10/08/2008
Take That, Sarah Palin: Film About Two Gay Hockey Dads to Open
Breakfast with Scot, which opened L.A.'s Outfest this year and is the first gay film in which the NHL allowed its logo and uniforms to be used, opens this weekend.
It has already stirred up controversy. Back in February 2007, San Diego-based Christian activist "ex-gay" James Hartline, called the film, which tells the story of a gay couple (a former Toronto Maple Leaf and the team's lawyer) who become the guardians of an eleven-year-old boy struggling to understand his sexuality, "degrading" and warned that it promoted the "homosexualization of small children."
The L.A. Times puts the kibosh on that. They write:
"Ever since Gov. Sarah Palin burst on to the national scene, I've heard more than I ever wanted to hear about hockey moms. Are they that different from soccer moms? Do they really wear lipstick? Or can they get away with lip balm or Blistex? I've never seen a hockey-mom movie, however. Though last week I did see my first hockey-dad movie. Actually, 'Breakfast With Scot' is about two hockey dads, and the only one wearing lipstick is their flamboyant 11-year-old ward, Scot, who winds up living with this comely, strait-laced gay couple after his mom dies. Welcome to the gay family film, as mild and sweet as anything out of the Disney empire."
It opens on both coasts this weekend, with more releases into October.
Watch the trailer, AFTER THE JUMP...
Posted 10:00 AM EST by Andy Towle in Film, Gay Adoption, Gay Parents, Gay Youth, Hockey, News, Sports, Tom Cavanagh | Permalink
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Honestly, though, this movie is awful.
The Director should not be allowed to direct again (also, the screenwriter and whoever cast the kid should also be let go.) The two dads are the only good actors in the whole movie which makes it just sad.
Posted by: what | Oct 8, 2008 10:34:25 AM
I didn't mind it, but there's a MUCH better film with a similar theme, Ready? OK! which played the ay film festivals this season but as far as I know hasn't been picked up. It'sabout actholic schoolboy who wants to bee a cheerleader and won't let ANYTHING stand in his way.
Posted by: David Ehrenstein | Oct 8, 2008 10:40:24 AM
Thanks, What and David. Generally if it the reviews are bad to marginal, I just queue the flick up on NetFlix as not to waste the box office bucks.
Posted by: Rad | Oct 8, 2008 10:53:48 AM
It's not an Academy Award wining film, but it's not awful by any means. My friends and I enjoyed it very much. You can order the DVD from amazon in Canada and they will deliver to the U.S. - that's how I got my copy months and months ago. amazon.ca
Posted by: tobey | Oct 8, 2008 11:07:09 AM
I'm sorry, but I have to agree with WHAT. As a gay hockey dad (perhaps not as cute as the two depicted) I'm happy the movie got made, and I'm happy it broke barriers. I'm even happy it got made in Canada. I just wish it was a decent film, but it's not. It feels more like an After School Special than any kind of serious, adult exploration of the subject, which is not surprising given that the director's previous credits include the youth-oriented Degrassi television shows.
One of its most disappointing aspects is the simplistic, over-the-top homophobia expressed -- not by hetero characters, but by one of the gay dads. It's just painful to watch.
Posted by: rrrunnerrr | Oct 8, 2008 11:10:01 AM
I saw both this movie and "Ready, OK?" this summer at the philadelphia film fest and we actually thought "Breakfast with Scot" was wayyyy better. "Ready, OK?" was okay but had too many weird things going on with the writing.
This movie actually touched me! I just wished the 2 dads showed more affection. But i think this is one of the rare examples of a gay movie that would be watchable by a straight audience.
Posted by: Bobby | Oct 8, 2008 11:15:15 AM
While I thought the movie was only OK, the book on which it is based is a real gem. No hockey in it at all I as I recall. Just damn good writing.
Posted by: bandit | Oct 8, 2008 11:28:45 AM
What I loved about "Ready? OK!" was the utterly fearless determination of the kid, even to the extent of chellenging a nun. And if you've ever been to Catholic school you know that it's virtually IMPOSSIBLE to challenge a nun. I also liked his relationship to the gay man who lived next door (played by "Lost"'s Michael Emerson) who makes the kid a dress when he decides to come as Maria Von Trapp for Halloween.
The Dads in "Breakfast with Scott" are conflicted about their gayness. But Emerson in "Ready? OK!" is quite forthright and the film deals with the way gay adults can help gay kids head-on with no apologies.
Posted by: David Ehrenstein | Oct 8, 2008 11:35:38 AM
I'm not sure of the release date, but it was a missed marketing/PR opportunity not to change the name to, "Hockey Dads." It may have already been in release before Sarah Palin, however.
Posted by: gr8guyca | Oct 8, 2008 12:10:20 PM
I, too, was disappointed with "Breakfast with Scot." It surely has its heart in the right place, but the lack of affection or connection between the main gay couple was annoying to me. I fully understand it was a depiction of their internalized homophobia, but we also see them at times in the comfort of their own home, away from public eyes, and the most affection you ever see between them is one of the men putting his head on the shoulder of the other and later one chaste peck on the lips (that could have been between two brothers, it was so innocuous). The most irritating omission for me was the lack of a hug for the kid by either gay "parent." Seriously! An early story point is the kid's impulse to give others hugs, which the butch hockey dad criticizes, and in the end, the kid doesn't even get a hug back.
Incidentally, I don't see a need to define the kid as gay. He definitely has gender confusion issues, but that doesn't mean his sexual orientation will turn out to be gay. I wish there were some way the film could have made that point.
Posted by: MR ROBOTO | Oct 8, 2008 12:48:26 PM
WOW. Mason Reese is still as tiny and ugly as ever!
Posted by: Christopher | Oct 8, 2008 1:12:34 PM
LMAO at Christopher's comment!!
Always had the hots for Tom Cavanagh. But this movie looks ghastly if that trailer is any indication.
Posted by: soulbrotha | Oct 8, 2008 1:25:33 PM
To all of you who have seen this, your points are well taken. As a gay dad though, the trailer looked fun to me (yes, I know, it's a trailer...), so we'll probably rent it on Netflix. And Ready? Go! too.
Posted by: David R. | Oct 8, 2008 4:45:13 PM
BTW, Netflix doesn't have a listing for "Ready? Go!" yet. Please help by requesting it. Thx.
Posted by: david R. | Oct 8, 2008 4:48:25 PM
Saw the movie, didn't mind the "internalized homophobia" so much. Like it or not, it's a real phenomenon and depicting it in this movie as a subplot that the characters work through is perfectly valid.
That said, the book was an absolute gem in a way that the movie really doesn't ever reach, but how often does that happen regardless of genre? Given the story that NPR did about kids with gender issues a few months back where two families grapple with sons' gender preferences and deal with it in different ways,
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=90247842
I think the movie is timely and worth a watch.
Posted by: KJ | Oct 9, 2008 3:04:25 AM
Hey all, thanks for your comments about "Ready? OK!". We're actually set to be released by Wolfe Releasing on DVD in March/April and should be playing LOGO later in the year. A few of us from the Ready? OK! team (I'm one of the Executive Producers) have seen Breakfast with Scot as well, and love it. It's actually been a great year for gay indie cinema, and been a wonderful festival season. We're still continuing our festival run; just played the Palm Springs International Film Festival. It was wonderful watching our film with mainstream audiences; they seemed to love it.
Once again, thanks for the kind words.
Posted by: Mark Holmes | Jan 15, 2009 10:25:52 PM