Director: Andrew Nackman
Running Time: 86 mins
Certificate: NR
Winner Iris Prize Festival Best Feature 2015
Fourth Man out is the story of Adam and his group of bro-dude friends as they attempt to preserve their friendships after he comes out as gay.
Adam, a handsome and hunky mechanic (played note-perfectly by Parker Young), deals with coming out to his nearest and dearest, his feelings for his straight best friend and some cringeworthy forays into the world of gay dating. Meanwhile, his friends deal with the initial shock by doing their best to help him find someone to love in their masculine and often amusing way.
It’s a story of friendship and the bonds of brotherhood that connect people, transcending sexual orientation. Touching on the differences between romantic anf familial love, this is a heartwarming, very sweet and funny tale that’s told with real heart and genuine humour.
Some great performances from Young and his friends (played by Evan Todd, Jon Gabrus and Glee’s Chord Overstreet) who, despite seemingly stereotypical positions to begin with, manage to deliver lovely and three-dimensional performances throughout. While some of the supporting cast perhaps err toward the realm of charicatures, this doesn’t hurt the overall reality of the film, instead cleverly managing to add a level of empathy between the audience and Adam.
Director Andrew Nackman manages to avoid a lot of the stereotypes of coming out films, and the balance between the main protagonist between the super-masculine straight friends as they deal with the news of this fundamental change in their group dynamic is very very sweet and not at all hackneyed, lending a sense of emotional maturity to proceedings that’s really nice to see.
I can’t recommend this enough. Sweet, touching and full of laughs. A gay story told for a straight audience, it’s something you could watch with straight mates or family members without feeling awkward. Of course, being a gay film, there’s plenty of topless hunkinees to go around, which can only help its appeal.
It’s easy to see why this won Best Feature of Iris 2015, as it’s defnitely worth a watch.
And Parker, if you’re reading this, you can sniff my chapstick any time.
Reviewer: Scott Flashheart Elliott
In short: a film festival in Cardiff where the world’s most promising up-and-coming queer film-makers compete for up to £30,000 towards their next short film.
But it’s not just that, as the Festival’s tagline “Watch movies. Party nightly. Repeat.” hints:
It’s a chance to network and rub shoulders (or possibly other body parts) with interesting, talented people in the film biz.
It’s a chance to watch funny, clever, heartwarming, and heart-breaking queer cinema from around the world amongst like-minded individuals.
It’s a chance to drink at night and watch movies all day.
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More than all of these things, it’s a chance to be a part of something special. Not for nothing does the welcome pack given to everyone on the first day bear the words ‘welcome to the family’: That’s exactly what Iris is. From the moment one arrives at the festival, to be greeted by festival Directors Berwyn and Grant, or one of their small but incredibly hard-working and capeable team, the sense of inclusion and the personal touch is apparent in everything. This isn’t a large, brassy corporate event like some of the more well-known film festivals can be, but instead a home-grown event that’s managed to hold on to that welcoming vibe while growing in membership and stature every year.
Maybe that’s the real prize at Iris: the feeling of being part of a large and constantly-growing creative family, being able to share in conversations and hangovers in equal measure and throughout every minute of the festival, the underlying feeling of love and care that goes into making those five days in Cardiff some of the best of the year.
Or maybe it’s the £30,000. Hard to tell, really. Come to Cardiff in October 2016 and find out for yourself.
Find out more at http://Irisprize.org
Hey! Great review. Just a heads up that you switched Evan Todd and Parker Young. Evan Todd played Adam and Parker was his friend Chris. 🙂