The film begins at a low-key party in which Kurt (Kyle
Wigent) spots Paul (Tanner Rittenhouse) seated by himself on the couch, and
goes to sit next to him. It seems he’s going to try to pick him up. But after a
moment he asks, “So how have you been?”
And it turns out they know each other. Kurt tells him he now has a normal job and
hates it. After an awkward pause, Paul says, “I can’t believe it’s taken you this long to talk to me.” Kurt
doesn’t know what to say to Paul. The scene is done almost entirely in singles,
which is great, showing the distance from each other that they both feel though
they’re next to each other. Paul asks, “What
now?” And you feel suddenly that possibilities are opening for them. It’s a
really nice scene about regrets and the chance to move forward into the
unknown.
Interestingly, after making the viewer think of possible
futures for these characters, the film then goes back to seven months earlier.
Paul works stocking shelves at a grocery store. Kurt sells pot (so his line
about having a job carries more significance), and Paul doesn’t smoke. They’re
already together, so it’s not one of those films that go back to the beginning
to relate each step in a relationship. Almost immediately we learn, through a
television newscast, that there is a series of murders in Boys Town. So that
sense of danger hangs over the events of the film, though Kurt doesn’t let it
affect him too much.
On the beach they play the game of looking at other
people, saying who they’re attracted to. I’m glad the camera remains on them,
not showing the men they’re looking at, because it’s not really about those
men. Their particulars aren’t important. And by not showing them, the film
tells us that Paul and Kurt aren’t taking this game at all seriously, that
they’re not going after the men they see. But it also tells us that the idea of
Someone Else is in their heads. This film really sticks closely with Paul and
Kurt, with lots of close-ups, and because of that, it has an intimate feel.
They have minor arguments, like when Paul tries to get
Kurt to eat some of his food at a restaurant, and these work to give the film a
realistic feel. And they each express
some longing for change. Paul wants to travel, saying he’s tired of the same
old thing (not that he could afford to go to Europe on a stock boy’s wages).
And later Kurt talks to a friend about how there might be someone better out
there, and that possibility itself is enough to make him destroy a
relationship.
Two other men come into play during the course of their
relationship. Kevin (Adam Fane) is a man who buys pot from Kurt and hits on
him. (That leads to the oddest line of the film, when Kurt says to him on the
phone: “How about I head over in about an
hour? I’m going to make a sandwich first.” An hour? That must be some
sandwich.) Eddie (Jake Andrews) is an awkward young man who works with Paul and
who is trying to come to terms with his sexuality. He invites him to his
birthday party, telling him he doesn’t have many friends. I really like what
Jake Andrews does with Eddie, elevating him from what could easily have been a
two-dimensional character.
Of course, we know from the opening scene that their
relationship is in trouble, that they will break up. After they do, there’s a
nice sequence where they each sit on the edge of a bed, facing toward the
camera, and it’s like they’re looking at each other, but they’re in separate
apartments. Sadly, it’s followed by a silly montage of them unhappy after the
breakup, with Kurt painting his face and going to a club, and Paul drinking by
himself. It’s one of the few things in the film that doesn’t quite ring true.
In Bloom was
written and directed by C.M. Birkmeier, and was released on DVD on June 3, 2014
through TLA Releasing. The DVD includes the film’s trailer.
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