Paul and Eddie are the stars of a new off-Broadway musical called Adam & Steve Just The Way God Made Them, and are getting ready for opening night. The show takes the Bible and turns it on its head, making it a story of how through the ages religion has tried to control and stamp out homosexuality. Outside the theatre, Paul and Eddie find their lives somewhat mirroring the musical, with Paul deciding to stop desperately attempting to settle down and try out being a slut, while Eddie has a shock when he discovers his parents are coming to the opening of the show. Hes severely closeted and hasnt told them hes gay, but as he opens up to the idea of expressing his sexuality, he takes a few unnecessary risks.
The Big Gay Musical is the sort of film that deserves praise for putting in a lot of effort to try and be entertaining and memorable, even if its not quite the out-and-out success youd hope it would be. Part of the problem is the musical at the shows heart. The action constantly jumps between the stage and the performers lives, offering plenty of musical numbers. According to the audio commentary, Adam & Steve: Just The Way God Made Em, was written as a full-length stage show long before the movie came along, but was judged not commercial enough to be properly mounted in a theatre, which seems to translate to not being particularly good. There are a few decent songs, but the whole thing is too obvious and some of the jokes land with a thud. It is an impressively gay musical though, with a cast of Broadway veterans on hand to give it a bit of panache (and who seem to revel in showing off their pecs), but the material they have to perform is pretty mediocre.
The non-musical parts of the film are more successful, with Daniel Robinson (as Paul), the handsome and talented heart of the movie, whos find being a slapper harder than he expected. The other lead, Joey Dudding, isnt quite as good, but he handles the role of the closeted Eddie well.
While the plots of a lot of gay movies tend to be either perfunctory or overblown, theres a genuine and largely successful effort here to deal with real issues in an entertaining way, whether its people bursting out of the closet and taking unnecessary risks as a result, or trying to balance sex, relationships and happiness. Occasionally the films preoccupation with religion vs. homosexuality does get preachy (which is fine in the musical, but threatens to derail things when one of the main characters starts delivering an impromptu homily), but much of the time its not too bad. And as you might have guessed, devoutly religious, homophobic types ought to avoid this, as theyll undoubtedly find the whole thing extremely blasphemous (I know saying thats is fairly redundant, as I severely doubt any homophobic people would watch a film called The Big Gay Musical anyway).
However, the only thing we really need to worry about is whether it lives up to the promise of being a Big Gay Musical, and theres no doubt it does. Its big and camp when it needs to be (particularly when it takes to the stage), resolutely gay and theres certainly a lot of music. While its no masterpiece, it is perhaps a little better than you might expect a movie with such a camp title to be. It is a bit of a shame the actual musical isnt a bit better (it doesnt help either that we recently had Were The World Mine a big gay musical with absolutely amazing songs), but its bright and fun, and wont make your eardrums bleed. And theres certainly a lot of semi-clad guys to get gay pulses racing.
The special features including a fairly interesting audio commentary from director Casper Andreas (whos a bit of a veteran of the indie gay movie scene), actor Daniel Robinson, the musicals writer (and the film’s co-director) Fred M. Caruso and editor Alex Hammer. Its surprisingly interesting, with the quartet discussing the genesis of the project and also the difficulties of making a film like this on a shoestring budget. Theres also a short but sweet making of… featurette and an interview with the films director. Its not a bad little selection and should keep you entertained for a while after the movie ends.
Overall Verdict: Although theres only a couple of really good musical numbers, the rest of the film is pretty entertaining and it certainly lives up to the title.
Special Features:
Trailer
Audio Commentary
The Making Of The Big Gay Musical Featurette
Interview With Director Casper Andreas Featurette
Reviewer: Tim Isaac