User reviews

"Watercolors" played at San Diego's FilmOut today. I have to say, when we read the synopsis in the FilmOut guide, and watched the trailer, we both thought this was going to be just dreadful. We weren't sure we wanted to even sit through it. I'm so glad we did -- it would be a mistake to miss -- to our amazement, this is a terrific film! First-rate acting all around, with special note to the dad's demonic smoking, the art teacher's facial expressions, the mother's nuanced looks. The writing, while melodramatic, is well-done. Nice cinematography, with cool underwater shots of the swimmers, long shots of outdoor scenes, and so forth. The casting, for the most part, fit nicely, especially Tye as Danny. It was fun seeing Greg Louganis as the coach, although I think it would be have been terrific to cast him as the anti-swimming father.

I especially liked the relationship between Danny and his mother. Very funny, touching, warm. The dad character could use more depth, but the mannerisms were nicely done. Tye as Danny looked so small and vulnerable (he's taller in real life, as we saw during the cast Q&A) and had such a perfect geek haircut.

This really didn't feel like a "film festival film", although it could do with a bit more editing to tighten up some of the scenes and cut the running time by 10 or 30 minutes.

OK so this is not going to grab any Oscars but I thought it nonetheless a very credible view of romance between two young men at high school.

Gay art student Danny is forced to share a room at home with Carter, a hunky swimming major who lodges there during difficulties at his own home. Carter needs help with his literature classes and Danny provides it in exchange for life drawing modeling.

A love develops that is fully realized and expressed by Danny but utterly denied by Carter who cannot even bring himself to be seen at school with his lover. The results are examined with sensitive dialog and quite acceptable acting. The love making scene in the rain is a triumph of art direction that would make many heterosexual movies appear vulgar. Tye Olson is excellent as Danny. Well worth a try.

For about the first twenty minutes I thought I was going to hate this movie, but it got better. Then it got better. Then it got even better, and it just kept on getting better all the way through to the end.

I strongly disagree with reviewers who say the adult bookends are irrelevant and badly done. They provide an essential framework for the story. The adult actors are neither as attractive nor as talented as the younger leads are, but that's fine; they don't need to be.

My only quibble - and it is a very minor quibble - is that the character of Henry is just too evil within the context of this movie. I know people like that exist, people who are so mean and so stupid that they would keep on smirking when the hero is having convulsions, but no other character in this movie is drawn with such unrelenting severity. He is so evil he ends up dragging the whole movie down in a way it doesn't need to be dragged down. I suppose his being so excessively monstrous adds extra weight to Danny's accusation that Carter hurt him even more than Henry did, but that accusation didn't need such heavy-handed reinforcement; it was powerful enough in itself.

The direction, photography and screenplay could not be much better - an impressive debut for David Oliveras. All the performances are outstanding, particularly Tye Olson and Kyle Clare as Danny and Carter and Casey Kramer as Danny's mother. To paraphrase at least one other reviewer, she is the mother every gay man on earth dreams of. This is a lovely, believable, extremely well done movie.

Boy, am I glad I was able to see this movie.

The movie is about a young gay artist haunted by a tragedy during high-school. I won't go very deep about the story, but basically he fell in love with another boy during high-school and it didn't go very well. And believe me, not by the most common reasons. The story is really beautiful. Not having many characters, you get to know the 2 main characters very well and on the "crucial" moments it really gets into your heart. Except for Carter's coach, this movie has fabulous, gorgeous, amazing acting. You see the expression of anger in Darrien's face, when's angry, the heart-felt tears, when he cries, and the sensitive smile when his with either his mother, his best-friend and of course, Carter.

Plot: 8/10 - The reason why they met (and why carter lives with Darrien for a few month) isn't very «believable» but a beautiful romance develops as the movie goes on and grows on you.

Acting: 9.5/10 - Excellent actors. Well done.

Flaws: You never get to understand what are Darrien's mother and carter's father to each other. The movie is not very clear in terms of time. It seems as if only a few days have passed during the whole movie, but almost one year passed. (I think)

Personal Desire: I wish they could have developed a little more the relationship between Darrien and his mother. They could have made some touching scenes, since they were both great actors.

