After Louie (2017) Reviews

• Not Saved by the Acting

  jaronb942017-06-25

  With fine actors including Alan Cumming, Zachary Booth, and Wilson Cruz participating, I expected a far better film. This is the director's first feature, and it shows. By turns maudlin, self-congratulatory and incoherent, the story purports to be an examination of how an aging gay man - who lived through the worst years of AIDS - now finds himself in a time in which his activism is under-appreciated. Unfortunately, as written, the protagonist (Sam) is self-absorbed and unlikable, a privileged New York artist who treats the hustlers he hires badly and who whines relentlessly to others that, for some reason, put up with him. He is, essentially, a narcissist that the filmmakers present as if he were sympathetic. The conceit of the film is that Sam is not afforded by young, cute gay guys the respect and honor he deserves for having lost friends and loved ones in the eighties and for having participated in Act Up in the nineties. As a survivor of those times myself, I appreciate the work of activists, but I fully understand that what they accomplished should be gratification enough. Of course younger gay men can't understand what Sam went through. The whole point was to work toward a future when they wouldn't have to. Sam is stuck in the past, as is the film. The protagonist seems to learn nothing, and watching his journey becomes increasingly frustrating. One final point (and this truly bothered me): throughout the film, Sam voices particular venom toward the few non-white characters - a latino hustler he stiffs, a black artist who has replaced him in popularity, and the latino boyfriend of an old friend who the friend wishes to marry. This isn't quibbling; his behavior is pronounced and consistent, leaving the impression that, in his mostly-white world, people of color are people to be disparaged.

• Drags on and on

  Gordon-112017-09-15

  This film tells the story of a passionate gay activist who spent years to fight for gay rights. He is stuck in the past, and finds himself clashing with the ideals and the way of life in the modern gay world that he has helped to shape. "After Louie" perhaps is very personal to the director and the producers. It focuses on the activist who is still very much in the fighting mode,unable to enjoy the fruits of his labour. The story unfortunately is told in a very slow pace and in a rather uninteresting manner. The only scene that is poignant is the argument scene at the dinner gathering. Those five minutes are really the only minutes that stand out from the rest. I find myself wondering when the film is ending, and indeed why the film is not ending. The film feels very long, and drags on and on at the end. The film could have stopped right after the party started. We did not need to see the birthday cake, the bathroom scene and then the woman talking about not helping to clean up. There are a lot of redundant scenes, which may be important to the filmmakers but they do not add to the film unfortunately.

• Saved by the acting

  euroGary2017-03-25

  Sam (Alan Cumming) is a self-centred artist working on a video tribute to a friend long-dead of AIDS. Sam's homosexuality is very political: a veteran of the gay rights protests and anti-bigotry campaigns of decades ago, he embraces the self-imposed outsider, 'rage against the machine' status it affords him, as witnessed by his tirade against a gay couple who marry. But it's not all politics: one night he takes home a young man (Zachary Booth) he meets in a bar. Their relationship is the hook on which the film hangs a wider examination of Sam's life. So far, so talky American gay movie. What saves the film is the acting. I agree with Samuel L Jackson - why hire a Briton to play an American - were all the American actors busy? But there is no doubt Cumming is good in this, eschewing the queenliness he sometimes uses and instead delivering a character who is a strong, opinionated, not-particularly-likable ordinary guy. As for Booth, while he has the looks of a vapid Valley boy, he turns in a natural, realistic performance as the younger man intrigued by the older man, but not blinkered to the latter's faults. Amongst the supporting roles, Everett Quinton has fun as the ageing, gently flamboyant queen who is the oldest of the circle of friends. So full marks for the acting, but considerably fewer for originality.

• Finally a new theme

  WatchedAfew2017-11-04

  This film is refreshing because it addresses the generational gap between those who lived through the plague before the HIV cocktail was deemed effective and those who came of age afterwards. The protagonist is not a sympathetic character. He is unable to move beyond the era of his AIDS activism, to develop new relationships or to adapt to new social movements. The trauma of his 20s and 30s is unresolved. He treats everyone badly; he does not discriminate on gender, gender identity or race. I am not troubled by the slow pace of character development because his inflexibility is a function of his age. He does learn to juxtapose his experience with contemporary gay life. He also is able to find some resolution to what he has lost. I would contrast this film with the generational conflict in When We Rise, the recent television mini- series.

• Positive hiv movie

  henray712018-03-12

  As a lot of movies of hiv has been made the majority leaves me depressed. After Loui for me is different : I really liked the story