the leading man is my tpye

Purely Joyful Movie!

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

First time I found out that people had already made a gay themed Pride and Prejudice I was instantly hooked. The whole P&P gay thing was my idea for a novel that I'm working on (in my head), although hadn't had the time to start on it. I've always been a Pride and Prejudice fan. It's the first book in the Austenverse that I've read as a kid. I've fallen in love with the characters especially with the main lead Lizzie Bennet. Mr. Darcy, of course, will always be my fictional boyfriend. I have always identified myself with Elizabeth ever since I've read the novel and watched the 1995 and 2005 version, including the rom-com version, Bridget Jones' Diary. Okay... so about this movie; I am both impressed and disappointed. Let me start off first by saying the "good" stuff about the film. The cinematography is visually stunning. The nature scenes are breathtaking and gorgeous to look at, it felt like you could almost feel and smell the breezy wind right through you, giving that vibe to the audience is an achievement. The storyline's good although it lacked the certain qualities of Austen's novel such as the social satire and wit that made the novel a universal hit. But I'm aware the director (Geisner) is not going for that direction, instead, he's focusing more on the romantic tension between Darcy and Lizzie and what could happen if they were transformed in the 21st Century as a same-sex couple. Darcy is as brooding as ever, in here he is depicted as a closeted gay man struggling to come in terms with his own identity, which is EXACTLY what he would look like if he were reinterpreted as a queer man.As for my bad impressions, sad to say there are more bad moments than good but at least tolerable to bear with. My biggest complaint is the camerawork, it's often shaky here and there. Some angles were great, some angles were okay, some angles were just plain hard to look at. It looks as if it was done by a teenager with minimal knowledge about the basics of filmmaking. The dialogue was okay, but I expected more from it, it is after all an Austen adaptation so I expected it to have more depth and quality in the usage of their words. The two gay men, which are obviously the film's version of Lydia and Kitty, made me flinch in disgust; they're stereotypical and annoying (I get that their original counterparts really are annoying but I did not expect this kind of exasperation), I don't know if the writer of the screenplay intended them to be the comedic relief but it seemed they're just there to mess up the lives of everyone around them, they're like Jar Jar Binks twins in human flesh. Lastly, my second biggest complaint is the main lead, Ben Bennet. I don't see any hint of Lizzie in his character other than the "pride" and "prejudice" part which is obviously the most vital part of the story. He lacks charm, humour, liveliness, and (most importantly) sarcasm. My insult to his character: he resembles more of a Bella Swan than a vivacious woman with a pair of fine eyes. If this wasn't a Pride and Prejudice film, I would've said more nasty stuff about it, my Austen spirit led to forgive it as a whole. I'm used to watching great films and I've seen far better LGBT themed movies than this, but set aside all the flaws and imperfections, I think it's a good film (if not a great one), it is imperative proof that beloved classics like Pride and Prejudice could be "queerified" if done with justice and regard to the original source.

First off, let me say, too many people over analyze movies. Movies are supposed to make us feel something, regardless of the emotion. I found this film very touching and beautiful. The characters were believable and genuine. The acting by some in this film was less than stellar, but for a low budget film what do you expect? I thoroughly enjoyed this film. I have known more than a few people like the character of Lee. Some say stereotypical, I say realistic. The scenery was absolutely beautiful. I think most folks can get past a little bit of poor acting to appreciate a deeper meaning.

