GET REAL (M). (NewVision) Director: Simon Shore Stars: Ben Silverstone, Brad Gorton, Charlotte Briitain, Stacy A Hart, Kate McEnery, Tim Harris, James D White, Patrick Nielsen, Louise J Taylor Running time: 110 minutes.
Inevitably, it seems that every new British drama exploring the traumatic coming out experience of gay teens will be compared with the marvellous Beautiful Thing. However, Get Real is good enough to stand on its own, without the baggage that such a lazy and often odious comparison brings.
Based on Patrick Wilde's semi-autobiographical play What's Wrong With Angry?, Get Real treats its emotionally charged and potentially contentious subject matter with wonderful touches of humour and insight. This delightful and entertaining film offers a warm and engaging portrait of teen angst that will also appeal to more mainstream audiences. Get Real is also a refreshing change from the bland high school comedies offered up by Hollywood in recent years.
The film explores the romantic dilemma of 16 year old Stephen Carter (played with winning charm and style by Ben Silverstone, last seen briefly as the young Humbert in the controversial remake of Lolita), who just happens to be gay. The only person who knows his secret and his habit of trolling local beats is Linda (Charlotte Brittain), his next door neighbour and best friend.
Then a chance encounter leads Stephen to discover that John (newcomer Brad Gorton), the handsome school jock, is also gay. A romance develops between the pair, although the need to keep their affair secret places great pressure on the pair. But while Stephen wants to shout his love for John from the rooftops, John is more cautious, fearing the knowledge he is gay will damage his reputation and status at school. Eventually Stephen finally finds the courage to make a hard choice, one that will shake up the complacency of his parents and his school mates.
This deftly written film explores issues of peer pressure, homophobia, prejudice, and questions of sexual identity with the kind of honesty and understanding that comes from bitter personal experience. Get Real contains a number of quite moving moments, but it is also a remarkably warm and very funny film. First time feature director Simon Shore handles the material with a great deal of understanding and compassion.
The performances from the young and largely unknown cast are all solid. Silverstone beautifully captures Stephen's vulnerability, angst and confusion with a well rounded performance. Brittain delivers a wonderfully rich and sympathetic performance as Linda - fat, frumpy, lonely but filled with generous spirit - and she provides the film with much of its engaging humour.
An entertaining and compassionate treatment of the complexities surrounding gay teens and the problems of coming out, Get Real is a genial, winning comedy that easily overcomes the mistaken notion that gay themed films are of limited appeal.
***1/2 greg king http://www.netau.com.au/gregking
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