MovieChat Forums > Sideline Secrets (2006) Discussion > I don't normally post negative reviews. ...

I don't normally post negative reviews. But you need to be warned!

posted 17 years ago by seakman4
4 replies | jump to latest

THIS FILM IS LAME, LAME, LAME!!!!! It takes a lot to bring me to overexageration about a movie, but this movie stunk up my house!! I haven't even finished the movie yet and I had to stop to comment on how bad this movie is. I'VE NEVER DONE THAT!! As a consumer, do not spend your money on this film. Wait until it comes out on a cable channel or something. It's barely TV worthy. I REALLY HATE TRASHING A MOVIE, BUT THIS MOVIE IS TRASH! Barely above porn. Should have a X rating!

Good storyline, some frontal nudity (if that floats your boat), but HORRIBLE high school level acting. Don't know how this movie received distribution. (Must have been a contractual thing.)

Really if you really like watching good movies, don't waste you time with this one. From one movie lover to another.

[–] AnotherCineFan 17 years ago

Must agree - though the young men are beautiful, the acting and particularly the audio is awful! When will indie filmmakers learn that the solution to bad dialog is not unknown music played loud enough to nearly silence the actors? And for what seems like forever, the bad music goes on and on... I can't think of any decent major film where the "background music" drowns out the actors - but in this case, it may be the only solution to hide the lack of quality writing and performance.

At least nothing obscures the views of the attractive young men. The Good News is that all the scenes were well-lit. Undoubtedly, it was their appearance (and charm, oh my!) that encouraged the funding and distribution.

Stories about men that love men are worthy of cinematic exploration, but I suspect this film was all about someone getting laid. (Lucky Them!) I was so drained by the bad audio and stupid story that by the end, I just didn't care. This film left me sad for what it could have been.

[–] seakman4 17 years ago

YES, YES, YES!!!!! "...what it could have been." Now I'm not going to rag on the movie anymore, again, I hate doing that, but I'd forgotten about the overbearing music and the fact that the main character often couldn't be understood because he spoke too softly during some scenes. I do recall adjusting the volume for both cases and rewinding quite a bit to get what he was saying.

I have to say here that, according to some of the other posters, that "know" the writer/director, this is the best that could be done given all that had befallen the film in it undertakings. I would like to see it redone and if that happens it will probably be years from now. But I'd also like to see something else done by him with things going well in the process. I'd definately give him another chance if he did another movie (write/direct). But I would also find out if there were major problems before checking it out. Don't want to go through that viewing experience again.

[–] Jason69850 17 years ago

Come on it wasn't that bad at all.
I just watched it, and for a low-budget straight to dvd film, it's better than most. It has a ton of full frontal nudity. If that wasn't enough, it has a decent pretty twisted storyline, about raping and killing male prostitutes. I found it sexy and romantic. Sure, the mother almost ruins the whole thing with her awful, wooden acting, but I didn't think the 2 leads were THAT bad at all.

This film reminds me of Dante's Cove, and not just because the hung detective is the Butler Grace kills. It's that same kind of dark, campy sexy soapish type of movie.
Seriously, for what it is, I would give this film 4 stars!! Give it a chance. Don't expect Mysterious Skin, but compared to tripe like "Bowser Makes a Movie" or "Get A Life" or a lot of the other gay to dvd movies, this is better than the rest.
Yes, the acting is hammy and at times, painful, but I'll take bad acting with full-frontal nudity and a sexy murder story over bad acting and the traditional coming of age gay angst storyline any day.

[–] seakman4 17 years ago

"...like "Bowser Makes a Movie" or "Get A Life"." Haven't seen either, thanks for the warning. lol. (The same for Dante's Cove. And that has a good reputation, but I won't bother renting it now.)

"...I'll take bad acting with full-frontal nudity and a sexy murder story over bad acting and the traditional coming of age gay angst storyline any day."
Yes, they're very different. The plot to SS is not common were as the "traditional" coming of age angst movie is. But I'll take the coming of age angst movie over such poorly executed and acted release. AGAIN, THIS IS A GOOD MOVIE, PLOT-WISE. But, to me, some things you don't release if isn't done right. This is definitely one of those cases. I would have much rather waited for a better presentation that to have the memory of this one in my head. It's rare that I say that (unless it's a Chris Rock movie) but in this case I'm saying it. I would watch it again if it were re-released with the presentation that it deserves.