A brilliant film that helped define a genre

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

Let me begin on the positive side: this is definitely a very sympathetic and sensitive movie, made with integrity and feeling. The storyline is basically simple: a somewhat nerdy and sexually inexperienced adolescent, who's wavering about his true sexual identity, involuntarily gets hooked up with a stunning looking but not so bright jock from the swimming-team and falls in love with him, all the more triggered by the jock's casual flirtatious attitude. This unequal pairing evokes all kinds of trouble, leading to a tragic climax. Photography and direction are fine and the movie is impressively carried by the two protagonists, played by Tyle Olson and Kyle Clare, who are equally convincing in their own storyline as well as in their mutual infatuation.On the other hand I also had some serious reservations about the script. There's just too much stuff going on here, too much issues make the movie rather top-heavy. It's not just (as one would expect) about coming-out as gay and experiencing a first love (and sex) and (as a result) confrontation with rejection and prejudice. That alone would maybe not have been very original but it would have been enough to fill a whole movie. Here they also brought in gay bashing, child-neglect due to divorced parents, alcoholism, drugs-abuse, school-exam fraud and in the end even suicide. By cramping all this in one and a half hour it necessarily results in a somewhat superficial handling of some of these issues. Especially the escalating drug-abuse of Carter and his suicide could have used a more thorough build-up. I also regretted the introduction and the ending of the movie: we see Danny, many years later with his lover (for most of the ensuing movie we're left in the dark whether that lover is the adult Carter or not), making the core of the movie a flash-back in time. It didn't seem to serve any purpose and the point of the movie would have been as strong (or even stronger) without it. The supporting characters are a bit shallow: the mother of Danny is the only one with a substantial and meaningful part in the story, but Carter's father stays a caricature; the stern and rigid coach played by Greg Louganis hasn't much more to do than just be that: stern and rigid (probably Louganis added his name and person to the project out of sympathy); and Danny's best girlfriend (why does every gay guy in a movie always gets hooked-up with a "best girlfriend"!?!) has hardly two whole minute's screen time and for some unfathomable reason is forced to fill these minutes while stumbling around with a crutch (did the hired actress sprain her ankle on her day of shooting or did I miss some metaphor in that?!). Karen Black as the art-teacher maybe could have made more of her character than this mother-like bohemien who huskily whispers positive thoughts to the insecure Danny. She only comes to real life when she tries to persuade a colleague teacher not to pursue a detected fraud by Danny and Carter.On the other hand the opposite characters of Danny and Carter are worked-out very well, as was the gradually growing sexual attraction between the two, which was convincing and actually very sensual. There's a little bit of discreet nudity, not too much to distract from the story but enough to understand the sexual appeal that Carter had on Danny. And the central love-scene was beautifully staged and filmed in a dreamlike atmosphere with rain pouring all over the two entangled bodies. There was palpable chemistry between the two guys, in spite of their odd coupling (which of course was the whole point of the story). As I said before, the suicide was a bit too much for me, maybe it was a logic result of all the goings-on with Carter, but in the build-up of the movie it came quite out-off the blue and we never get any actual explanation, no farewell letter or anything. The total devastation of Danny is understandable, but here the director could have used a little bit more restraint: Danny's extreme gushes of crying are on the brink of hysteria and just not enough in sync with his calm and restrained nature.Olson and Clare do a great job, as mentioned before. Both are good-looking, Clare as a stunning blond Adonis, and Olson in a more endearing and cute way. In my opinion Olson seemed the most promising actor of the two, but this may have been due to the script that made his character more multi-layered than Clare's Carter. All in all I enjoyed this movie very much and I give it a heart-felt 8 out-of 10.

This is a phenomenal and beautifully shot film about young gay romance. It is a gripping, dramatic, and moving portrayal of discovery and new love. I mean everything was utterly amazing: from the actors' performances (especially the Danny character), to the cinematography and even the haunting score playing all throughout. The movie is longer than most (almost 2 hours) but you honestly don't feel it because the story is so captivating and engaging. This is by far one of the best films ever made in this genre of gay themed dramas. There are scenes depicting sexuality with the unbelievably beautiful body of the swimmer character, but they are done tastefully and shot with an entrancing artistry. If there were Oscars for in-dies like this, I'd award it all the top honors. Highly recommended to the point I will compare all future films of the genre to this one! Truly a gay classic with an above average production value !

Why 'Watercolors' since the artist uses them in the film only in one occasion? Namely, at the end, gratuitously painting his lover's body, courtesy of Nipples&Close-up. If this was intended as an homage to body-painting, or the redeeming power of art I would not dare guess, but my bid is that is nausea-inducing to viewers that want something more than indulge into (their) two-dimensional melodramatic situations.Please name one sufficient reason you feel involved by the opening-night mini-drama. Do you get it with dramatically plausible foregrounding? I for one think that if this is not pulled through, in any film, it will not recover from its flaws. And this one does not.Tye Olson makes a decent effort, although he is dragged here and there by the melodrama of the situation. Yet, he seems alone in an unfortunate way: his 'lover' never shines through as an existing, separate character, he is a bunch of nervous reactions and frustration.No chemistry, either. At the point where one should see, if one had, the boys' love-making, one gets a gloriously shot ass, a semi-fantastic scene that suffers and is weighed down to earth from a sentimental piano. This is not two adolescents discovering the thrill of sexuality, it is menopause shining.The little dialogue between mother and son is perhaps the only point that really shines in the film, though it seems as a fragment from another one; and the casting of the younger and the elder artist is accurate, in terms of physiognomy."All bad poetry is sincere." Oscar WildeAn unfortunately sincere film.

"Watercolors" played at San Diego's FilmOut today. I have to say, when we read the synopsis in the FilmOut guide, and watched the trailer, we both thought this was going to be just dreadful. We weren't sure we wanted to even sit through it. I'm so glad we did -- it would be a mistake to miss -- to our amazement, this is a terrific film! First-rate acting all around, with special note to the dad's demonic smoking, the art teacher's facial expressions, the mother's nuanced looks. The writing, while melodramatic, is well-done. Nice cinematography, with cool underwater shots of the swimmers, long shots of outdoor scenes, and so forth. The casting, for the most part, fit nicely, especially Tye as Danny. It was fun seeing Greg Louganis as the coach, although I think it would be have been terrific to cast him as the anti-swimming father.I especially liked the relationship between Danny and his mother. Very funny, touching, warm. The dad character could use more depth, but the mannerisms were nicely done. Tye as Danny looked so small and vulnerable (he's taller in real life, as we saw during the cast Q&A) and had such a perfect geek haircut.This really didn't feel like a "film festival film", although it could do with a bit more editing to tighten up some of the scenes and cut the running time by 10 or 30 minutes.