A brilliant film that helped define a genre

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

A light and delightful movie that's satisfying at a perfectly weightless pg-13. Being charming is what this movie does best, but i'd add that it doesn't seem to try or fail to be more important than that. Stylistically, the movie is consistently handled, with scenes that are quick and clever and adorable. We can all maybe admit that Heather Graham knows adorable, but she carries this film in other dramatic regards as well. Gray's relationship with her brother is very sweet, right away... and her attraction to Charlie is touched with a graceful amount of emotion. In my opinion, this is a newbie filmmaker with the editorial delicacy of a veteran. She delivers the right moments at the right times, building the chemistries early and easily. For this alone, six star territory. But here, a simple film with a sure grip on several tricky relationships - and somehow it still finds the recipe for whimsy. This movie runs away with quirky dialogue and a fetching cast... far-fetchedness be damned! Similarly, i loved the dancing and the run-on movie analogies! I think they are successful complements to the script, but they also work as pure indulgences. They are fun and energetic bits that will endear you to a movie that might very well have been another flimsy love-triangle remake. In this film, idiosyncrasies matter! This movie isn't meant to be deep, thank goodness, because it would have lost all of its sitcom mirth.

Sure, there are a lot of things in "Gray Matters" that don't make sense. Some of the casting is slightly off, sometimes the characters slip into dialogue that seems to be cribbed from an after school special, sometimes the characters conveniently forget things just for the sake of moving the plot along. However, despite the obvious missteps, "Gray Matters", in the end, remains watchable and entertaining.The film begins the way a lot of romantic comedies begin - with dancing. Sam and Gray waltz around a New York City loft, easily imitating scenes from their shared love of 1940's musicals. They seem the perfect couple - if only they weren't related... and therein lies the, yes, I'll admit - thin and silly premise upon which the film is based. You see, Sam and Gray are best friends and siblings. They grew up together, they live together, they speak in dialogue reminiscent of screwball comedies (or Lorelai and Rory from "Gilmore Girls", if that's the reference you prefer). Enter Bridget Moynahan as Charlie, the love interest they are about to share, to shake up their entire relationship and Gray's entire world. A wacky love triangle ensues, as do many, many romantic comedy clichés, made all the more clear by Molly Shannon as Gray's kooky best friend.Misunderstandings and secrets abound as Gray starts to figure out who she really is, Charlie doesn't have a clue about anything, and Sam grows increasingly nervous. Despite all the silliness and illogical plot transitions, though, "Gray Matters" is, at its heart, a sweet, positive coming out movie. If you can suspend disbelief long enough to believe Heather Graham as a woman questioning her sexuality, it's easy to relate to her realization and subsequent meltdown, and the film takes just the right tone. The film has just enough exuberance to help you get over the illogical ending, too.Granted, "Kissing Jessica Stein" does what this film attempts to do so much better, but nonetheless, "Gray Matters" is entertaining and fun.

While watching "Gray Matters" - which marks the film-making debut of writer/director Sue Kramer - I kept wondering if maybe I hadn't somehow stumbled back into "Puccini for Beginners," a movie I'd seen a few weeks earlier, since both are oddly similar, equally implausible tales of Manhattan yuppies involved in romantic triangles of the bisexual kind.Gray and Sam are siblings who not only live in the same apartment and spend most of their free time together but are so emotionally attached to one another that people often mistake them for a romantic couple. As if that weren't queasy enough, the screenplay ups the ante by having the hitherto heterosexual Gray suddenly "discover" she's a lesbian when she falls for Sam's gorgeous new wife, Charlie (yes, I know all this can be a bit confusing, but Charlie is a woman).As with "Puccini," most of what happens in "Gray Matters" feels contrived and artificial. We don't believe for a second that two seemingly rational people like Sam and Charlie would become engaged after only a single date, or that even an indecisive ditz like Gray would be this in-the-dark about her own sexuality.Thus, with so little of the storyline grounded in anything even closely resembling reality, we find ourselves detached from the characters and indifferent to their fates. That's no denigration of the lead players - Heather Graham, Thomas Cavanaugh and Bridget Monahan - all of whom are appealing and likable in their various roles. And there are some sharp supporting performances by Molly Shannon, Alan Cumming, and Sissy Spacek as Gray's loopy therapist (though there is a brief cameo appearance by singer Gloria Gaynor that is pure unadulterated pandering). Moreover, New York City looks all sparkly and shiny as seen through the lens of cinematographer John S. Bartley's camera.With its countless references to 40's musicals and romantic comedies, "Gray Matters" clearly sees itself as both an homage and a throwback to the metier and style of those earlier films. But we are obviously living in different times, and the labored setups and screwball comedy devices that worked so well in the past feel pretty darned anachronistic and forced when employed today. My feeling is that if you're going to make a modern romantic comedy, one that deals with such "contemporary" issues as coming out and sexual identity, then make a movie that actually feels modern. Don't try to tuck it safely away in the past, then expect us to take any of it seriously. Despite it's taking on those relatively gutsy issues, "Gray Matters" really doesn't exist in anyone's world, and certainly not in the racially and economically diverse world of 21st Century Manhattan."Gray Matters" presents us with life as only those in the movies ever really live it.

I have been watching lesbian movies as much as I can and all i have to say is that this is one of the first coming out out movies I've ever seen. It's nice to see an great looking women coming out! Seeing a movie that just focuses on it was really comforting. It shows a little about how hard it is, mostly in the elevator with the conversation between Sam and Gray. I do admit that the ending was a little poor, but it leaves room to make a follow up movie. I think that people will be able to connect with Gray as she goes through the "I want to want men" and "I don't want to be gay" stages! So all in all I liked this movie a lot!!