• ALL
  • NEWS
    • GAY MOVIE/ENTERTAINMENT NEWS
    • GAY FILM TRAILERS
    • GENERAL MOVIE NEWS & TRAILERS
  • GAY SHORTS & SERIES
  • REVIEWS
    • GAY FILM REVIEWS
    • CINEMA REVIEWS
    • DVD & BLU-RAY REVIEWS
  • BGPS BLOG
  • COMPS
  • ABOUT
    • Contact Us
    • Join The Team
    • Terms & Conditions
    • Gays On Film – A Short History

Big Gay Picture Show

Taking a look at the world of film through gay eyes - news, reviews, trailers, gay film, queer cinema and more

Taking a look at the world of film through gay eyes - news, reviews, trailers, gay film, queer cinema & more

Match (DVD Review)

October 19, 2015 By Tim Isaac Leave a Comment

Starring: Patrick Stewart, Carla Gugino, Matthew Lillard
Director: Stephen Belber
Running Time: 92 mins
Certificate: 15
Release Date: October 12th 2015 (UK)

In 1995 Patrick Stewart played a flamboyantly gay character in the wonderful Jeffrey. Now he’s returned to the LGBT arena for Match. He plays aging Juilliard ballet teacher Tobi, who agrees to meet with a woman called Lisa (Carla Gugino) to help with her dissertation about dance in 1960s New York.

Lisa arrives at Tobi’s apartment with her cop husband, Mike (Matthew Lillard). The interview initially seems to go well, until Tobi begins to get suspicious that there is something else going on. It becomes clear that Lisa and Mike are there trying to figure out whether Tobi is Mike’s father, as while he’s lived most of his life as a gay man, in the past Tobi has slept with women, including Mike’s mother. If Tobi is Mike’s dad, it doesn’t appear it’s going to be an easy family reunion.

With its three characters and being set almost completely in Tobi’s apartment, there’s undoubtedly a sense here of this being a play that happens to have been put on film. You can certainly tell why the likes of Patrick Stewart, Carla Gugino and Matthew Lillard wanted to get involved, as it’s the kind of setup that’s a dream for actors, ensuring that everything is close up on them and how they portray the character.

For the large part they do it well, successfully drawing you into a story of a man looking for answers about his parent, an aging guy forced to confront the decisions he made decades before and the woman who ends up almost being the referee in the middle. Stewart in particular is fantastic – as you’d expect – helped by the fact he has the most complex and interesting character.

It’s only Lillard who has more difficulties, not due to any fault on his part but because in order to add a bit of drama and a sense of danger to proceedings, his character is forced to take things a little too far, pushing this small scale, intimate drama towards the edge of incredibility. It generally manages to pull itself back, but it does pull the viewer out of the experience slightly, meaning that Match isn’t quite it could have been.

It is however nice to see a film where the main character is gay/bisexual and it is an important aspect of the movie, but where it flows through the movie under the surface rather than it either being absolutely central or completely irrelevant.

While some reviews have suggested the film has lots of twists and surprises, to be honest it’s not too difficult to figure out where it’s headed, but while the film’s drama is sometimes a little too heightened, when it calms down it’s generally nicely handled, and the ending works extremely well. Each of the characters is shown to be both the hero and villain of their own lives, and the end of the movie brings that out really nicely. Indeed, despite its occasional problems in the middle, the denouement is extremely good, ensuring it’s worth sticking with all the way through.

Overall Verdict: Despite its tendency towards going over the top, and the limitations of its setup, Match is worth a look, largely thanks to Patrick Stewart and a plot that measures its excesses with subtlety when it needs it most.

Reviewer: Tim Isaac

Wanna share?:

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • Tumblr
  • Flipboard
  • More
  • Reddit
  • LinkedIn
  • Email
  • Print
  • Pocket
  • WhatsApp

Overall Rating 7outof10

Related

Filed Under: GAY FILM REVIEWS, Top Posts

Leave a Reply (if comment does not appear immediately, it may have been held for moderation)Cancel reply

Search this site:

We're Needy, Be Our Friend

RSSTwitterFacebookStumbleUponMySpace

E-maily Stuff

Get the latest in our daily e-mail

Most Recent Posts

Young Hunter Trailer – First teen gay love takes a dark turn into blackmail

Everybody’s Talking About Jamie Trailer – The hit gay, drag West End musical is coming to the screen

Iris Prize Festival LGBT+ International Short Films 2020 – Part 3 (Short Film Reviews)

Iris Prize Festival LGBT+ International Short Films 2020 – Part 2 (Short Film Reviews)

Iris Prize Festival LGBT+ International Short Films 2020 – Part 1 (Short Film Reviews)

The Scottish Queer International Film Festival 2020 Has Opened, & It’s Online Across The UK

The Iris Prize LGBT Short Film Festival Returns Next Week, & It’s Online & Free!

An Apology From Big Gay Picture Show

Win The Miseducation of Cameron Post DVD & Book!

Seventeen Trailer – The vagaries of teen romance erupt in the lesbian-themed film

My Best Friend Trailer – Gay romance flickers between two teen boys

New Sauvage Trailer – The gay prostitute movie that divided Cannes is coming soon

We're Needy, Be Our Friend

RSSTwitterFacebook

E-maily Stuff

Get all the latest from BGPS in our daily e-mail

Blogroll

  • Blinkbox – Gay & Lesbian
  • DoorQ
  • Movie Muser
  • Peccadillo Pictures
  • Peccapics Blog
  • TLA Gay (UK)
  • TLA Releasing (UK)
  • TQS Magazine

Copyright © 2023 Muser Media · Powered by WordPress & Genesis Framework · Log in

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're OK with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Read More Accept Reject
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT