Confusion of Genders (2000)

Such a frustrating disappointment

Simply A Masterpiece

Redundant and unnecessary.

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

Just watched this and came here to read the comments and see the rating. I never would have guessed this is meant to be a comedy. Maybe it doesn't translate, culturally. It didn't strike me as funny in the least. What I saw was the central character, a male bisexual, pivoting between men and women without any rhyme or reason. I suppose that's the joke--that bisexuality offers too many options. Seriously, I saw one or two things that were amusing, particularly at the end, but there was little in this movie other than the tragic consequences of indecision. Not funny. Then again, maybe it's just my puritan heritage shining through.The actors are pretty, and I found it interesting to watch (it's France!), but I can't say it was really worthwhile. Put it at the bottom of your Netflix list.

This film is the definitive example of pretentious French film-making at its worst. What could have been a sharp and witty satire on sexual identity is instead a rancid bouillabaisse of tedium. The main protagonist's character is utterly lacking in anything remotely positive and his "conquests" are as equally vapid. Everyone in this film either scowls or pouts and there is nothing likable about the whole bunch. For a film that is suppose to be a black comedy the one glaring omission is humor. It has the feeling of a movie that wishes to be many things but can't quite make up its mind as to what. What it ends up being is just relentlessly tedious. The only humor to be found is in asking ones self, "Do people really talk to each other this way?" One only wishes the ex-con at the end would have wiped out this whole sorry bunch of narcissists and brought some life into this dull mess.

"Confusion of Genders" is all about Alain, a wishy-washy lawyer and mostly gay bisexual who has a male lover, a female fiancé, and another female who is lusting after him for reasons unknown. Although the film is well crafted with believable performances and solid production value, the story is a depressingly misanthropic satire in which no one has a good word to say to anyone during the entire run leaving us, the audience, detached and with no one to care about. The result is a less than satisfying watch with a bad after taste, when combined with lots of inconsequential dialogue and, hence, subtitle reading will make for a less than desirable watch for most. Only for French film fanatics who don't mind lots of graphic gay sex. (B-)

A giant custard pie smack in the kisser of anyone who has ever claimed "but I'm really bisexual," when that's not the case at all "La Confusion des Genres" is miles ahead of the formulaic likes of "Le Placard" when it comes to making a comedy about gay life today. As he's shown in films as diverse as "Pauline at the Beach" and "Those Who Love Me Can Take the Train," Pascal Greggory is a master of guilty sexual sneakiness. Worth seeing for the wedding scene alone.