Outfest

Coffee Date

By PETER DEBRUGE

A Coffee Date Prods., production. Produced by Cindy Peters and Stuart Wade. Executive producers, Antonio Brown, S. Eugene and Marjorie Margolis, Dena Harman, Eric Miller, Eric Borsum. Co-producer, Stewart Wade. Associate producers, Sally Kirkland, Elaine Hendrix, Meredith Habif. Directed, written by Stewart Wade.
 
With: Jonathan Bray, Wilson Cruz, Sally Kirkland, Jonathan Silverman, Elaine Hendrix, Jason Stuart, Deborah Gibson.
 

This review was corrected on July 31, 2006.

A blind date proves especially eye-opening when straight-guy Todd (Jonathan Bray) discovers the Kelly his brother set him up with is actually a gay man (Wilson Cruz). After fans of writer-director Stewart Wade's 16-minute short asked him where the relationship went next, Wade decided to expand "Coffee Date" into a feature that opens with the same mismatched meet-cute. Couple has chemistry, but second-guessing Todd's orientation grows tiresome as the uncertain 35-year-old spends the next hour insisting he's straight while friends and family suspect otherwise. Full of unlikely misunderstandings, the amateurish production stands little chance of coming out anywhere but video.

Pic takes the implausible position that a straight man might start to believe his friends know something he doesn't. Stuck fence-sitting for most of the movie, Bray has a distracting tendency to bob his head and exaggerate gestures, while out-and-proud Cruz seems much more comfortable onscreen. By the time Todd and Kelly sort things out, even these two lovestruck movie buffs would agree their troubles don't amount to a hill of beans. Story would be easy to take more seriously if the technique weren't so unpolished.

Camera (color), Howard Wexler; editor, David Avallone; music, Eban Schletter; production designer, James J. Agazzi; art director, David T. Brewer; costume designer, Annalisa Adams. Reviewed at Outfest, Los Angeles, July 16, 2006. Running time: 94 MIN.