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Excellent adaptation.

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

When I first stumbled across this film, the poster left me thinking it would be light on substance. It was an assumption I am glad did not deter me from watching. And now, having watched the film, the poster makes a lot more sense.The cast is strong and the storyline a great tale of celebrity and how despite all the trappings of success, stripped away we just all want to be loved.The characters are engaging and believable. Even the minor castings are strong - an example of how every detail was given a thorough once-over before the final cut.There's humour and a touching love story of courage and being true to yourself.In fact, the ending when Adam and John decide to go public with their relationship, despite the threat to John's television career, just lifted my spirits and it is a feeling that is staying with me. There's much to be said for being true to ourselves and embracing love.The only negative I can find after much trawling is the film felt a little slow in the beginning, although it quickly started to build momentum. This momentum was subsequently never lost, leading to a very poignant conclusion. It may have felt predictable, but what love story isn't? Candy is a great central character. She is shallow in some ways and career driven to the point where her obsession with celebrity is unhealthy. However, beneath this veneer is a good heart as she genuinely cares for Adam and his welfare. The hospital scene after Adam's wayward encounter with prescription drugs reinforces this.A lot of films with gay themes can focus heavily on stereotypes to try and generate humour. This film is better than that - more clever. The humour is genuinely funny and well-written.Overall, I am giving the movie a resounding nine stars because it's refreshing to see a diverse representation of gay people and a positive portrayal of gay relationships.In a world still besieged by negative connotations when it comes to homosexuality, a movie like this makes a bold statement and sends an uplifting message to gay youth.I started watching with some doubts and finished watching feeling impressed and uplifted by a truly well-told story.Definitely worth watching.

I liked the movie for being mostly light-hearted, but still posing some serious issues (coming out, entourage, drugs).The film has its share of gay stereotypes, all in good fun. You have the fag hag, the gossipers at the bar, and the not-so-common hag-of-the-other- fag (more or less) which obviously starts on the wrong foot with the protagonist.Still, the movie is not entirely predictable and the acting, while slightly over the top at times, makes it worthwhile. It's not ground-breaking, yet not cheesy. A really good movie to watch at home on that day when you feel tired and need something to lift up your spirits.

I'll say this first: this movie, despite all it's qualities may not make it outside of the queer festival circuit. That said, any Gay and Lesbian festival that gets this Going Down in La-La Land will be doing it's audience a huge favour. I'll let others review the plot and socio-significance of the characters and such, what I will tell you is how well it's made and how successful it is in telling a story - even if it is just a fairy tale. What you need to know before you choose this American made movie over the growing stable of gay themed titles, is that this film will not give you nausea or make you regret not renting porn instead. It's Hollywood quality filmmaking with some great characters in a story that moves at a nice click. One of my favourite things about this movie is Candy, played by Allison Lane, who plays our hero's struggling-actor-best-friend-mentor. She holds her own despite the fierce competition by the lead's porn actor good looks - and the rest of the cast. Rare are female roles in gay male dominated films that don't fall sharply into soapoperatics. So watch this and see what you think and how it makes you feel... this move is safe.

Viewed at the Brussels Gay Film FestivalA very engaging story of lust, libido and love in LA. The film was a very good take on LA - its quirky reliance on trendy remedies for modern woes, on drugs and on its special brand of eternally hopeful American aspiration as embodied in Candy and Adam - the one moving from opportunity to opportunity, the other sticking to some level of honesty, no matter how hard won.The opening sequence of Adam driving through LA set the tone perfectly: brown skies, fabled landmarks, grungy strip malls and fabulous estates. Candy and Adam - old film school friends - are each determined to make it big as actors, faced with the deadening reality of too many actors for too few roles. What they are really after, though, is family: they have their fraternal relationship, they long for a married one.Matthew Ludwinski deserves a special mention for managing to be extremely sexy in a porn- fantasy way and at the same time extremely romantic in an honest way. In this type of story it is often hard to see what the more successful character sees in the less successful character. But the film took the time to make Adam credible as an intelligent, interesting person and the chemistry between Adam and John was immediate and believable.The film could have been a pat puff piece for the film industry, and the portrayal of the porn industry was a little soft-core: my one caveat. But the film it showed the downside of life in LA - drugs, hucksterism and sex - in a very real and sad way. The comment about not being able to come out of the closet because of the people whose livelihoods depended on a straight actor's persona, really touched a cord. The ending gained credibility from the gritty reality of the body of the film. The audience - mostly European - roundly applauded the film.