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Jeffrey
Jeffrey, a gay man living in New York City with an overwhelming fear of contracting AIDS, concludes that being celibate is the only option to protect himself. As fate would have it, shortly after his declaration of a sex-free existence, he meets the handsome Steve Howard, his dream man -- except for his HIV-positive status. Facing this dilemma, Jeffrey turns to his best friend and an outrageous priest for guidance.
Release : | 1995 |
Rating : | 6.8 |
Studio : | The Booking Office, Workin' Man Films, |
Crew : | Production Design, Set Decoration, |
Cast : | Steven Weber Patrick Stewart Michael T. Weiss Sigourney Weaver Robert Klein |
Genre : | Drama Comedy Romance |
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Reviews
Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.
It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny
It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film
A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.
When a movie sports supporting (and even bit players) who are more interesting than the schmuck who happens to carry the load of an entire plot, something is sorely missing. Even so, a movie has to be made, and men like the title character -- Jeffrey (Steven Weber, looking at ease in a part that gives him one note, that is, to look and be lost and drowning in self-pity) -- do exist (I have known several and the only thing to do is to run the opposite direction and never look back in case one turns into a pillar of salt) and their drama, or lack thereof, is the stuff that could induce anyone to plant a bullet through their temples to be done with the pain.Now, let's see. Jeffrey's pain is that he's sworn off sex altogether. About this time he meets the Man of His Dreams (Michael T. Weiss, oozing dark masculinity). The catch: this Man is HIV-positive. So the dilemma lies: to be with a man who may or may not survive such a deadly disease (and risk his own life, since a moment of passion may be the dividing line between life and death) or to turn around and continue looking for Mr. Goodbar, even when Mr. Goodbar is right there for the asking.The premise makes for a a story that should be much, much darker and introspective, but Paul Rudnick has decided to make it a romantic comedy, and it works for the most part. Again, and going back to the top of this article, it's the supporting characters and bit players who make the adventures of Jeffrey worth experiencing: consider one surreal scene where Jeffrey calls his parents, who are extremely, implausibly, hilariously in tune with the times (when in fact they shouldn't) and go into frank discussions about Jeffrey's (lack of a) sex life. Looking at them, all 1950s excess, yammering in gay lingo, is enough to have anyone rolling on the floor.Other scenes are of equal hilarity: Patrick Stewart interrupting Kevin Nealon (as a reporter) announcing the sex change of a bit player (then unknown Gregory Ibarra) whose mother (Olympia Dukakis) has a whale of a time posing for cameras, and Nathan Lane as a priest who (unsuccessfully) tries to seduce Weber at church in a rather bizarre moment. Of the cast, however, Bryan Batt is the one who almost walks away with the movie as Stewart's lover, also dying of AIDS, and has some pretty outlandish scenes which make his character memorable. And of course, any movie that lampoons Mother Theresa has to have my vote, especially when it manages to pepper an erstwhile campy romance scene. One of the better entries of the Nineties not to feature gay men as unable to have sex lives and wallowing in corners, and a hoot to watch.
This is, and has been since 1995, my favorite movie. Jeffrey, staring Steven Weber, Michael T. Weiss, Patrick Stewart and Bryan Bratt, also has many, many parts played by extremely well-known actors. Kathy Najimi, Kevin Nealon, Olympia Dukakis, Sigourney Weaver, Christine Baranski, Victor Garber, Robert Klein, and Camryn Manheim, just to name a few. To sum it up, it shows how important friends are in our time of need. This is one movie I can watch over and over, and I have seen it probably two dozen times or more. The writing, acting and music are flawless, you'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll love it! This is the one, single movie I can quote the most amount of lines from.
This is one of those movies that I confidently predict will wind up being considered much better as time goes on than the critics said at its inception. It's especially funny (and biting on occasion) if you happened to have lived through the first rush of AIDS deaths and the fear that engendered. This whole movie is a send up of that, and revels in the idea that sex and life go on even in the aftermath of terror. The Hoe-down fantasy sequence with its overtones of Busby Berkley and Oklahoma is hysterically funny. As for the acting, it's purposely broad with Patrick Steward playing against type, both in his role of Picard and in his many Shakespearean ones. Steve Weber is a hoot and there is no doubt in my mind that the other actors had a blast working in this flick. Many of them appear to have that "look" you see when actors are performing for their peers and enjoying every moment of it. The Pink Panthers moment alone lets Stewart shine. Are there flaws in the movie. Yup! The dialogue is sometimes stilted and jokes occasionally are dumped in rather than flowing from the plot, but overall it's witty, biting, and downright rapier-like on more than one occasion. All in all, Jeffrey is fun and worth an hour or so of your life.
I was hoping for a good movie, but unfortunately it was just really bland, plus it displays a few gay stereotypes. And all the way through it I was like "Oh God, give me a break! Giving up totally on sex and love and shunning a brilliant prospective life partner JUST because of the AIDS epidemic?! Get a life!" Sure, I understand Jeffrey's fears with the epidemic, but constantly pushing away Steve, his prospective Mr. Right, just made me want to slap him. Sure, there are good moments, such as people readily accepting homosexuality and the thugs who threatened to beat up Jeffrey acted beautifully, cruel and hatable, but beautifully nonetheless. But overall, this was nothing that special to see, and why include Mother Theresa? I thought it was somewhat awkward to put her in this movie. And at the end, I don't think that Steve would really forgive Jeffrey that quickly, if at all, after all that Jeffrey did to him. Please, don't waste time with this movie.