Cure for Love

So what is this one about?
Well, I saw this film at the Toronto Cinematheque on John St. However, when I tried to go back to the website of the theatre the description was already down. SO, I went to the CTV (you know, Canadian Television website) and I found this description...

There's the bride, dramatic in white -- and the groom, beaming in his Sunday best -- and the customary happy gang of friends and relatives.

But this is no ordinary wedding.

Ana and Brian are both self-declared ex-gays — adherents to a controversial evangelical movement that purports to convert gays and lesbians into heterosexuals.

Cure for Love goes inside this unusual Christian subculture — fashioning a nuanced critique of 21st century fundamentalism through the moving testimony of young people whose homosexuality is at odds with their religious beliefs.

ta dah!

And how much did I pay to watch?
Well, because I still have my U of T id (which has no expiration date AND an AMAZING photo of me...you'll have to take my word for it), and because I was in Canaduh this cost $4 CAD. I dunno how much that is in Americuh. I guess like $4. (Oh the failing US dollar, woe is me!)

And what did I think?
Well, it was very interesting, for sure. The film actually followed three gay men (or ex-gay men), only one of which who got married to a woman and the other two stayed in the gay lifestyle. The guy who got married to a woman, Brian was his name I guess, I did believe that he was trying to adhere to his religious beliefs. I felt so genuinely happy and sorry for him at the same time. He admitted that he was still attracted to men, but that his commitment to his female wife trumped everything else.

In a lot of ways I respect that immensely. I mean, and maybe this is widly unromantic and disgustingly pragmatic, isn't that what a marriage is about basically? Making a commitment to someone and holding it above everything else? My friend who accompanied me to the movie was horrified that I suggested that.

Now, Brian's wife Ana, good lord I felt sorry for her. It was so clear that she was miserable. That she thought because she was married to a man she would somehow become a heterosexual. And it was like she was waiting for the straightness to kick in, and it never did. Or at least it never did during the coverage of the film. She was not in love with Brian. I thought Brian seemed happy, but Ana was the opposite. God, it was so depressing.

Now, the two men who tried the ex-gay lifestyle and returned, or became ex-ex-gays (as they said), they were much happier. And how could you not be happy for them too? I mean, as an audience you love to see people in documentaries that are happy or fulfilled or at least content. These men who left the ex-gay lifestyle were happier than Ana, but maybe not happier than Brian.

So how was the film itself? I'd say (despite the audience of nearly all gay people...I would assume) it was pretty though provoking. I mean, it forced the audience to look at their beliefs for what is important or necessary for a person's happiness. Additionally, since it was filmed a lot in Toronto, I think I, an most of the people in the theatre, felt some sort of a connection to the film.

So what is the rating? (out of 10)
Make no mistake, this was absolutely a film that was sponsored by the film board of...wait...what was it? Quebec? I remember it wasn't Ontario which was surprising because it seems like every film and tv show is sponsored by the film board of Ontario. Anyway, it was a film that was sponsored in someway by the Canadian film industry. The industry in Canada is not the industry in the US. It isn't massive and unrestrained with oodles of money to produce documentaries about anything and everything. So, they didn't have the resources that documentarian film makers have here. The film production values were a little bit less than in the US.

But, the film was interesting and the characters was sympathetic and endearing. I give it a 9.