O Beautiful (2002) – Gay Interest Film Review
A Movie Short Directed by Alan Brown Starring David Clayton Rogers
Aug 24, 2009
Alan Brown’s debut gay short film O Beautiful, which he wrote and directed, tells the story of repressed high-school jock Andy (the accomplished David Clayton Rogers) who returns to the scene of an anti-gay attack, to help victim Brad (the passionate Jay Gillespie) after having left him alone in a remote cornfield at night, bleeding and humiliated from the homophobic bullying incident.
O Beautiful Film Synopsis
Over and over again, Andy tells Brad that he left before the homophobic attack took place, and from this they begin to build a delicate trust. Andy’s emotions are volatile though, and throughout O Beautiful he oscillates between crying, laughing, being tender toward Brad, and coming close to assaulting him again. He asks what it is that makes Brad so sure that he’s gay, but becomes upset with the answer that he receives.
Finally, Andy convinces Brad to sit with him in his truck to get warm and the two become intimate. At the apex of O Beautiful however, Andy confesses that he was the one who held Brad down whilst the anti-gay attack took place. In penance, he gives Brad his truck, and Brad drives away, leaving Andy just how Andy originally left him, but this time with deep emotional wounds rather than physical ones.
David Clayton Rogers Shines as a Remorseful Homophobic Bully in O Beautiful
The premise of Alan Brown’s O Beautiful translates strongly as a short and resonates well as an insight into homophobia and its motivations. So too does the film's setting which makes it reminiscent of an attack suffered by Wyoming man Matthew Shepard, a gay youth who was beaten by two young men and left lashed to a gate post on a remote Laramie hillside in October of 1998, and who later died from his injuries.
O Beautiful’s main character Andy is especially well drawn and richly layered. A brilliant performance by actor David Clayton Rogers as Andy, who’s previous works include NYLON and feature length horror movie Dark Ride, shows a talented individual capable of matching the requirements of O Beautiful’s script, which demands of him some considerable emotional gymnastics to make a homophobic teen a vulnerable and likable character.
O Beautiful is shot in split-screen with each half trained on one of the actors each. With these two perspectives, the film is both stylistically and dynamically appealing, allowing reactions from each character to be seen at all times, and when those perspectives almost merge in certain portions of the film, the method becomes evocative and more than surmounts any early discomfort.
A simple and elegant ending to O Beautiful helps the gay short film feel organic, affirming that this was never meant to be a blossoming love story, but rather the tale of a young man (Andy) and how his homophobia and the incident of homophobic bullying conflicts with an otherwise good (and possibly gay leaning) heart, and about which wins out. In this way, Alan Brown’s film fulfils its promise with a judicious application of poetic justice.
Alan Brown’s Gay Interest Film Flounders on Dialogue
At times, the dialogue in Alan Brown’s short movie is forced and somewhat contrasting. In patches, Andy and Brad’s interactions shine, such as in one scene where Andy dutifully recites the Boy Scout’s oath in an attempt to build a rapport with Brad, and Brad instead counters with inflammatory gay rhetoric, breaking Andy down one word at a time. Between moments like these, though, O Beautiful's dialogue flags and, at times, clunks.
O Beautiful could have been better served by cutting a large portion of its narrative. This would have then allowed Jay Gillespie as victim Brad more freedom to react to Andy and his ingrained homophobia rather than having to constantly antagonise him, which prompts change in a way that feels less than natural.
O Beautiful – A Gay Short Film on the Truth Behind Homophobic Bullying in Schools
Although hampered by some troublesome dialogue, Alan Brown’s debut short film O Beautiful is a simple but engrossing story. Whilst the directorial execution could have been better, the elegant heart of this gay short film, as brought to life by the exceptional David Clayton Rogers and the solid Jay Gillespie, sports a powerful drama that fulfils its promise in almost every regard and reveals the true reasons behind homophobic bullying in schools with enviable clarity. Fallible, yes, but ultimately a very enjoyable short film.
- Starring: David Clayton Rogers and Jay Gillespie
- Writer/Director: Alan Brown.
- Released: 2002 and released in 2003 as part of the Boys Life series on DVD.
- Runtime: 29 minutes.
- Country: USA.
- Filming Locations: Denville, New Jersey, USA.
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