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| Jeffrey
Year: 1995
Classification: Comedy
Directed:
- Christopher Ashley
Actors/Actresses:
- Michael T Weiss
- Steven Weber
Would've been great; a miscast and skimpy DVD drag it down
This film version of (the fabulous) Paul Rudnick's successful play very nearly works. Written after a time of AIDS awareness, "Jeffrey" was one of (if not the) first attempts to make a comedy around the subject. This makes the story slightly dated, but I prefer to look at it as a period piece. The humor, characters and situations are sharp, poignant and memorable.BR>Jeffrey is a young-ish gay man caught at the crossroads of his sexual desires. The fear of AIDS and relationships, though, cause him to put his life on hold, to the point of announcing his celibacy. Just about that same day, he runs into the hunkiest guy he's ever met, who seems to like him too. His friends, peers and family all have opinions and advice for him, but it's up to Jeffrey to chart his own future.BR>Michael T. Weiss is wonderful as Jeffrey's new love interest and the rest of the cast, including Sigourney Weaver, Olympia Dukakis, Nathan Lane, Bryan Batt, Christine Baranski and Kathy Najimy, are hilarious and well-cast. But the scene-stealer is Patrick Stewart who is beyond marvelous as Jeffrey's older friend who is a flaming, opinionated and successful decorator.BR>So, what don't I like about "Jeffrey"? Unfortunately, it's the casting of Steven Weber as Jeffrey himself. Hard as he tries, he's unconvincing, first of all, as a gay man. He also doesn't seem to understand all the great lines he's been given and can't seem to react to his fabulous co-stars. Surely, there was someone auditioning for this plum role who would come across as less wooden. But, at the time "Jeffrey" was made, straight guys wanting gay roles was the hot thing to do and Weber was one of many who wanted to tackle this formerly taboo subject. Plus, he was good name recognition at the time.BR>So, if you can buy Weber in the title role, "Jeffrey" is a fun, clever and, at times, heartbreaking ride. It's also nice it's finally out on DVD,(...) Such a rich story must have lots of extras and this DVD has none.
Lightweight But Amusing
JEFFREY, based on Rudnick's popular play, concerns a gay man whose fear of AIDS has caused him to remain celebate--and who then proceeds to fall in love with some one who is HIV positive and bounces back and forth between his fear of the disease and his need to give and receive love. There are plenty of laugh-out-loud moments and even a few jaw-dropper-outrageous bits scattered throughout the film--the moment in which Jeffrey imagines what it would be like to have an honest conversation about sex with his parents, for example, is priceless. The cast is also quite good, with Steven Weber a standout in the title role, a very unexpected Patrick Stewart in the supporting cast, and cameos by everybody from Olympia Dukakis to Nathan Lane to Sigorney Weaver.
But in spite of all these wonderful elements, JEFFREY has a strangely superficial quality: it lacks any sort of comic or dramatic intensity. I could laugh at the lines and sympathize with the main characters, but when the movie ended I didn't take anything much home. Final Word: enjoyable and extremely well done, but not greatly memorable.
--GFT (Amazon.com Reviewer)--
Inte
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Buy Jeffrey at Amazon.com
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