G.B.F. (2013)

G.B.F.: Directed by Darren Stein. With Michael J. Willett, Paul Iacono, Sasha Pieterse, Andrea Bowen. What happens after Tanner is outed by his classmates and becomes the title “gay best friend” for three high school queen bees?

“In order to enjoy this movie, you have to get past a couple of details some people might find very offensive. In this movie gay people are treated like pets or mascots. Imagine if that was what people did with African Americans. In fact, at one point during the movie, that is exactly what happens. The other detail is that people believe the stereotypes and canu0026#39;t understand why a gay person wouldnu0026#39;t like this or that, or do this or that.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIf none of this bothers you, this is quite a good movie, with some important lessons.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eYes, much of what is here seems typical of a teenage movie, but in its own quirky way the movie seems to teach tolerance and doesnu0026#39;t quite fit a formula. The uptight moral types are made to look like morons, and those we would normally hate in a movie like this actually turn out to be quite good people.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eMost of the leading actors deliver very good performances. Tanner, who narrates, is quite appealing and doesnu0026#39;t really act like the gay stereotype. It is obvious from the beginning that Brent is SOOOO GAY. Paul Iacono is great and you just have to like Brent.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eI havenu0026#39;t seen a lot of Sasha Pieterse, but I do remember the name from when she was Buffy in the WB version of u0026quot;Family Affairu0026quot;. She still looks sort of like she did back then, but she also reminds me of AnnaLynne McCord. She offers the right balance of spoiled brat in public and good friend in private.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAndrea Bowen is so very perky and you just canu0026#39;t hate u0026#39;Shley who somehow manages to be appealing. Her version of an uptight religious personality is quite a contrast to Evanna Lynch, who is nasty and judgmental and not likable at all. Both performances are good.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eMegan Mullally is considerably toned down from. Karen Walker but still shows signs of that type of character. She is quite nice and tolerant as Brentu0026#39;s mom.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eTaylor Frey as u0026#39;Shleyu0026#39;s boyfriend, who resembles Michael Rosenbaum, is just plain creepy and thereu0026#39;s an additional reason why which you maybe should learn about later. Interesting that I noticed this resemblance because when Brent and Tanner had problems with their friendship, what happened was compared to Clark Kent and Lex Luthor. As far as I know, they must have been referring to u0026quot;Smallvilleu0026quot; on The WB, because I know of no other version of the story where they were best friends.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eJonathan Silverman and Rebecca Gayheart, as Tanneru0026#39;s uptight parents who he hasnu0026#39;t told, are quite good but their best performances come in the outtakes at the end. Yes, you have to stay around for those. Some are bloopers and some are scenes that just didnu0026#39;t make it into the final movie.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAnn Russo is hilarious, with only a couple of lines, as a frightening German teacher who could intimidate Nazis.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAt one point, Tanner tells Brent he doesnu0026#39;t like pop-dance music but Brent tells him this is what gays like. Actually, there is good music that gay people like, but none of it is in this movie. And for someone with my taste in music, there is little if anything. There may have been good background music I donu0026#39;t remember, but the only good music that was actually played, in my opinion, came when Tanner was eating at u0026#39;Shleyu0026#39;s house.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eI think weu0026#39;ve established this was far from family friendly, but exactly how bad it was I donu0026#39;t know. The sound went out many times and in some scenes there was almost nothing left and I had a hard time figuring out what was going on. Based on what seems appropriate, I think many words allowed on broadcast TV were bleeped, so maybe this wasnu0026#39;t as bad as all that. But protest signs were blurred, and one of the outtakes, on broadcast TV, was completely obscured and I couldnu0026#39;t even hear anything.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eI mostly had a good time.”