Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Nathan Fillion Week: That was so gay

So...Outing Riley. I think that if I were not doing a week's worth of Nate* Fillion movies, I would never have watched it. I mean, an independent movie about one Irish Catholic trying to tell his brothers he is gay after their father's funeral...it's just not something that I'd go out of my way to watch. I mean, there are no monsters, no aliens, no cities being destroyed. There was not a single fucking spaceship in this movie. Oh sure, there was a helicopter, and naked girls and even a ninja fight (stick around after the credits), but there was no way to know that going in! Chalk that up to a pleasant surprise.

The story itself is nothing to write home about. Bobby is an Irish Catholic from Chicago. He has three brothers and a sister. Shockingly, his sister is okay with it and his brothers need time to adjust. It's a series of gay cliches. The story is told in an entertaining way though. Much of the story is presented as Bobby imagining that his life were a movie. He explains how he would do things if it were. He's constantly breaking the fourth wall, talking to the audience. At one point, he even has a conversation with the boom mike operator. And every guy's discomfort with homosexuality becomes another running joke.

And really, that would be enough to make an entertaining movie. There was an excellent choice, however, in casting Nate. He has the best role in the movie. He gets the best lines. He gets to be the fun brother who tells all the jokes and that everyone likes. And he takes advantage of it. Nate puts in a great performance here. It's just fun watching him clown around with everyone throughout the movie. This includes a scene where he's high and arguing with a guy who is peeing on the house. He doesn't realize that he's peeing on a mirror and fighting himself.

As a result of all that, (the whole performance, not just the peeing), what could have been a bland comedy becomes much more interesting.


*The further this goes on, the closer I feel to him. It's a kinship, really. So, I feel like it's informal enough that I can call him Nate.