Film Review: Beautiful Something

Beautiful Something is a really good character-driven drama that follows four gay men over the course of a night. It stars Brian Sheppard, Zack Ryan, Colman Domingo and John Lescault as men who are trying to find some human connection, or perhaps are questioning the connections they already have. The movie creates a strong sense of characters with real desires and real histories, without relying on exposition or any other clunky tactics.

The film opens with Brian (Brian Sheppard) beginning his day. He keeps looking into the mirror, as if trying to come to some conclusion about himself, or simply checking in to make sure he still appears to be the man he feels he is, the man he perhaps worries he isn’t. He introduces himself to the person in the mirror: “Hi, I’m Brian.” Brian is a published poet who is struggling with his new book. He sits down at a typewriter, which helps me immediately like this character. After all, when was the last time you even saw a typewriter? It’s such a comforting image.

There is something of a dreamlike quality to this film at times. For example, at a bar, the moment the bartender puts on Brian’s favorite sad song, a man comes in and sits next to Brian. Or in the shot when we’re introduced to Jim (Zack Ryan), he looks directly at us as he removes his shirt. We then see Drew (Colman Domingo) photographing him, but just for a moment we are Drew, and Jim is smiling at us. But that pleasant dreamlike quality can just as suddenly end, as the film cuts to Jim angrily getting ready to leave, glancing at the photos which now seem like a distant past. Drew is a sculptor, and Jim decides he is tired of being his muse, and wants to move to New York to pursue acting.

Bob (John Lescault) is on older man cruising the streets in a limousine. When we first see him, he has the driver pull the car over so he can flirt with a younger man. Interestingly, the camera remains on the younger man as he leans into the car during the conversation. Also interesting is that Bob isn’t actually just looking for sex, but rather something more, something lasting. He tells the younger man, “I don’t know what I want, but I’ll know him when I find him.” But can one find that sort of real connection by trawling the streets?

Even though this film introduces each man separately, as in chapters, it doesn’t feel episodic, but rather manages to make each scene feel like part of a larger tale. And their lives do intersect. At the same time, their stories do feel rather insulated from the city at large, almost like these men are all part of a different world. One of my favorite scenes is when Brian climbs through the window of a one-time lover and the subject and inspiration of his published poetry. It’s a great scene, as Brian tries to reach back to recapture that elusive thing that got him writing in the first place. This scene rings true, in large part because of the honest performances by both men. When Brian fails at recapturing his earlier muse, he goes searching for a new one, at one point very wrongly choosing Jim.

This is a remarkable and wonderful film, with its own atmosphere and a strong heart. And by the end, I was kind of in love with this movie. Beautiful Something was written and directed by Joseph Graham, who also made Strapped, as well as Edward, a creepy short horror film in the anthology The Horror Network.