Gone, But Not Forgotten (2003)

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

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

I wasn't looking for or expecting a low budget soft porn movie (in spite of the poster) so wasn't disappointed by the movie. The movie successfully explored the search for a gay soul mate, not just quickie sex that sadly seems to characterize so many lonely gay relationships. It also displayed the latent intolerance to homosexuality that is still rife even in enlightened societies and the tragedy of being a closet gay trapped in a straight marriage. It was nice to see two gay men portrayed as "normal" human beings without having their gayness stigmatized or emphasized as their only character trait. It is an enjoyable film - not too deep but entertaining and believable.

You know, I have to admit that while there are gay-themed movies that are so awful, so badly executed and so clichéd there is no other way to approach it that doesn't involve a sense of apprehension and at least three glasses of wine to soften the blow, there comes a movie that is so unassuming, so tiny, so much a blink-or-miss event that you would dismiss it because it doesn't have known actors and has been made on a personal level -- really, a labor of love. Such is the case with this little movie. Its poster does little to attract the right kind of attention because of its flagrant depiction of Harlequin-esquire bodies entwined in a loving embrace. As a matter of fact I won't deny that much of my initial attention was focused on its poster and I thought to myself, "Eh, what the hell -- another gay-lite movie featuring perfectly chiseled bodies, little to zero acting, and a flimsy story that would make ETHAN GREEN look like an exercise in expert plotting."I will be the first to admit, I was partly wrong. True, the story is pure Harlequin -- change the gender of one of the two leads and you have yourself a quintessential Hollywood weeper starring two of the days brightest leads paired together for sparks and an emotional ride. But there's a stark honesty, something else that is crucial to this movie's enjoyment, that I couldn't -- despite some occasional cheesiness -- take in like I'd never seen a love story before. For two actors who have little to no credits to their name -- because perish the thought of seeing A-list actors condescend to playing gay men without losing their masculinity; only a handful do that, and even then it's not without some eyebrows being raised, yes, even now -- their interaction together was fraught with enormous sexual and emotional tension, and it's also a tale that takes it time to get to where it needs to get. Matthew Montgomery plays his part with a cheeky realism -- at times it seems like he's in on the fact this is a role, at times he's clearly inside his role. Aaron Orr also comes across very sympathetic as a man who's found the person he's been waiting for and is unmindful that it may cost him everything. And the actress who plays the woman in between Montgomery and Orr, Ariadne Shaeffer, has one intense scene reminiscent of Beatrice Straight in NETWORK that is frankly, chilling.So, GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN is romance, pure and simple, but done with care to its characters, to its story, and comes out looking much better than if it had been made with a budget of 20 million and power-actors. I loved it and recommend it.

OK, so I've watched the maybe five good English speaking gay themed movies released over the last five years. My internet rental queue has about 70 titles for which I remain ever hopeful. One after another, they rate anywhere from simple horrible to pointless, depressing, tedious, condescending, or French horrible. Hope has not completely vanished, but expectations are no longer exceedingly high.Maybe low expectation was why I liked this movie. I certainly think way too high expectation is why some others did not. The best of film makers would be hard pressed to do better with a budget that wouldn't pay for food service on most movie sets and undoubtedly filmed in less time than a big budget director spends picking his nose. Come on, this little guy deserves a break. The story is feasible and interesting situationally. The characters are believable and their interactions seem real without stereotype. The storyline is laid out in a logical fashion. There is a point. The acting is at least up to soap opera standards. Problems that hound gay relationships are addressed honestly. The video format seems very fitting for the simple, small town, natural surroundings in which it was filmed. The guys are aesthetically decent enough. And it has one of the best choreographed romantic love scenes of any gay movie, big budget or not. As far as pace, this is indeed not an action packed, ADHD storyline, but the pace does thankfully allow the characters to develop. It's just a nice story to let you know the big bad world is not going to always eat you alive."Gone but not Forgotten" is more like a granola bar grabbed at the checkout counter rather than say, "Foie Gras en Terrine", at the French Laundry. Simple, momentarily satisfying, and basically healthy. I hope it gets judged accordingly.

This little movie, made on a shoestring budget with a small cast and crew, cannot fairly be compared with a multi-million dollar Hollywood production. In spite of any production limitations, this is a true gem... A simply delightful little film.I'm sure that most of us have a short list of movies that are the entertainment equivalent of soul food - movies that we watch over and over again... we may not fully understand why we like the movie, but it gives us a sense of inner peace - for me, "Gone, But Not Forgotten" is such a film. I found the story refreshingly different from the mainstream gay-themed movies and I thought that the two principal actors, Aaron Orr and Matthew Montgomery were excellent, particularly in the very well crafted love scene.It doesn't take a huge budget and expensive special effects to tell a story well. All it takes is a good storyteller... and Michael D. Akers and Sandon Berg, along with their excellent cast, have managed to tell an interesting and unusual story in an honest and straightforward way.