Defying Gravity

A nearly forgettable movie about a college student's struggle with sexual identity, Defying Gravity is an earnest, well-meaning effort that is entirely too heavy-handed and didactic. Griff (played by Daniel Chilson), a young man with a Big Secret, is a closeted gay man in a fraternity where the homoeroticism is so overdrawn you expect a dance number with guys in towels singing "YMCA." A painfully obvious parallel plot finds an African-American woman struggling with her own identity, and the film also trots out the inevitable confused heterosexual woman who can't understand why Griff isn't that interested (see In and Out for Joan Cusack's hysterical take on this hackneyed role). For a far fresher, wittier take on the subject, consider Get Real (VL-3/00), a British film directed by Simon Shore with a similar plot but much more charm and style. Defying Gravity is only worth considering where gay video collections are comprehensive. (K. G. Schneider)