Incannerax What a waste of my time!!!

Matialth Good concept, poorly executed.

Stephan Hammond It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

Stephanie There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

ty_lattimore2007 Beyond disappointed with this film. The DVD cover looks intriguing. Unfortunately the film wasn't. The characters did not make much sense. I found myself having questions and more questions as the narrative just did not make sense. For example it was not clear why the character changed the sheets during sex. The main character using drugs after having so many issues with his partner having a drug problem made no sense. I just did not get through this film easily. It was difficult to make sense of this relationship, this film and the storyline. The character did not engage me to want to root for them or even really care. Definitely a missed opportunity considering the themes the film explores. I also found the movie was almost all white except one black minor character. The film did not at all reflect the diversity of the city it is set in.

johannes2000-1 I'm convinced that this is a very sincere production, but it left me rather depressed and unsatisfied. It's the story of two lovers who are followed through a period of like 10 years. Erik is a bit of a sullen and insecure film-maker (who works with financial support of his father forever on one project); Paul a more world wise and intelligent lawyer who gets hooked on all kinds of drugs. While Paul slowly but deliberately glides away from his lover into his own drugs-filled universe, Erik desperately tries to hold on to what he sees as the love of his life. We see them love and bicker, parting and coming together again and endlessly talking to save the remains of their relationship, until finally (and understandably) Erik gives-up. The end. Both actors (Thure Lindhardt as Erik and Zachary Booth as Paul) do a fine job and are convincing enough. And the script may not give us an optimistic point of view but it's authentic and painfully realistic. My biggest problem though was, that I couldn't feel sympathy for either of both men. Paul is aloof, egotistical and doesn't seem to have any empathy; of course you know that his personality is marred by the abuse, but still you want to smack him for treating Erik so bad. On the other hand Erik is extremely passive and lets Paul walk all over him again and again. One important scene illustrates this poignantly: Paul (who had disappeared for yet another long period) suddenly calls Erik up and invites him to a hotel room, where he (heavily influenced by drugs) receives him but at the same time has an escort come over and has sex with this guy, with Erik sitting miserably next to the bed. It didn't help (at least not me), that both men aren't really good- looking, which all the more made me wonder what they saw in each other to begin with anyway. To sum it up: definitely good performances but a depressing experience.

Sean Kurzweil As a gay man, I like to support films with gay characters and stories when I can. Oftentimes such films sacrifice writing and acting in order to titillate. This film avoided that pitfall and delivered a cohesive, relevant and tasteful product. The characters were gritty and weren't cardboard cut outs. Personally, I found it a lot more relevant than a recent art film I caught called THE MASTER. The central relationship in this film is between gay men but the film manages to touch on failing/toxic relationships in general and offers up some noteworthy and humorous ensemble performances. As difficult as it is to believe, these relationships exist in gay and straight life. It seems to me that the filmmaker decided it was important to hold up a mirror and show us reality and a real relationship gone awry instead of showing us that gays can have just as little sex and/or just as loving relationships as straight folk. We have enough sanitized and safe portrayals of gays on network TV. I found the performances to be interesting and the characters were dynamic. Each had a journey unlike the static characters in the aforementioned, lauded art film. Since this film was most certainly shot quickly and with a limited budget, I take my hat off to cast and crew. The selfishness, desperation, preoccupation, co-dependency and obsessive behavior depicted seemed right on point. I felt that the filmmakers unflinchingly and without apology depicted the good, the bad and the ugly of this relationship while tell a story about two individuals in love.

lasttimeisaw A KVIFF screening of this year's Teddy winner in Berlin International Film Festival, from American director Ira Sachs. It is a detailed dissection of the a tug-of-war gay relationship between Erik and Paul, which soldiers on almost a decade in the present-time (1997-2006).Thure Lindhardt, the Danish out-of-the-closet actor who has shown the immense stretch in the skin-head gay-romance BROTHERHOOD (2009, an 8/10), transforms himself into a young immigrant documentary director Erik living in NYC, probably sex-addictive, met the dandy boy Peter (Zachary Booth), first time for sexual intercourse, then the mutual attraction brings both into a relationship complex, which encompasses an overt hindrance, Paul's drug-addition, a cliché default even makes for the consistent trappings of gay life, thanks to the barren soil of the genre.It's hard not to compare this film with last year's indie darling WEEKEND (2011, an 8/10), both stand out among other numerous lesser achievers, but in very disparate ways. KEEP THE LIGHTS ON is a sultry relationship conundrum exhausts one's vigor even dignity to sustain the suffocating love; while WEEKEND concentrates on the bad-timing symptom after a casual sex date which one must cut off his feeling and affection. Different terms, same payoff. Nevertheless, both films have a cracking two-hander cast, in this case, Lindhardt and Booth are fervently suited to their tailor-made roles, especially Lindhardt, literally carries the film on his shoulders to elaborate a not-so-extraordinary script, I do hope he will not be stereotyped into the gay-actor-can-never-act-straight category for his future career. The film at large is a mean-well, sincere work with some uneasy aftertaste, but never accomplishes itself as a boredom, a welcome 7 out of 10 is my indulgence.