The traditional crime thriller gets a modern twist with this sequel to Third Man Out following the further adventures of gay detective Donald Strachey (Chad Allen). Hard boiled private investigator Donald Strachey has just found the lifeless body of his latest client, and now in order to catch the killer he'll be forced to rely on his straight-laced husband Tim and overenthusiastic assistant Kenny. As the investigation leads Strachey straight into Dr. Trevor Cornell's dark world of "conversion
therapy,' where psychology and religion combine with the singular goal of turning average everyday homosexuals "straight," the stage is set for a climactic showdown with more than a few surprising twists and turns. Sebastian Spence and Morgan Fairchild co-star in an adaptation of author Richard Stevenson's best-selling series of books that will have viewers of all sexual pursuasions on the edge of their seats. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
While the idea would certainly seem to hold promise for interesting social commentary, the script by Ron McGee lacks the necessary bite, as does the rote direction of Ron Oliver.
... director Ron Oliver applies a thin veneer of straight-to-cable pseudo-gloss without finding a workable tone, and the cast lacks the charisma and chemistry to make the genre and gender-bending register as more than novelty.
Were it not for the fact that the hero and many of the major supporting characters are gay... this breezy, disposable film could as easily have been a mainstream network pilot for a McMillan and Wife-style series.
This does not have a lot of "viewers". Sad. It's a very good story very well done and has dozens of things going for it. Insights into being gay? a handfull ! And the detective and his lover are NOT from any broken mountain.
January 6, 2008
Glen Shrope
**1/2 (out of four)
Not bad, but an unsatisfactory ending hampers a film that attempts to raise some interesting questions, but then drops them for plot melodrama.
Chad Allen plays an openly gay private detective who is hired by a scared young man just a day before he is murdered. The P.I.'s investigation leads back
to an institution that attempts to cure homosexuals.
Though thoughtful to an extent, the film always feels a bit like a slightly edgier made-for-TV movie. Chad Allen is good, but the material fails him.
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