Monday, June 24, 9:15 pm, Castro Theatre
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| Straight Up Katie Findlay, James Sweeney |
Who would have thought that the crowd pleaser at an LGBTQ+ film festival would be a romcom about a man and a woman?? First-time feature filmmaker James Sweeney made a comedy that is funny, sweet, witty, heartfelt, and did I mention funny. The central character, Todd, played by Sweeney himself, is being treated for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, and that OCD provides some of the comedy, but Sweeney manages to use the OCD as a wellspring for humor without ever using it as the butt of the joke, a delicate balancing act with a rich payoff.
The story in a nutshell: Todd (James Sweeney) hasn’t had much success with love or sex. Everyone, Todd included, has been operating on the assumption that he is gay — after all, his favorite film is Legally Blonde; need we say more? His therapist leads him to question his sexual identity, and soon he’s dating a woman, Rory (Katie Findlay). I’ll leave it there (no spoilers), but the result is all the laughs and all the feels.
Straight Up is playing in Los Angeles at next month’s Outfest as their Breakthrough Centerpiece (Tuesday, July 23 at 7:00pm and Wednesday, July 24 at 9:45pm, at the TCL Chinese 6 Theatres), and is in negotiations for a distribution deal, so if you get a chance, this is a serious MUST SEE.
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