Global Warming (DVD Review)

Global Warming is a collection of four short films from director Reid Waterer which are loosely linked by taking us around the world – more literally than metaphorically. They are only loosely tied together as they were originally made as completely separate shorts, but have been brought together for this release.

‘You Can’t Curry Love’ follows a young Anglo-Asian man who goes on a business trip to India and ends up falling for a local man while immersing himself in the local culture, both LGBT and otherwise. While India is a world away from the place he grew up in, he must make a difficult decision about whether it’s where his future lies.

‘Daddy’s Big Girl’ takes us to LA, where overweight Millie heads over to her father’s apartment, only to interrupt him in a tryst with his latest boy toy. Dad and daughter have an extremely strained relationship, with neither of them living up to what they want them to be. Millie would like to reconcile with her father, but will his succession of half-dressed male companions get in the way?

‘Foreign Relations’ heads for Greece, where a young American man is on a tour of the country. As he’s on his own and there’s limited space, he ends up being roomed with a Greek man, which causes issues as language problems and culture clash means he can’t be sure whether his roommate would have a problem with the fact he’s gay – or whether he mind that he’s developing a crush on him.

Finally there’s ‘Performance Anxiety’, where two actors are thrown together on a film set and told that they’re starting out with their big sex scene. Both men are straight and nervous about doing gay stuff in front of a camera, but over the course of several hours they must get over their inhibitions about pretending to get intimate with another man, and choreograph a scene that ranges from kissing to sex.

I wish I could say Global Warming was an unmitigated success as I’m a big fan and supporter of gay short films, but it’s not. Only one of the four films is really good, a couple are okay and the other is pretty weak. The biggest problem across all the shorts is their tendency to tell rather than show. It’s particularly apparent in ‘You Can’t Curry Love’, where characters are prone to deliver lectures about gay people in India and the arrogance of westerners’ ideas about it. However these sermons come across as exceedingly artificial.

The impetus behind them – imparting knowledge about gay rights and things such as India’s transsexual hijra population – is undoubtedly applause-worthy, but the way they’re delivered is clunky and rather amateurish. The lectures also show up to a lesser extent (and in not quite as distracting a way) in ‘Foreign Relations’, although thankfully here the narrative is stronger and not quite as after-school-special as in ‘You Can’t Curry Love’.

What also helps ‘Foreign Relations’ is that it has a bit of a sense of humour, and that in turn helps raise the sexiness level. It also provides a decent level of tension between the American tourist and his unexpected roommate. But even so, it’s all a little too convenient and occasionally cheesy. When it sticks to the two men, it’s not bad at all – and it certainly doesn’t hurt that they’re both pretty hot and don’t mind stripping down when it’s called for.

What undermines ‘Daddy’s Little Girl’ is the acting. It actually has plenty of promise and is based on a good idea, but unfortunately Christopher Bradley as the father never gets beyond the surface of the script. In order for the character to work we need to see under his skin – his life seems one of hedonism but there’s more to it than that – but the ways he’s played has no depth and simply makes him seem like an asshole. If you look past that to the actual script, it’s actually pretty smart and interesting but that doesn’t really come across.

Thankfully the disc ends on a real high with ‘Performance Anxiety’. Although a film about two actors having to get over their inhibitions to shoot a gay sex scene could have been an exploitative excuse for a display of flesh and faux-humping, it’s actually smart, witty and provides some thought-provoking notions about straight actors playing gay – and you’ll also be pleased to hear that the flesh and dry-humping is still present. It’s a great little short and far better than the rest of what’s on the disc. ‘Foreign Relations’ is also worth a watch, but unfortunately ‘Daddy’s Little Girl’ and ‘You Can’t Curry Love’ fall short.

Overall Verdict: It may have one really good short and be somewhat sexy at times, but overall Global Warming is a lot better theory than in practice.

Reviewer: Tim Isaac