I was captivated by all the fine actors in this film that I never knew existed until a 2011 presentation on Showtime. Finally there arrived an intelligent screenplay with a wide assortment of unusual characters assembled into a unique family arrangement along with two friends of the math genius Clive--Sandra and Elliot The most astounding performance was by Brett Davern who shines as the prototypical normal kid facing challenges from his demanding parents and the aloofness shown to him by his older brother, Clive. As William, Brett enraptures the audience with his innocence and his driving desires to make love to Clive's girlfriend Sandra, played by Michelle Trachtenberg, who always plays her roles in a brilliant fashion. William finally achieves a most perfect sexual union with Sandra and we all can appreciate his joy. Brett Davern has a sparkle in his eye throughout the film, and lights up every scene he's in.
Clive represents a mysterious youth. speaking to his friend Elliot in a foreign language unknown to any of the characters. Clive, Elliot and Sandra hang out and smoke dope and play guitars.Eventually, William gains acceptance and the four of them produce a very unusual team.
William Hurt and Rita Wilson are the boys' parents and add a quirkiness to the film that's much appreciated by this viewer. They perform wonderfully.
Now this film takes place in the 1970s, in the era of AIDS, and out of the blue the genius Clive and his friend Elliot are discovered caressing each other naked in the basement. His so-called liberal father slaps him hard, as the audience is really shocked by this last-minute development. Of course, we now understand that the secret language between the boys (a love poem in Hungarian)reflects the secrecy of being gay in that time period. Whether Clive is bi-sexual or merely uses Sandra as a beard is not known.
If the film has any fault, it is the fact that the viewers would like to have seen another 20 or 30 minutes of plot development. Instead, we are presented with a penultimate scene many years in the future in which Clive is dying of AIDS with his family at his bedside.
It is quite a touching scene, but without any plot to cover the missing years, we are left a bit empty.
Finally, Clive is married with two children and discovers quite by chance his brother's secret language.
I'm sorry so few people have seen the film. It's about intelligent people filmed for an intelligent audience, which unfortunately is quite rare these days.
Clive represents a mysterious youth. speaking to his friend Elliot in a foreign language unknown to any of the characters. Clive, Elliot and Sandra hang out and smoke dope and play guitars.Eventually, William gains acceptance and the four of them produce a very unusual team.
William Hurt and Rita Wilson are the boys' parents and add a quirkiness to the film that's much appreciated by this viewer. They perform wonderfully.
Now this film takes place in the 1970s, in the era of AIDS, and out of the blue the genius Clive and his friend Elliot are discovered caressing each other naked in the basement. His so-called liberal father slaps him hard, as the audience is really shocked by this last-minute development. Of course, we now understand that the secret language between the boys (a love poem in Hungarian)reflects the secrecy of being gay in that time period. Whether Clive is bi-sexual or merely uses Sandra as a beard is not known.
If the film has any fault, it is the fact that the viewers would like to have seen another 20 or 30 minutes of plot development. Instead, we are presented with a penultimate scene many years in the future in which Clive is dying of AIDS with his family at his bedside.
It is quite a touching scene, but without any plot to cover the missing years, we are left a bit empty.
Finally, Clive is married with two children and discovers quite by chance his brother's secret language.
I'm sorry so few people have seen the film. It's about intelligent people filmed for an intelligent audience, which unfortunately is quite rare these days.