I'm glad it's not underrated, but having only 17 votes.... I suppose... not many people have seen it? Well, those people don't know what they're missing.

This is a phenomenal and beautifully shot film about young gay romance. It is a gripping, dramatic, and moving portrayal of discovery and new love. I mean everything was utterly amazing: from the actors' performances (especially the Danny character), to the cinematography and even the haunting score playing all throughout. The movie is longer than most (almost 2 hours) but you honestly don't feel it because the story is so captivating and engaging. This is by far one of the best films ever made in this genre of gay themed dramas. There are scenes depicting sexuality with the unbelievably beautiful body of the swimmer character, but they are done tastefully and shot with an entrancing artistry. If there were Oscars for in-dies like this, I'd award it all the top honors. Highly recommended to the point I will compare all future films of the genre to this one! Truly a gay classic with an above average production value !

I haven't seen this movie, but the DVD is due to arrive in the mail tomorrow. I logged onto IMDb to see what other viewers had to say. Don't EVER question why there are very few gay movies made. Every old queen and every too young adventurer always become superior critics. This is a gay movie. It does not star Meryl Streep, Robert DeNiro, or Sean Penn. Gays movies cannot accumulate large budgets and do the best they can with the material and cast they can find to work for free or pennies. I remember the first big studio gay movie, "Making Love" with Harry Hamlin, Michael Ontkean, and Kate Jackson, directed by Arthur Hiller. This movie was blasted bigger than Nagasaki. It all but ended Hamlin's and Ontkean's careers. It took a quarter of a century to get the venomous taste out of the critics mouths before "Brokeback Mountain" was finally accepted. BUT, how many major gay films have been made since? The most popular gay novel in the world, "The Front Runner" has been sitting on some studios shelf for nearly half a century. Everyone is afraid of either making it or starring in it. Hats off to the producer of "Watercolors" for putting forth the effort. It did win two major LBGT film festival awards. BUT as another reviewer stated, the cast was excellent except for the coach. MAN! He's the reason I'm seeing the movie. Greg Louganis, not only an Olympic Champion, but a drama major. Why was his acting singled out? Couldn't that sentence have been omitted? Why must we as gays, destroy our own culture...music, theatre, movies??? Can't we EVER find words of praise to encourage MORE gay entertainment? Remember the old adage, "If you can't find something good to say...". I'm really looking forward to enjoying this movie tomorrow. ______________________________ addendum: I finally saw the movie this afternoon and it's haunted me the rest of the evening. One of the two leads has practically no experience at all, yet he sustained his character as a professional. I really found nothing to criticize...only words of praise and hope that this will be the first of many features by the director. The entire cast was superb. Music was expertly used. I don't watch gay porn, but I do collect gay films with good stories...THIS is one of the best. It ranks high with "Latter Days" and "Shelter". Ten Stars!

If you haven't seen this cookie cutter themed film before, do yourself a favor and don't. Two typical Calis- one a seemingly intelligent gay nerd falls for his opposite- the swimming jock who seems to be more confident and full of himself. They become fast friends and have an up and down friendship as they search for some connectivity in their lives. David Olivera wrote and directed this Cali mess whose heart may be in the right place, but whose dialogue is simplistic and cliched. There is nothing original going on here, we've seen it all before in better written scenarios. Oliveras takes no bold chances here, including changing the tired old Southern California venue we've seen way too often. Yawn!! The acting is okay, but regrettably, there's little for them to work with here. My rating: DWYT - Don't Waste Your Time!

This is an extremely rare gem.

The story is so well done. Building our interest and feelings for the characters involved. Tye Olson is an amazing up an comer. He plays this role as someone who understands through experience what the character is feeling and how the character would truly be. Kyle Clare has immersed himself in his character as well.

There is so much I want to say about this film...but rather than tell you what is great about it, I would encourage you to watch, see and feel all the raw and touching emotion yourself.

This is a must see.

The pacing, the storyline. It was an unbelievable journey from start to finish..the parallels to Romeo and Juliet and Shakesperes interpretation of love permeates and carry's through the acting of these two young men. The two main characters portrayed by their respective actors were real. Their approach sensatvie and endearing. I hope you finfd this movie as meaningful as I did.!