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If you have a couple of free hours on a lazy afternoon and you are not looking for anything too challenging to fill them, you might try watching this low-budget comedy on cable. It certainly wouldn't be the worst way to spend your time, but the problem with this little film is that it certainly wouldn't be the best way to spend your time either. Jonathan Bray and Wilson Cruz are certainly competent actors who play likable and attractive leads who meet-cute in the setup for this sweet and goofy comedy of errors. Along the way, the film even manages to achieve a couple of touching moments and a few small laughs. Nonetheless, the story suffers by the screenwriter taking a premise best suited to a movie short and stretching it thin to fill a feature length film. The film piles improbability upon improbability to keep the plot trudging forward and it throws in tired clichés and cheap laughs as a poor substitute for genuine wit and sophisticated character development. The sincere effort of the two lead actors keeps the whole flimsy story together for most of the film, but eventually even their strong acting skills can no longer compensate for the ridiculous plot developments and trite dialog.

There is nothing particularly bad about the Art of Being Straight, but there is nothing especially good. Rachel Castillo does deliver a delightful performance as the lead character's ex-girlfriend who is now in a committed lesbian relationship, but dealing with her attraction to the new guy who moved in next-door. Unfortunately, the parallel main plot and lead performance given by the writer/director Jesse Rosen is not as engaging as he explores his own sexual identity. Mr. Rosen acting is lifeless and his character is dull. However, the film's tone is warm, the dialogue is sincere, and the movie smartly avoids heavy angst (for the most part) and tedious academic explorations of identity politics; however, it just ends up coming up short. The movie is neither intellectually provocative, nor particularly sexy (I am not arguing for more graphic sex scenes, but the few sex scenes which were shot are so insipid and boring they should have simply been left out). The film also occasionally stretches credulity when it needs to be believable. But most problematic is that the movie fails to deliver much of a message beyond "life isn't always black and white"--something other films have conveyed in a much more thoughtful and effective manner. In the end, the film is a mildly interesting "slice of life" flick, but mostly it's just a harmless bit of fluff. It's something worth catching for free on cable, if you have an empty hour on your hands, but it is nothing worth going out of your way to see.

Sommersturm, titled "Summer Storm" in English, is a coming-of-age story about unrequited gay love and the difficult coming out process.

The movie is well-acted and the cinematography is very good; unfortunately, the script is full of tired clichés, misguided pathos, and weak attempts at comedy. In addition, the film is not helped by an insipid soundtrack and the fact that story drags on far too long. There are several moments during the film's last half-hour where it appears to have come to an ending before inexplicably going on.

The story is very simple: Tobi and Achim are best friends who are in their mid-teens. The inseparable pair belong to a local Bavarian youth crew team. The story picks up shortly before Tobi and Achim leave with their crew mates to join other regional crew teams at a summer camp to train for a large crew meet to be held at the end of the season. Shortly before the two leave for the summer camp, Tobi begins to realize his romantic feelings for Achim. Tobi's situation is complicated by the fact that just before their departure for summer camp Achim begins a romance with a lovely young lady, Sandra, who is a member of a women's crew team also going to the summer camp. In addition, Sandra's best friend Anke falls hard for Tobi and is determined to seduce him. At the summer camp, Tobi becomes increasingly distressed as he sees his friendship with Achim become displaced by the budding romance between Achim and Sanra. His distress over seeing Achim slip away makes leads to Tobi to act out his anger which causes a bitter rift with Achim. Meanwhile, an "out-and-proud" gay crew team, called "Queer Strokes" shows up at the summer camp, and their presence leads to events which force Tobi to come to terms with his homosexuality and his love for Achim.

It is certainly possible for a coming out story to be done well, but Summer Storm ends up telling a very formulaic and trite tale which resorts to shameless melodrama and sophomoric teen sex humor in an attempt to spice up an otherwise flat and lifeless story. The movie is not helped by the fact that it is uncertain in its direction; it capriciously bounces back and forth between frivolous and lame teen sex comedy and cringe-inducing heavy gay angst-filled drama. Moreover, in the film's narrow and patronizing perspective on the coming out process makes it hard for the audience to connect with the film's protagonist. Tobi's difficult struggle to come to terms with his sexual identity and his unrequited love for his best friend should elicit sympathy from the viewer, but instead his journey of self-discovery is handled with such a sappy and despairing tone that the viewer soon develops the urge to yank him a side, slap him, and shout in Moonstruck-fashion "Snap out of it!" At the much overdue ending of the film, Tobi finally learns to accept himself and he does find happiness, but by the time the screen writer slaps on the saccharin ending the viewer no longer cares much about Tobi or any of the other characters in the film.

In the end, Summer Storm simply comes up short. It is not very touching or funny. Also, for those who care about such things, I would note that the film is also not very sexy. Viewers interested in seeing a sweet and sentimental coming out story would do better to rent "Beautiful Thing." As for viewers wanting to see something steamy, they will be sorely disappointed and should go see another film. Despite a few scenes of hunky shirtless guys, the movie is definitely not titillating; by the time the first of two tepid love scenes rolls around, any viewer hoping to see some hot action will have long ago left the room.