Love! Valour! Compassion! (1997)
Eight male friends, all of them gay, leave the city behind for three simple weekends of rest and relaxation in a sprawling airy Victorian house, owned by brilliant choreographer Gregory (Stephen Bogardus), who is struggling with an ageing body. One by one, Gregory’s circle of friends arrives for the weekend, ready to unload their own worries and anxieties. They fall in love and fall from grace, hurt one another and forgive one another. They celebrate strengths and give in to weaknesses, they play jokes on each other and give a shoulder to each. They don tu-tus, for a very good cause. But no-one emerges from these weekends in the country the same. No one leaves without a humbling, surprising reminder of just how funny and heroic love is and how wondrous the human spirit can be.
“While Love Valour Compassion may have won a Tony award and critical praise on the stage, on celluloid it doesn’t have the same impact. Joe Mantello, who directed the stage version, makes this his screen directorial debut, delivering a slow, moody piece that relies on a strong ensemble cast and detailed characterisations. True, most of the cast are the same (the exception being Jason Alexander who takes on Nathan Lane’s role), but the transfer of medium is not kind to this character driven mood piece. The script is schmaltzy and too sentimental to engage or entertain at any depth. The gay issues canvassed seem a little tired; the film lacks freshness and pace. Jason Alexander gives a solid central performance as the spontaneous, outrageous Buzz living with AIDS; John Glover brings depth to the two characters of John and James Jeckyll, although James is at times portrayed with shades of melodrama; Randy Becker is enticing as Ramon, the hot dancer with the perfect body. This talented cast is let down by a script which sags into triteness and borders at times on soap opera. Putting individuals together in one location is always effective, giving plenty of scope to explore the different personalities and how they react in various situations. This can be revealing, especially when the themes are infidelity, commitment, resentment, and issues of a life and death nature. While the film may strive to be an insightful piece on gay men, and is no doubt aimed for that market, the gay topics seem heavy handed, and some of the situations are a tad dated. Full-frontal male nudity is not a big deal these days and the skinny dipping scenes appear contrived rather than spontaneous. Love! Valour! Compassion! is pretty to look at, and shows promise of emotional involvement, but surfaces too infrequently to overcome the slow pace. Disappointing.” Louise Keller
Za ovaj film nemam mnogo reći osim da je nastao u vrijeme kada se od AIDS-a umiralo mnogo više nego danas kada se HIV pozitivni održavaju u životu uz pomoć ljekova. Sedmoro prijatelja se nalaze u jednoj vikendici, smještenoj u nekoj nedođiji. Zanimljjivo mi je bilo gledati ta stereotipna gay ponašanja, od kojih se mnogi pederi zgražavaju. Hiserično, razmaženo i pomalo tugaljivo.
