Trick

Movie Name: Trick
Year of Release: 1999
Director: Jim Fall
Starring: Christian Campbell, John Paul Pitoc, Tori Spelling, Steve Hayes, Brad Beyer, Clinton Leupp, Kevin Chamberlin, Lacey Kohl
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 4
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Synopsis and Review

"Trick" came out at the end of the 1990s, following a string of LGBTQIA independent films that defined the New Queer Cinema wave, which included Todd Hayne's "Poison", Tom Kalin's "Swoon", Rose Troche's "Go Fish", Gregg Araki's "The Living End", and the ones from the end of that decade such as Dan Ireland's "The Velocity of Gary" and Don Roo's "The Opposite of Sex". All these films were made on shoestring budgets and were met with different levels of acclaim, however Jim Fall's feature directorial debut, "Trick", which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival of 1999, attempted to bring an almost rom-com styling to this story of boy meets boy in New York. The narrative follows the story of Gabriel, a young gay man who moonlights as an office temp worker during the day, but who actually has the ambition and dream of becoming a successful Broadway composer. While at a gay bar he makes eye contact with one of the go-go dancers, Mark, whom he sees once again in the subway later that night. They decide to hook up but their attempt is firstly derailed by Gabriel's best friend and wannabe actress, Katherine, followed by a second derailment brought on by Gabriel's roommate Rich, who also wants to hook up with his girlfriend. The two young men spend the rest of the night trying to figure out where to consummate their lust, while progressively learning more about who they are and what their lives are all about.

There's something "After Hours" inspired going on with the film "Trick". The central characters' attempts at having some intimacy are constantly derailed, either by egocentric friends, or by viciously obnoxious characters, sadly none of these with the levels of entertainment or color that Martin Scorsese captured so fantastically in the classic "After Hours" (no one in "Trick" reaches the heights of Teri Garr nor Catherine O'Hara). Most of the characters in "Trick" are somewhat of a cliché, very common to so many of the films with a LGBTQIA tone that premiered in the 1990s, including the shy and sensitive central lead, the quasi-unapproachable hunk who functions as the love interest, the annoyingly delusional best friend, and an array of somewhat "colorful" supporting cameos, that don't register enough to be considered characters, but who show up to illustrate just how diverse the gay vibe actually is (they're embodiments of a particular trait, not so much characters). One of biggest issues with "Trick" is the tone that it has: for a film that is about two people wanting to be together, it lacks urgency, passion, the same going for all the characters that populate the film, they lack authenticity, something that renders them as more than just passive bystanders. This illustration of gay New York resembles more of a postcard rather than a visceral and memorable portrayal of gay youth at the time. Whereas "After Hours" was feverish, surreal, genuinely funny, and tremendously sexy, and for instance the deeply flawed and controversial "Cruising" from director William Friedkin, had a mix of half-baked characters, with others that were far more complex, they all attempted to create something memorable and representative of the culture at the time, "Trick" is a subdued and almost anemic view of the city and gay life in the late 1990s (far different than what Darren Star and Michael Patrick King were doing at the time with "Sex and the City"). It's a film that fears cranking the volume too much, and therefore ends up being almost too quiet (in comparison, Paul Bogart's "Torch Song Trilogy" from a decade earlier, manages to be more vibrant even if at times it's stage legacy is very present). The cast tries their best with the material, particularly Christian Campbell who makes for a solid lead presence, with good cameos from the talented Kevin Chamberlin and Clinton Leupp/Ms. Coco Peru. The production team is serviceable but unremarkable. It's a watchable but ultimately forgettable film that closed the decade that saw some striking films in this genre make some bold statements.