Billy's Hollywood Screen Kiss

The writer/director of Billy's Hollywood Screen Kiss aptly refers to his film in the closing credits as "A Tommy O'Haver Trifle." Sean Hayes (of NBC's Will & Grace) stars as the titular Billy, a gay L.A. photographer smitten with a gorgeous coffee shop waiter (Brad Rowe, a dead ringer for Brad Pitt). But...is he or isn't he? O'Haver fumbles around with that idea for a while, offering some pleasant, coyly ambiguous flirtations between the two leads. Unfortunately, the film never really explores its most potentially interesting idea, namely that idealized film incarnations of romance can also obviously affect the way homosexuals view love. O'Haver includes a few dream sequences of Billy visualizing himself in the famous Hollywood clinches he's re-creating for a photo series (the "screen kisses" of the title), but never bothers to dig too deeply into anyone's psyche. He's content to coast along on the appeal of Hayes and the tried-and-true gay film components of catty dialogue, best girl friends and lip-synching drag queens. Ultimately, it's a far-too-typical independent first feature--long on energy, enthusiasm and good intentions, but short on technique. A trifle indeed. Not recommended. (S. Renshaw)