Am I Missing Something?

A Disappointing Continuation

Watch something else. There are very few redeeming qualities to this film.

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

Just as the title suggests, this film is not what I expected--I expected to the see the bar/Leather atmosphere only. I wasn't there, as I didn't embrace my Leather self for another 2 decades. That said, I think a lot of the low reviews on this film are bitter Betties who ween't there, either; by that, I wonder if they are giving this film a fair shake, or are they letting their nostalgia rule their thoughts. No, Franco et al weren't there, but why would they need to be? No, Franco doesn't give us exactly what some want, and it's clear that this is more about the head-space of some of the actors. But Franco's debate with the Al Pacino lead is PRICELESS. You name me one other movie from our heterosexual brothers that is dealing with things on this level. NAME ME ONE! It's immature in places, but people going through this internal debate are immature. The Pacino stand-in is whiny and has friends who don't get him, but I can imagine that's what happens in the real life situations of heterosexual men. Our experiences are not the same. I applaud Franco for showing us this side of himself. As he did with his portrayal of Allan Ginsberg, he does here. I actually give it a 6.5. There's nothing to compare it to, so I guess time will tell.

How this 60 minute piece of drivel ever got made, or was released, is beyond comprehension. It is nothing more than an extremely tedious version of what used to be known as "vanity press". Franco should be ashamed of himself. Why he, his collaborator, and the "actors" in this piece of garbage thought they had anything constructive to say about "rumored" cuts made to a 50-year old film, borders on the incredulous. Anyone can "imagine" what those phantom 40 minutes of sex in a leather bar might actually have shown. I imagine it would be a whole lot less boring and painful to watch than this waste of film (or tape). Anyone who had anything to do with this dreadful enterprise should be forever banned from film-making!

I saw this film at the Berlinale film festival 2013, where I felt myself severely misled by the synopsis on the festival website. I saw a lot of meta-talk about cruising, about straight actors playing a gay role, about an actor being advised against getting involved in the project for the sake of his future career, and so on, with emphasis on "meta" and "about". And the bit of sex that was shown, was in a dancing atmosphere and not the traditional dark room. Maybe offensive for straight people but not very explicit, yet the festival website devoted a lot of attention to the revival of scenes deleted for fear for censors. Finally, I completely missed the insight in the film making process that was promised too. In short, an unnecessary film, not even a bit informative about this different universe we know nothing about.

This film promotes itself suggesting it re-imagines the 40 minutes excised from the movie "Crusing". It is actually a contrived and boring "behind the scenes" making of 10 re-imagined minutes from the original movie and, as shown, I highly doubt they are what Friedkin would have actually filmed.The re-shot "Crusing" minutes are provocative and very sexually explicit, but they don't make up for the other 50 minutes where we watch the straight actor in the Al Pachino role trying to come to terms with taking on a gay-themed role.I thought the 60 minutes of this movie would never end.