Getting Go, the Go Doc Project (2013) Reviews

• Unconventional and delightful

  jm107012014-09-07

  A gorgeous, early-20s gay virgin in Manhattan (if you believe there ever could be such a person), just about to graduate from Columbia and then west to Iowa for grad school, fakes a documentary film project in an attempt to meet a gorgeous gay go-go dancer he's become obsessed with online. To his surprise the dancer goes along with the idea. The fake documentary leads pretty quickly to some very real sex and a lovely, tender, sort-of relationship. Actor and singer Tanner Cohen, the star of Were the World Mine (made by the same guys who made this one, but MUCH different), plays Doc, the almost-Columbia-grad virgin. Matthew Camp, a real live go-go dancer, plays Go, who is actually himself. The movie was shot in Camp's own apartment, gym, club, supermarket, etc, and follows his regular daily and nightly routine. The only fiction is the business with Doc. From beginning to end, nothing about this movie is conventional or predictable. Unlike 99.9% of gay men who see this, I thought Doc was lots sexier than Go, but the nerdy type with a totally natural body appeals to me lots more than the buff, shaved, go-go boy type. But Go is very smart and has an angelic face, and inside he's ten times sweeter and more appealing than Doc is - one of the sweetest and most appealing characters ever to appear in a gay movie. Matthew Camp is thoroughly delightful. Definitely, definitely worth seeing.

• Ingenious and moving.

  paulcreeden2014-10-28

  I am not a fan of most American gay films. In fact, many remind me of 1980s California high school films, like "Breakfast Club". Gay cable networks certainly haven't helped to refine the quality of gay cinema in the U.S.. After seeing the French "Stranger by the Lake", for example, I was annoyed that the U.S., a leader in LGBTQ politics, still has a largely puerile gay cinema catalog. "Getting Go, The Go Doc Project" is a big step in the right direction. The artistry of this film and its excellent acting by Tanner Cohen and Matthew Camp is seductive. It presents as a documentary and is totally believable as such. In fact, I felt voyeuristic in the sex scenes because they were so convincingly human and genuine. The interactions between Doc and Go transported me back 45 years to my own experiences with first infatuation and sexual exploration in friendship. The mattress discussions between Doc and Go about present-day gay male issues were more candid and pertinent than many pages of published gay observers, and in fewer words. The serial public kissing scenes around Manhattan, despite mimicking Warhol, struck me as passionate, intensely erotic and profoundly political, all at once. I didn't expect to become engrossed in Doc's and Go's world, but I did. Partly because I was revisiting a real urban gay world in which I once lived myself. Since my life hasn't been one of a suburban marriage with children, I found this tremendously moving and encouraging. This movie asserts that there is still a gay male culture aside from heterosexual-lite.

• Great film, True to life...well, at least mine.

  emerald-294-7466202015-01-03

  This film didn't turn out to be what I thought it was going to be...it was better. As an old fart it took me a short while to adjust to the style of the film making. It's truly wonderful how affordable and accessible film making has become these days....Thanks Apple. Just start watching and let it all wash over you. Be patient. The young actors were superb. I had seen Tanner Cohen in Were The World Mine. He was very good in that as well. Mathew Camp seems to have made his debut in this film. Very competent and naturalistic in his performance. Amazing in his complete, complex character portrayal. Who knows? Maybe he is so similar to and comfortable in his characters skin. I don't really care. He was just a pleasure to watch as was Tanner. I believed both of those boys characters. The arc was just as it should have been. Realism to the core. Don't know if the dialogue was improvised or loosely scripted. It seemed so spontaneous and natural that either those two boys are extraordinary actors or the writing is excellent or all of the above. That's what I liked about the film....believability and accurate portrayal of those two individual's humanity. Served to show that love, especially young and fresh love, never changes. It's a blissful state of insanity. I have experienced the situations and feelings of both these characters back in the days of innocence, youthful optimism and raging testosterone. This film reflected all of that. I have been vague with details of the film because discovering it as one goes along is an important part of the pleasure. Here's how much I was impressed, mesmerized, entertained and stimulated....I just bought the film from Wolfe Video. It's available on NetflixStreaming, clips on YouTube, VOD from Wolfe Video. I'm in love with both of those boys. Great job.

• Blasts stereotypical gay themes out of the water and into reality

  ilikeimdb2015-01-06

  This is a movie more about the juxtapositioning of surface thematics than about anything else...and you have lots of them: the innocent narcissist versus the vapid sex toy; the inherent sadness of loneliness versus the snarky adulation of the crowds; indulgent hero worship versus a pure insouciance. The movie uses a lot of interspersed video which itself is a commentary on the initial fragmentation of the characters into those thematic caricatures. Without needing a Pygmalion (Shaw) transition in either direction, the leads Go and Doc find themselves drawn towards each other on their own terms. They integrate rather than further fragment and find common ground right in the middle. The truly fabulous tour-of- NYC make-out scenes are celluloid-melting in a deeply romantic and convincing manner in the most egalitarian kissing yet filmed. They are equals and need no excuses. In the end Doc got exactly what he sought from the beginning: To know himself better through the non-judgmental eyes of a lost (but very sexy) soul.

• That was real...

  Silitonga2014-06-08

  Just saw it and better than I expected. Despite it's super limited budget, almost every aspect well done, the acting, story, editing, and photography. Interesting to see Tanner Cohen again on screen after his last film was Were the World Mine (2008), he made reputation there, as the film too, one of the top greatest gay movies according to AfterElton. This some kind of good breakthrough. And the acting, no doubt, he's good. No wonder, the director, Cory Krueckeberg, chose him as the lead. He was the writer of Were the World Mine (2008) and this is a great debut for him as a director. The most interesting about this film is the story. It made like semi self-documentary, made by the 'Doc' (Tanner Cohen), who happened to be amateur fake director in a tricky way to get close to his favorite go-go dancer, 'Go' (Matthew Camp). He was very obsessed to 'Go' as he obsessed with online cam and blog. A little bit exhibitionist I say. He contacted 'Go' said that he's a director and want to make him and go-go dancing issue as the topic. Luckily, it was approved. Then, story between the 'Doc' and the 'Go' begin. The shooting begin as their love of each other also begin to grow. Emotional build and love made, but the truth always altered the story. Another great aspect of the film is the emotion, intimacy, and the bond between the two main actors really strong. We can felt this aspect almost at the entire film when filming the "amateur fake" documentary. At the point, I almost believe that this film was a "real" documentary starring by two "real" couple. Some might said it's sad ending, some might said not. For me, it's fair ending and I liked it, because made less "Hollywood ending."