G.B.F. - Movie Review

  • 16 January 2014

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Sharply important themes make this film a lot more important than its wacky style might suggest. It's essentially Mean Girls remade with a gay twist, and the smart script continually acknowledges that fact. There's also plenty of surprisingly deep subtetx, which adds weight even when things start to get a bit silly.

The story centres on Tanner (Willett), a 17-year-old who isn't quite ready to come out of the closet, then is inadvertently outed by his best pal Brent (Iacono). Suddenly, the leaders of the school's three cliques (Pieterse, Bowen and Roquemore) descend on him: the first out gay student, he'll make the perfect accessory as a Gay Best Friend. And wannabe activist Soledad (Levesque) latches on to him so she can launch a gay-straight alliance. But as Tanner strains to fit the stereotype, he finds himself increasingly distant from Brent and their pals (Tarlov and Mio).

Director Stein shoots this in the colourfully wacky style of a Glee episode (without the songs), but even though everything is just a bit over the top, the screenplay grounds the situations and characters with stinging wit and subtle commentary on big issues like peer pressure, bullying, repression, religious intolerance and the reason girls like to hang around gay boys. This lets the likeable actors deepen their characters in ways that continually catch us off guard.

It helps to have strong performers like Willett (United States of Tara), Bowen (Desperate Housewives) and Lynch (Harry Potter) on board. As well as veterans like Mullally, who is both funny and telling as Brent's too-interested mother. And the most intriguing observation in the film is that it's impossible to have a functioning society that's tolerant and supportive if people are in the closet for any reason. This has striking ramifications throughout our culture, if we think about it. So even though the movie superficially feels like a bit of goofy fun, it has real teeth.

G.B.F.
Image caption G.B.F.

Facts and Figures

Year: 2013

Genre: Comedy

Run time: 92 mins

In Theaters: Friday 17th January 2014

Distributed by: Vertical Entertainment

Production compaines: School Pictures, Parting Shots Media, Logolite Entertainment

Reviews

Contactmusic.com: 3.5 / 5

Rotten Tomatoes: 82%
Fresh: 31 Rotten: 7

IMDB: 6.0 / 10

Cast & Crew

Director: Darren Stein

Producer: Richard Bever, Stephen Israel, George Northy, Darren Stein

Screenwriter: George Northy

Starring: Michael J. Willett as Tanner Daniels, Paul Iacono as Brent Van Camp, Sasha Pieterse as Fawcett Brooks, Andrea Bowen as 'Shley Osgoode, Molly Tarlov as Sophie Aster, Evanna Lynch as McKenzie Price, Xosha Roquemore as Caprice Winters, Joanna 'JoJo' Levesque as Soledad Braunstein, Megan Mullally as Mrs. Van Camp, Natasha Lyonne as Ms. Hoegel, Rebecca Gayheart as Mrs. Daniels, Jonathan Silverman as Mr. Daniels, Taylor Frey as Topher

Also starring: Darren Stein