Director: Q. Allan Brocka
Running Time: 90 mins
Certificate: 18
Release Date: March 26th, 2012
The Eating Out films are a bit of an achievement, as I can’t think of any film series made with an almost exclusively gay audience in mind that’s managed to reach five instalments. After last year’s extremely fun and breezy Drama Camp, the guys are now back for The Open Weekend.
Zack (Chris Salvatore) and his new boyfriend Benji (Aaron Milo) head for a gay resort in Palm Springs for a weekend getaway. Benji has managed to get Zack to agree to having an open relationship while they’re away, even though Zack’s not keen and only said yes to keep his new beau happy. Also at the resort is Zack’s ex, Casey, who ends up pretending he has a new boyfriend, who’s actually an old friend he’s only just met up with again. As the weekend goes by, things get increasingly complicated, with Casey’s lie getting ever bigger, Zack not really enjoying having an open relationship and Benji deciding he and Zack should get married, even if only to make a political statement. Also along for the ride are Penny and Lilly, who end up fighting over the one straight guy in the whole resort!
The Eating Out movies have gotten increasingly silly as they’ve gone along, but they’re never less than entertaining. Daft, over the top and occasionally a tad confused, The Open Weekend is nevertheless fun, zippy, humorous and sexy. With plenty of buff blokes in various stages of undress, it’s a veritable buffet of hot guys. Those who drooled over Aaron Milo as Benji in Drama Camp will be glad to hear he’s back for this one and spends a lot of time wearing not very much. He’s joined by new beefcake Michael Vara as Peter, the guy who ends up as Casey’s pretend boyfriend.
Those who felt a little cheated by Drama Camp, feeling it undid what the third film had asked us to root for, will be pleased to hear that The Open Weekend seems to realise that. The conclusion brings everything together nicely with a note of finality, although we’ll have to wait and see if we ever get more Eating Out adventures.
With plenty of sex and silliness, and if you’ve enjoyed previous Eating Out instalments, you’ll undoubtedly like this one too. It even manages to make a few serious (if a tad confused) points about being gay in the modern world! If you’re new to the series, you may want to start a bit earlier – oddly parts 1 or 3 are the best one to start with – but once you’ve seen one you’ll probably want to see the rest.
And if you’re a fan of Aaron Milo, click here for some very hot images of him we gathered together back when we did our advent calendar of hot guys.
Overall Verdict: Silly and slightly confused, The Open Weekend still manages to be funny, endearing and very sexy!
Reviewer: Tim Isaac
You keep saying it’s confused. How?