Sunday, February 26, 2023

My Fake Boyfriend

Movie Name:
My Fake Boyfriend
Year of Release: 2022
Director: Rose Troche
Starring: Keiynan Lonsdale, Dylan Sprouse, Sarah Hyland, Samer Salem, Marcus Rosner, Karen Robinson, Dean McDermott, Simon Sinn, Matthew Finlan, Matt Willis, Rachel Risen
Genre: Comedy, Romance
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 3
Watch it on Amazon Prime

Synopsis and Review
Rose Troche who made a name for herself in the 90s as one of the main names in the New Queer Film Movement (which also included Todd Haynes, Gregg Araki and Tom Kalin), has since become a prolific director, working across both features and TV driven products. She's directed episodes for iconic shows, which have included "Six Feet Under", "The L Word", "Law and Order" and more recently, "On Becoming a God in Central Florida", "Shameless" and "FBI". "My Fake Boyfriend" is her more recent feature, in a year where she worked on a variety of projects. The narrative focuses on Andrew, a gay stuntman, who is currently romantically involved with the lead actor of the film they're working on. Nico is however dating other people, much to the dismay of Andrew who wants to settle and be in a monogamous relationship. His best friend Jake, alongside his wife Kelly, decide to intervene, and create a digital character who is Andrew's new boyfriend, in the hopes of giving him a newfound confidence to move on from Nico. This device works better than what anyone expected, with this digital character taking on a popularity no one anticipated, with Andrew being sucked into that newfound celebrity status. However Andrew meets Rafi a chef and restaurant owner, and suddenly finds himself in a predicament of having to get out of this massive lie that has been set in motion, in order to pursue his chance at happiness.
"My Fake Boyfriend" is a somewhat typical rom-com, where the lead is caught in a situation of being under-appreciated and under-nurtured, with his best friends coming to the help and in the process complicating the situation a bit further, before eventually everything coming together in the third act (thanks to the grand gesture of atonement). This summary is applicable to any of the Bridget Jones films, or even any of the Julia Roberts led rom-coms of the 90s. What has been able to be differentiated between these films is the specificity of the central character and the colorful supporting ones, and the point of view of the director, both of which are slightly diluted in "My Fake Boyfriend". Though this is indeed a gay rom-com, nothing particularly unique is highlighted in the narrative, or for that matter, in Rose Troche's direction. There are some comedic episodes in Andrew's attempts at dating and moving on from Nico, but these episodes are brief and shy away from actually demonstrating the surreal aspects of what is to date someone in the social media world. What is left is a film that touches all the stepping stones of this genre, adhering to the formula, and not necessarily reinvigorating it with a fresh perspective (at the end it comes across as a bit generic). The cast tries their best with what they have, with Sarah Hyland (from "Modern Family") and Karen Robinson (from "Schitt's Creek") in particular trying their best with the limited screen time they have. It's a forgettable endeavor from an interesting director. 

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