Subtitle:
English Starring:
James Marsden,
Scott Speedman and Sofía Vergara
ภาพยนตร์เกย์แนวทริลเลอร์
กักขังหน่วงเหนี่ยวว่าด้วยโรคเอดส์ ที่นำแสดงโดย
James Marsden
(จาก
X-Men)และ
Scott Speedman
(จากซีรี่
Felicity)
เอาใจช่วยและตามลุ้นกับการขับเขี้ยวของทั้งคู่
ในบทบาทการแสดงครั้งสำคัญที่เต็มไปด้วยพลังThe 24th
Day (2004)
Tom (Speedman) and Dan''s (Marsden) one-night stand turns
into an intense power-play between captor and captive.
Hollywood hunks James Marsden ("X-Men") and Scott
Speedman (WB''s "Felicity") are hoping to get a critical
career push with "The 24th Day." The independent movie
features the two budding actors in a break-out
performance that might shed their pretty boy image.
The movie tells the story of Tom (Scott Speedman), a
married metrosexual who has lived his life as straight.
It has been 24 days since Tom finds out he is
HIV-positive. Consumed with sorrow and rage about his
situation, Tom kidnaps Dan (James Marsden), the only man
he''s ever slept with and the person he believes is
responsible for giving him the virus. Tom threatens to
kill Dan if the HIV he administers comes back positive.
Tom''s violent kidnapping of Dan and Tom''s murderous
threats clearly pass the bounds of legal and rational
behavior. And yet, if Tom''s conviction about Dan is
true, then Dan is accountable for more than a minor
moral lapse.
The suspense-filled movie is based on a play that
director Tony Piccirillo wrote for an acting class in
the 1990s.
You''ll be disappointed if you''re hoping to watch
Speedman and Marsden make out in this movie. The indie
drama does not feature any intimate moments between the
two actors to not take away from the dramatic suspense.
Speedman says in an interview with the Cinema Source
that he wouldnt have had a problem with getting a bit
closer to Marsden.
The film has met mixed reviews ye Bloggers have embraced
the movie simply because "hot boys who can act are a
rare breed."
Intelligent Tale of Sexual Responsibility
This is another film I purchased without
knowing a thing about it, and wound up being
quite glad I did. The premise of this film
had me on the edge of my seat from the very
first gut-wrenching conflict, in a film that
was filled to the brim with gut-wrenching
conflicts. The acting of both principals in
this essentially two-character piece was
first rate, and helped to elevate it high
above most standard gay-themed fare. But
what really made this picture superior to
90% of the gay titles I''ve purchased in the
past year was the confrontation of real
issues that gay men should be discussing,
but frequently shy away from. Without giving
away the plot, let me say that almost every
minute of the taught, carefully crafted
script is imbued with thoughtful discussion
on issues that are all to frequently ignored
by sexually active gay men. I didn''t see the
ending coming at all, and the ultimate,
positive and healthy message that everyone
is responsible for their own conduct, and
the consequences thereof is one that too
many people don''t seem to get, in my
observation. In a world where the madness of
barebacking and substance abuse is
decimating the gay urban male population,
the lesson of this film is one that every
gay man needs to consider, if not embrace
wholeheartedly. Good god! A gay drama that
dares to address and discuss sexual
responsibility in an adult manner! What will
they think of next?
Trailer :
Photos:
James Marsden and Scott Speedman spending
the entire movie in close proximity, with
one of them tied to a chair, oozing plenty
of homoerotic tension from start to finish -
sounds like a great movie, you say?
Unfortunately, The 24th Day isn''t that
movie. This drama, which is based on the
play of the same name, ultimately loses
focus of what message it intends to deliver
to the audience and ends up a rather
bewildering mess of a movie.
The story is like this. Tom, a policeman,
and Dan, a flamboyant Hollywood studio type,
had a one-night stand five years ago. Tom
had never cheated on his wife apart from
this one time, but sometimes once is enough
when his wife realized that she was somehow
HIV+ and died in a car accident
subsequently. That happened just 24 days
before this movie takes place. Tom, filled
with guilt, realizes that Dan must have
transmitted the virus to him. He lures Dan,
who doesn''t recognize him, into his
apartment under the pretense of a fling and
then ties the man up and forcibly extracts
Dan''s blood to be sent to a lab for testing.
As they wait for the results to arrive, the
two men have a long of things to catch up
on. Not that Dan will take his situation
lying down - he begins trying to convince
Tom that his wife probably cheated on him
and got the disease from someone else. Lots
of scenarios are tossed about but it is only
in the final moments of this movie will the
audience get any confirmation about who is
telling the truth and who is delusional.
James Marsden embraces his role as the
smooth-talking playboy the way a cat takes
to cream - his Dan is a compelling character
who can talk and talk until I am not sure
whether he''s bluffing or not. On the other
hand, Scott Speedman is terribly miscast.
Sure, he has a cute Boy Scout face that
works well when he has to play nice guy
roles, but Tom is supposed to a desperate
and very angry man looking for someone to
blame for his wife''s death. Mr Speedman
doesn''t manage to make his Tom stand out -
he is overshadowed by James Marsden to an
embarrassing degree. Even more problematic
is how he has so little chemistry with Mr
Marsden in those flashback scenes that it is
nearly impossible to imagine that Tom and
Dan could ever get together that one time
for a one-night stand. Mr Speedman plays Tom
like the straightest boy next door in the
world pretending to be gay.
The 24th Day is also a very preachy movie in
a most confusing manner. Dan becomes a
mouthpiece for issues like bisexuality, gay
acceptance, and AIDS but it seems like the
people behind the script forget that we are
talking about a possible HIV+ fellow who
insists on having unsafe sex with his
partners. Am I supposed to take anything
that Dan says seriously when he''s this kind
of character in this movie? I''d expect the
message of this movie to be more on safe sex
but instead the script is all about raging
against society and its treatment of gay
community. That''s a fine message in any
other movie, but definitely not in this
movie, not when someone like Dan is doing
all that preaching. In fact, with Dan being
the one on the soapbox, this movie is in
danger of delivering a message that is the
opposite of what it is trying to say!
A muddled movie that doesn''t seem to know
what it wants to say, The 24th Day is
nonetheless pretty watchable. Let''s face it,
we have two handsome guys on screen all the
time, with plenty of close-up on their
faces... what''s not to love, eh? Only, I
find it harder than I''d initially expected
to take this movie as seriously as it wants
me to.