All the Rage

Local writer/director Roland Tec makes his feature debut with this talky study of gay male narcissism. Shot primarily in the South End, the film tracks the dating life of Christopher (John-Michael Lander), a gorgeous lawyer whose deepest trait is his dimples. Obsessed with physical perfection and the pursuit of casual sex, this guy beds only those of taut butt and sculpted pec. That is, until he meets Stewart (David Vincent), a nebbishy editor with -- gasp! -- no Metropolitan Club membership. Can Christopher love a man with a paunchy belly?

Our hero is so vapid it's hard to care. Moreover, the film, which is based on Tec's play A Better Boy, can't shake its self-conscious staginess. To compensate, the saga jumpcuts to maddening sex, lies, and videotape-styled soliloquies in which a naked Christopher natters about what he desires in a lover. More interesting are his kibitzing friends, especially Peter Bubriski and Paul Outlaw as a neurotic couple. Tec's premise may be original and his cast low on body fat, but what this film needs is more cinematic muscle.

-- Alicia Potter