A young man comes to terms with growing up gay in this independent comedy drama. Dorian (Michael McMillian) is a 17-year-old guy living with his family in Upstate New York. Dorian is obviously the second-rate sibling in his household; his older brother Nicky (Lea Coco) is a hotshot athlete who gets the lion's share of attention from their father Tom (Steven Charles Fletcher), while their mother Maria (Mo Quigley) seems too zoned out to pay much mind to anyone. The fact that Dorian is an awkward
social misfit is bad enough, but what troubles him even more is the fact he's slowly coming to the realization that he's gay. When Dorian breaks the news to Nicky, his big brother is surprised but accepting, but Tom doesn't handle the news nearly as well, and Dorian is on the outs with his dad as he begins his first semester at New York University. At NYU, Dorian has his first satisfying relationship with fellow student Ben (Cody Nickell), but his first heartbreak soon follows, leaving him in a vulnerable spot when he gets some bad news from home. Dorian Blues was the first feature film from writer and director Tennyson Bardwell. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
Dorian Blues makes me yearn for the day that audiences have become so comfortable enough with this subgenre that a clever director can make a spoof in which many if not all of the conventions get lampooned.
The linchpin relationship is the underlying deep bond between the two brothers, and the scenes between McMillian and Coco are well written and equally well played.
This movie was such a pleasure for me because I saw a lot of personal experience parallels. I had no brother but the story is made so much more fun because of the brother. Fun movie!
Having recently watched what amounts to a seemingly endless parade of terrible excuses for GLBT Cinema, finally I have found a gem again and had my faith restored. Dorian Blues has obviously been made on the cheap but the incisive, relevant and realistic writing and winning lead performance (Michael McMillian) help
sell this touching film. Dorian's family is fairly typical in terms of this kind of film but the interactions between him and his elder brother and his complicated relationship with his father are deftly played and the confrontation at the end of the film by his friends and his mother both surprises and feels utterly accurate and doubly poignant for that. Dorian himself is a fantastic character - quick witted but not selfish with it, he is friendly, charming, slightly goofy but with an undercurrent of quiet rage that he does not have an outlet for. This is a quietly brilliant film.
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