Mormon boy meets party boy in L.A.
He's a gay party boy from West Hollywood, and he's a straitlaced Mormon missionary from Idaho. They meet, they share laundry tips, they fall in love.Along the way, in fledgling filmmaker C. Jay Cox's earnest romance, Latter Days, the sculpted, superficial Christian (Wesley A. Ramsey) learns a thing or two about God and caring for others. And the clean-cut, name-badge-wearing Aaron (Steve Sandvoss), who's in Los Angeles with three fellow elders from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, learns that gays are people, too.
He's a gay party boy from West Hollywood, and he's a straitlaced Mormon missionary from Idaho. They meet, they share laundry tips, they fall in love.
Along the way, in fledgling filmmaker C. Jay Cox's earnest romance, Latter Days, the sculpted, superficial Christian (Wesley A. Ramsey) learns a thing or two about God and caring for others. And the clean-cut, name-badge-wearing Aaron (Steve Sandvoss), who's in Los Angeles with three fellow elders from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, learns that gays are people, too.
Cox moves from screenwriter (Sweet Home Alabama) to director with Latter Days, a modest and obviously heartfelt endeavor that will open the 13-day, ninth annual Philadelphia International Gay and Lesbian Festival this evening. He has his characters toss out snappy witticisms and irony-tinged comebacks that inject a modicum of sophistication into what is otherwise an utterly flat, predictable tale.
Set in an L.A where every waiter is an actor and/or singer - and in a restaurant where said waitstaff is watched over by Jacqueline Bisset, playing a wise, wounded restaurateur - Latter Days addresses issues of homophobia and racial/religious/gender stereotyping.
It also addresses issues of first aid: Aaron is initially seduced by Christian in his apartment after the young Mormon dresses a nasty abrasion on Christian's buttocks.
Contact movie critic Steven Rea at 215-854-5629 or srea@phillynews.com.
Latter Days ** 1/2 (out of four stars)
Written and directed by C. Jay Cox. With Wesley A. Ramsey, Steve Sandvoss, Jacqueline Bisset, Mary Kay Place and Joseph Gordon-Levitt.
Running time: 1 hour, 50 mins.
Parent's guide: No MPAA rating (sex, nudity, gay themes, profanity)
Playing at: Prince Music Theater, 1412 Chestnut St., tonight at 7:30 and Saturday at 2:30 p.m. Attending tonight will be writer-director C. Jay Cox; cast members Jacqueline Bisset, Wes Ramsey, Steve Sandvoss; and producers Kirkland Tibbels and Jennifer Schaefer.
Tonight's screening will be followed by a 9:30 party at The Grande, 111 S. 15th St., and a midnight party at the 2-4 Club, 1221 St. James St.
Admission: Tonight (payable at the venues): $15, film only; $40, film and both parties; parties only, $30. Saturday screening: $8.50 (in advance or all day Saturday at the venue).
Information: 215-733-0608 Ext. 701 or www.phillyfests.com.