Love, Death, & Cars

There's no shortage of films about straight women who have hopeless crushes on gay men, or about gay men who have hopeless crushes on straight men. We've been needing a good film about the dynamic between a gay man and a straight man, both of whom love each other, albeit, of course, in different ways. "Big Eden" attempted to do this, but the results just left me confused about character motivation: why, after years without any contact, would straight man suddenly wish he were capable of being gay man's lover?

"Love, Death, & Cars" does successfully what "Big Eden" fumbled. Kyle is gay, Max is straight, they've been best friends for years, they love each other deeply...but for Kyle that's sexual and for Max it isn't, despite an attempt on Max's part to pull it off. It's a complicated relationship, beautifully represented--one of the sweetest love stories I've ever seen on film. Not even bittersweet, in my opinion. Just sweet.