Movie Monday - "Is It Just Me?"

This week's movie is not something you're going to find in the theaters. I'm not sure, honestly, if it was ever actually in the theaters. I found it on Netflix - probably after seeing a trailer for it on some other movie.

"Is It Just Me?" is a gay romantic comedy. It's a comedy of errors where our shy hero accidentally starts flirting online with someone who thinks he (hero) is actually his openly sexier roommate. (There's a whole reason how that makes sense, but it doesn't matter, here.)

Anyway, so Blaine flirts with Xander by accident. Xander wants to meet. Blaine asks his roommate (whom Xander is expecting because of the online photo issue) to stand in for him. And, well, it all kind of goes pear-shaped from there.

But, yes, it's a romantic comedy so it's supposed to do that.

The supporting cast is fun (one of my favorite characters is the older gentleman Xander is renting a room from), and the movie just kind of bumbles along until its eventual conclusion. And, no surprise, the conclusion is exactly what you're expecting.

Here's the thing, though: I've been renting gay romantic comedies for ages. There used to be a small "Independent Film" section in the Blockbuster near where I lived in Baltimore and they had both Indie films and Gay/Lesbian films all in that section. Each time I'd go in to rent a movie I'd get one mainstream movie and one non-mainstream one, just so I could make sure they knew those were being rented.

That was at least 10 years ago (probably more like 15, actually), and the gay movies were just so... depressing. Almost all of them had really low production values. Only about half of them had decent actors (and not even all of the bad actors were nice to look at). Even fewer of the movies could make it more than 20 minutes without blatant sex - which seems odd when the movie is supposed to be a lighthearted romantic comedy. And, of course, about every third one had a main character "dealing with" being gay instead of simply... well... being.

"Is It Just Me?" had actors who could actually deliver lines while walking. They were mostly clothed for much of the movie (the "cowboy" on the poster only wears that outfit for one scene - and he works as a dancer, so it makes some sense). The plot was predictable - but in a good way. And, believe it or not, the hero's angst was life-related, not the other way around.

I don't expect you'll all go out and rent this, but it's a nice piece of fluff movie making. The kind of movie that studios have been making for straight audiences for years. Who knows? Maybe the gay film industry is growing up, too.

Overall score: A+. The movie didn't try to be anything other than what it is. And, okay, the actors weren't bad to look at, either.