NYCNetguy

Featuring razor sharp, biting dialogue (written by Amy Sohn) and tightly directed by Jamie Yerkes, “Spin The Bottle” tells the story of five childhood friends reuniting for the first time after years of pent up secrets, grudges and desires that all come to a head one evening after the teenage game of the same name.

From the onset you know something’s amiss when Ted (Mitchell Riggs) and Bev (Kim Winter) arrive at the camp where they spent their days with their childhood buddies and their host Jonah (Holter Graham) or no one else appears to be around. Their uneasy about being there until Alex (Jessica Faller) appears and the chain of events begin to unfold. Rounding out the cast is a funny and hip Rachel (Heather Goldenhersch).

As the weekend progresses mind games are played, sexual tensions arise and its not until the final frames that the past is revealed and the weekend explodes. An enjoyable film with a well acted and written cast. There were a few times the dialogue was a bit over the top and a bit mean spirited but I guess in light of the situations it was well deserved. With friends like these who needs enemies! A nice directorial debut from Jamie Yerkes.

“Spin The Bottle” might not suit everyone’s tastes but I thought it was a nice character study and enjoyed how the story unfolded over time and the truths and secrets were revealed. Some brief nudity, sexual situations, and sharp dialogue and comes in at 83 minutes. A nice addition to your gay dvd collection.

EXTRAS:
There is a commentary track with the director Jamie Yerkes and the writer Amy Sohn that I found enjoyable. It’s nice to see an independent film get made and how for $20k it took shape, actors were chosen, scenes filmed, and choices made.

Rounding out the DVD are a theatrical trailer, cast and crew bios and an award winning short film by Jamie Yerkes entitled, “Cowboy Jesus” which was interesting in itself with a different take on the bible.

Hendrik

"...razor sharp, biting dialogue... a nice character study..."

. . . . . . . . . . . .

from A.O. Scott's review in The New York Times:
"...The poor actors arch their brows and enunciate their lame witticisms as if they were performing Noël Coward, or else rage and parry as if auditioning for an imported-beer commercial loosely based on "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" Perhaps the characters are meant to remind you of people you know, but if that's the case, they are people you would do everything in your power to avoid, on screen or off."

. . . . . .

NYCNetguy

So what's wrong with Noel Coward? ;O)


"There were a few times the dialogue was a bit over the top..."

wago70

I really liked this film. I thought most of the actors did a fine job. I really liked the photograpy - a tad grainy, but the nice blue hues really came thru nicely.
The dialogue is really good in this film. Ol' AO Scott of the New York Times needs some serious MYDOL (or perhaps some Digel) before he reviews films.

BobBoyd

After reading this review, I had to watch this movie again to make sure it was the same one I had seen.

This appears to be a film about what straight people think that gay people are like, which is what you should expect from something written by, directed by and acted by straight people; it has little if any similarity to reality, which is not, of necessity, a fault, since this is, after all, a movie. Unfortunately, the acting is wooden and forced. It is all too clear that neither of the men is comfortable playing a gay man. The dialogue is very artificial with occasional flashes of biting humor. The ‘love’ scene is physically impossible to perform as shown. The ending is not very convincing. I don’t know whether the author was aiming for “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolfe” or “The Boys in the Band”; in either case, she failed.

What I think was actually happening here is a real life Bev working out her conflicts and not very successfully. It’s still an entertaining film in some ways and has some merits in some funny, bitchy dialogue and some decent cinematography. Bev’s reaction after her encounter with Jonah is a hoot; but it’s not a film I could recommend for anything other than a rental. It might be best shown to a group of your friends after finishing off the bottle which could then lead to a game with a happier outcome.

NYCNetguy

Not if you're nimble!
;O)

You guys should check out "When Boys Fly" or "Forgive and Forget"...I'd be curious to see how you feel about those.....