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Almost Normal
2005 - NR - 98 Mins.
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| Director: Marc Moody | | Producer: Sharon Teo | | Written By: Marc Moody | | Starring: Andrew Keitch, Tim Hammer, Joan Laukner |
| Review by: Harrison Cheung |
| Official Site: www.tenuretrackproductions.com |
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‘Almost Normal” is an appealing little indie comedy in the “take a walk in another man’s shoes” genre. Remember ‘Black Like Me?’ The story of a white man who dresses up as a black man to experience racial prejudice first hand? ‘Almost Normal’ takes a similar approach with sexuality. Currently making the film festival circuit, this kind of movie is designed to inspire some thinking along with the yuks – like a gay ‘Tootsie.’
Brad, played by newcomer Andrew Keitch, is gay and 40 years old. More importantly, he’s still alone and bitter, wishing he was “normal” and “straight.” One night, after a bout of boozing at his parents’ anniversary party, Brad crashes his Honda del Sol and wakes up as a teenager, back in the 1980’s. This time though, the world has changed, where being gay is normal, while being straight is deviant.
The film has some great sight gags as Brad explores this new world where family units are composed of male to male, and female to female bonds – one woman is the fag hag who bears the children. And in high school, Brad is stunned to see all the same-sex handholding and a basketball team that has to be seen to be believed. In this world, showers are co-ed, of course, and the football star is the apple of every boy’s eye. But Brad witnesses discrimination from a different point of view as one wispy thin student is picked on, for being a “hole-puncher” aka “straight.”
There are some surprising twists to the storyline – it’d be entertaining enough to explore this reversed world like a ‘Back to the Future,’ but horrors upon horrors, Brad soon finds that he’s actually straight! Teenaged Brad soon looks for “straight bars” and various haunts where hole-punchers can meet in secret and shame.
Given the indie-sized budget, there’s a lot to like and be impressed about “Almost Normal.” The film looks good and the cast is pretty strong overall, though the weight of the film rests on the performance of Andrew Keitch, who strikes the perfect balance between comedy and drama. Keitch, with minimal make-up, does an astonishing job playing both a 40 year old man and a teenager. Some careful set-design and props keeps you convinced that Brad has returned to the 1980’s.
Written and directed by Marc Moody, the dialogue is peppy and crisp – delightful not to have an overly preachy tone that switched identity movies tend to have. It’s a great balancing act between drama, comedy and romance. If there was any disappointment with ‘Almost Normal,’ it was the lack of sensuality in the film, which has an “after school special” feel to it. If ‘Almost Normal’ wanted to be an educational film to teach teens about tolerance by using humor, mission accomplished. It’s a bonus that it’s an entertaining film as well.
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