, great acting and real characters... and especially if you value the stories of the closeted gays who lived among us. I would give it a 9 or 10 if it did not provide some strange side trip details that don't add much except minutes to the consistency of the whole. Small complaint for a strong movie. Impress your friends/lovers with this one, almost no one has seen it in the States, I bet.

John Hurt is understated and quite funny as a repressed British author, who, on one quiet evening happens to rent "Hot Pants College" starring Jason Priestley as Ronnie Bostock.The premise sounds silly and under-developed, but it isn't. John Hurt perfects the role, and becomes an aficionado of Ronnie Bostock's film "career" eventually learning that Bostock lives on "Chesterfield" Long Island, a fictional NY suburb.He decides to visit, and help Bostock develop his career. Hurt is hysterical, as a capable Shakespearean actor quoting Walt Whitman, and educating Priestley as to what film roles he should take. Jason Priestley is also pretty funny, trying to get decent film roles as an American is not easy-..."he's so sick of playing stupid kids"... (his girlfriend whines).John Hurt also makes a few endeavors to get Priestley to relocate to London- ..."you know Rimbaud and his patron/lover Paul Verlaine had quite a successful partnership"... Priestley thinks that Rimbaud is "Rambo"- if you don't get the joke, then you have the same problems Ronnie Bostock/Priestley has.At any rate, this film is worth viewing. Intelligent and funny. 8/10.

This film turned up late at night on TV in Australia for the first time recently. John Hurt is magnificent as an innocent abroad. An English writer who lives in New York but pretends it's Edwardian London, he suddenly decides to venture into the real world and sees a teen film by mistake, falling in love with a young actor.There are some rather predictable scenes showing humorous incidents where the naive Giles learns about the modern world - vide a million other films like Crocodile Dundee - but the acting is so good that you can mostly ignore the feeling of deja vu.One of the best things about this film is that it never goes over the top. There are no explosions or car chases, the President of the USA doesn't get involved, and nor does the popular press. It's funny, poignant, literate and a joy to watch.

Love and Death On Long Island follows Giles (John Hurt) a semi recluse English novelist who wonders through his life with very little intense purpose, challenges or any sense of being 'alive'. That all changes when one day when he gets locked out of his house. Eventually he ends up wandering to the local cinema and mistakenly walks into Hotpants College II. "What rubbish". He's just about to leave when Ronnie Bostock (Jason Priestly) appears on screen. He's mesmerized.When he leaves the theater he's a different man. It's not long before Giles thinks and does nothing that doesn't revolve around Ronnie Bostock. He buys teeny bopper magazines featuring anything involving Ronnie. Makes a Ronnie Bostock scrapbook from hand including the pictures from the magazines and eventually he makes sure to view all of Ronnie's other movie exploits. He's a man consumed by one thought, one action. Obsession has taken over. Things get deeper as you can imagine when Giles sets out and actually meets Ronnie and befriends him.John Hurt turns in another great performance in a long list of great performances and it's nice to see Jason Priestly doing something of worth. The supporting players are apt too. Sheila Hancock as Giles housekeeper kept reminding me of the God and Monsters Lynn Redgrave as James Whale's housekeeper. Fiona Loewi as Ronnie's girlfriend is a mite refreshing. She's not stupid or naive. We can see at one point she's figured out what is going on and what the "real" story is. I guess it's a nice plus that some of the movie was shot in my home too -- Nova Scotia, Canada. I think it's always nice to see where you live in a movie. 'Hey, I know that place! That's Lawrencetown beach!' Now I suppose if you live in Los Angeles, New York or any big American city that supports motion picture filming that seeing your city/town isn't such a big deal. In any case Love and Death on Long Island is a movie bathed in human nature. It's a good watch on a rainy day.