Pride is one thing. Then there is serendipity. "Before the Fall" popped up on my Amazon Recommended queue last week, and my first thought was not kind based on the cover art."Before the Fall" is so much more - a movie on the nature of moral sentiments. For those who think "Before the Fall" is about a romance or two, I have news - it's equally about goodness. This is deeply humanistic film. If "Before the Fall" has the hots for anything, it is kindness. This is a movie about desire and manners, but which play out as something larger, with Ben Bennett (Ethan Sharrett) as the movie's exemplar. It has a lot of Ben in itself, which is why I wish some things had been framed differently. The review version I posted at Amazon, under Orton Redux, includes a start-to-finish Fan Edit (same review title: "Praise, and a Fan Edit The Morning After").From the credits, I gather that this production is very much a collective effort. In which case, let's praise everyone, starting with director Byrum Geisler. The filmmakers have created a distinctive world worth visiting more than once. Supported every step of the way by Adi Goldstein's stellar score, and Brandon Garza's expansive cinematography, the mise-en-scene achieves something extraordinary: a narrative that is consistently, pleasurably immersive. The movie's awareness extends to its class consciousness - as the two romances inspired by "Pride and Prejudice" unfold, a widening social milieu opens. Unexpected is what is not said from in scenes short and long: desire mingles with human flaws, injustice with justice, and poverty with outreach emotional and otherwise. "Before the Fall" achieves a memorably resonant interplay of flawed, beautiful characters who are more often than not (to steal a page from "Before the Fall") also good people.Two star-making performances enrich "Before the Fall". One needs more structural support from the filmmakers, and I've gone into this in the Fan Edit at Amazon. Then there is Ethan Sharrett's performance as Ben. No matter where he is in the frame, Sharrett anchors the movie. He is right up there in my estimation with the score, direction and cinematography. When I looked up his other roles, I was astonished how the "Paradox Alice" physicality had morphed into Ben - the gait, the cadence, and a confidence that far rom stealing scenes, does something generous: it enriches the entire ensemble. Sexuality is never the issue with Ben: doing the right thing is. A lot of boy scout rises up in Ben, and damned if every expression of it doesn't work gangbusters. A pleasurable example is the half-beat pause around Lee (Chase Conner) as Ben's smile and the breath falter mid-expression, this from a character who is otherwise well-suited and together. If one can ever will into being the movies in one's head - a long-overdue remake of "The Conformist" with the American surveillance state as the backdrop, or an American take on Karim Aïnouz's "Futuro Beach", or a fun revisit with a new "The Last of Sheila" - here is my one and only submission for the A-list.If we're projecting, then a message for everyone involved: that your collective investment in these characters not be let go too easily. Ben, Lee, Jane Gardiner (Brandi Price) and Chuck Bingley (Jason Mac) are immensely attractive characters for all the right reasons. Set in southwest Virginia, "Before the Fall" already proffers narratives beyond the main stories here. Before the movie has ended, we take in poverty, nature conservation, the law (including an assistant prosecutor you want to see again), unseen "political buddies", and I can't be the only one who thinks that George Wickham (Jonathan Horvath) wants revenge, rather like Darth Vader at the end of Star Wars Episode IV. A sequel or limited series would let the core quintet loose, now that the groundwork has been laid. This, too, would be faithful to the historic response to "Pride and Prejudice", which has spun myriad, and often disparate, sequels.The core of "Before the Fall" - a solid hour - is a state of grace. Perplexing are the ways in which the filmmakers don't fully anchor what they've got with Lee and Ben. If the camera can go DePalma (close) - twice - on a heterosexual kiss, then the least the film syntax can do is give back more to Ben and Lee. By this, I mean more than the length and nature of a same-sex kiss, when it arrives. The movie would benefit greatly by loosening its grip on Lee. This would release more agency in Lee via Chase Conner's characterization. Conner gets emotionally powerful scenes, yet the movie lets him down more than once, by not cutting at the right moment, by leaving in an extraneous line of dialogue, by dissipating a shot's impact by playing it too long.Our focus is compromised from the start, in the way the film sets itself up, then intercuts between Lee and Ben, then throws in a dissolve flashback. The opening scene doesn't do the work it's supposed to: and we are left with a clunky flashback structure quickly forgotten. As the movie stands, we are also left with the distinct sense that Ben is doing the heavy lifting. Greater attractions exists between Lee and an anonymous pick-up (take it as a pun), and especially between Lee and Chuck. The way around these competing relationships is not to reduce their screen time, but to achieve greater emphasis elsewhere: accentuate what is already there - a deeper pain in Lee and a stronger evolving interest in Ben.Within the confines of the film, and assuming no other footage, such an alternate structure exists. See the Fan Edit at Amazon, based on Amazon time signatures. Since my intention was only to build with what I saw, I take nothing away from the filmmakers behind and in front of the camera, and what they accomplished, which is why the review there is, and will remain, 5-stars.

It's easy to spill into colourful and cheap when portraying "gays" on screen. This film manages to achieve erotic tension and I think this is due to its wonderfully dignified treatment of both character and relationship. That, of course, apart from the great acting Sharrett is putting in.