Drift (2000)

Thanks for the memories!

Expected more

Am i the only one who thinks........Average?

The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

I got this DVD out of the New York Public Library, having never heard of it. What a great surprise! Unlike any other gay film I've seen, it's about the breakup of a relationship, and the tentative start of a new one. It provides, if I counted correctly, three different versions of what could happen after the lead, Ryan, decides that his partner of 3 years, Joel, does not understand him. The decision is triggered, and the need for decision crystalized, by Joel & Ryan meeting Leo, a young and naive kid looking for his first lover.Ryan wants someone who can make him whole, who will know and understand him. He is full of romantic notions based on his readings of Plato and Wordsworth. He feels that something is wrong with his relationship with Joel, but he can't figure out what. In one of the versions of the story, he hooks up with Leo and the love of Leo seems to do the trick. However, in other versions, Leo is just a distraction. Ultimately, it seems, Ryan must feel complete on his own.What's wonderful about the movie is the intimacy of the acting, realistic gay men (not macho, a little bit fem, but endearingly so). Ryan is portrayed by a handsome Asian man, but nothing is said about his Asian-ness in the course of the film. However, it seems an appropriate nationality for one who is seeking enlightenment, who feels out of place in society. His sex scenes are hot without being explicit. Joel is a bit obtuse, and doesn't quite understand what his lover wants, but loves Ryan. He's cute but not too cute--an accessible, good-looking guy. You can see why Ryan has trouble leaving him.The third characater, Leo, reminds me of the type that I can fall for so easily. Absolutely naive, full of ideas and theories and wonder, boyishly adorable, not a muscle on his body or a hair on his chest. He's got slight acne, making the effect even realer. He's great.A couple of best friends of Ryan (one male straight, one female straight) round out the cast. This is a wonderful film to start a dialog about your own relationship. It's a wonderful work of self-reflective cinema by an insightful writer and director.

Maybe it's because I don't appreciate the joy that drama queens bring to life. Maybe it's because I don't appreciate the angst of living in the life today. Who in the real, work-a-day world speaks like this? If I met such an emotional train-wreck as the lead character, I would sprint at high speed in the other direction. It seemed every time Ryan opened his mouth out spilled a Greek tragedy punctuated by his belabored, self absorbed, oh-woe-is-me breathing. The acting was good, the story line was mediocre. I found myself looking at my watch and checking the box the video came in to see how much longer the pain was to continue. I would have been the guy in the back row of the theater groaning every time one of these poor widdle boys dug himself into a hole and then waxed poetic.I have this visceral feeling of...oh sorry, it's just indigestion.

The dialog is fresh, original, and on a much higher level than most commercial and indie films. Sure, the cinematography is pretty lame, especially on extreme facial close-ups. But the story surprises--Ryan has many illusions and many alternative stories that he lives, and we're not quite certain what's real. This Canadian import survives because of its superior screenplay, as well as some good acting performances. I gave it an 8/10.

(may contain spoilers)This film's earnestness and sincerity is genuine; this dv project was inspired by the director's breakup of a long-term relationship and the overall tone of the resulting work feels more than a bit confessional. Personal exorcisms on film should be approached with more than a bit of wariness, and "Drift" demonstrates this fact precisely. It's hard to argue with the source of Quentin Lee's work as it's clearly rooted in true events and genuine emotions; the problem is the resulting feature that is an almost total embarrassment. Lee's script is full of trite howlers which would make a first-year film student cringe; in dialogue which is clearly meant to be "revealing", the characters seem to speak in bumper stickers, i.e. "why do we live when living is painful?", functioning as mouthpieces for Lee's trite and facile observations about relationships. It feels raw, but the entirely wrong kind of rawness; the script's college-sophomore dialectic feels more like a long one-sided conversation with someone who drones on and on in an incessant monologue which has long lost both emotional resonance and entertainment value but the performer is convinced that he's discovered something new and meaningful, so every word must be cherished protracted and repeated incessantly. Characterizations are facile and undeveloped; the lead character's preoccupation with serial killers is supposed to indicate some hip and edgy fascination with the dark side, but Lee doesn't go anywhere with this notion after bringing it up. His haphazard throw-it-on-the-wall-and-hope-it-sticks approach to characterization makes the serial killer plot point, as well as most other aspects of the script, come off as shallow and affected. Perhaps some distance and time would have generated a more original, relevant videomaking approach. The three different endings don't feel so much like a revelation of destinies than a tired, gimmicky attempt to liven up a limp and pretentious script, neither fun or touching. At least "Run Lola Run" had some kinetic style to back up its gimmicky narrative tricks; in "Drift", the first section just lies there. Relationship Outcomes #2 and #3 are no more relevant or interesting. The ending, as the central character strolls on the beach and reflects on All He Has Learned, feels even more pointless when you consider that nothing coming before had much insight to begin with. If "Drift" is what we have to look forward to every time Lee has a breakup, let's hope the term "long term relationship" has entered his lexicon.