Queer at the movies
Posted on 13 Oct 2011 at 5:03pm
Gay-themed art house films dominate the movie landscape in Dallas this week: 'Gun Hill Road,' 'Toast,' 'Weekend'
ARNOLD WAYNE JONES | Life+Style Editor
http://www.dallasvoice.com/queer-movies-1091967.html (http://www.dallasvoice.com/queer-movies-1091967.html)
Enrique (Esai Morales) has just been released from a three-year stretch in prison, planning to reconnect with his wife Angela (Judy Reyes) and teenaged son Michael (Harmony Santana). But much has changed since he was sent up. Angela has been emotionally if not physically unfaithful, taking comfort with a neighbor much more stable and affectionate than Enrique. Michael is terrified that his macho Puerto Rican father will discover that on the side, he identifies as trans; as Vanessa, he even performs in the local drag show.
Gun Hill Road is the kind of movie that, even as you are watching it, you cannot help but think, "How did this film get made?" I mean that in the best sense. With a cast of well known if not exactly bankable stars, it has some mojo behind it. But trans teens in Hispanic culture? This doesn't exactly scream "box office bonanza."