Brotherly Love

I liked this film for its positive intentions, but I disliked the direction of the film and in my opinion Anthony J Caruso should have left it to someone else. And to be absolutely honest I found a lot to be desired in the acting in general. The Catholic ' brothers ' got on my nerves, and especially the stereotyped banter that seemed to go on forever. It did not come from an elderly generation alone, but among the young characters. One ridiculous scene was when one young man did not know of a reference to Bette Davis, and was gently taunted at for not doing so. Why should he have ? In my opinion ( as the film came out in 2017 ) the director should have known that a young generation of viewers had moved away from the ( to me ) internalised homophobia of the past. On the positive side I also felt the film meant well, and I have to say that I speeded up the duration of its relatively long running time towards the end. No spoilers but I glimpsed a gay marriage and despite my former reservations I felt the good intentions of making this rather badly made film.

This is another movie that once again proves my theory. If the screenwriter has the lead, or the screenwriter, and the producer are also the lead, or if the Screenwriter is also the Producer and the lead, or if a family member is part of the production, don't bother watching. There's never a person on the outside to give a clear opinion of how bad it is, or how to improve it. I've also found that the lead is usually not a good actor.

How did they ever round up so many actors that have no sense of how to act. Absolutely awful. Got to the 28 minute mark and set my laptop on fire.

This film reminds me of a gentler, more campy, and fun-loving time of gay film-making. If you love movie classics (well, least the AMC-type) and the Golden Girls, your heart will flutter. The relationship tensions. the circle of friends, the clergy, the hopefulness throughout, etc. are all Hallmark-esk. Questions of life are pondered. The necessity/burden of romance is played out. You get to really know the central characters and their hearts. Plus, there are cowboys.

Like so many first-time Director/Writer/Actor's, Anthony J. Caruso got in the way of his own production by trying to wear to many hats in this his first big film endeavor. There is a story here, as future Brother Vito (Caruso) is caught between the call of God and the attractive summer handyman Gabe (Derek Babb). However, with Caruso's continually verbose writing, and a directing style that unnecessarily lingers too long on his characters, the just under two-hours feel like an eternity. As with most LGBTQ films, there is an array of secondary characters, many of who are either over the top like Vito's campy friend Tim (Chance McKee) and the exaggerated and stereotypical lesbian Blaze (Laurie Coker "A Dogwalker's Christmas Tale"), painfully slow paced like Joseph (David Blackwell "Brotherhood"), overly stiff like Brother Mike (Gerald Brodin), or corny like straight truck driver Eddie (Tim Mateer). And, don't get me started on the summer house gaggle of "Golden Girls" geese housemates. "Brotherly Love" is distributed by "Breaking Glass Pictures," and will have a theatrical release on August 3, 2018 and a DVD/DOV release on August 7, 2018. Already an Oklahoma LGBTQ Film Festival Best Picture Winner and Naveda International Film Festival Best Feature Film Winner, you to will soon have an opportunity to see if you find any reason to show any "Brotherly Love" here.