| Welcome to the Now Playing Reviews Database where
you can find our opinion of films which have had a cinema release in the UK.
Each of these movies are reviewed from a gay perspective, giving them
both an overall star rating plus our exclusive gay rating. The more stars out of a possible 10, the
better the film; similarly the more pink triangles, the greater the gay interest. A full list of
all our reviews appears below, and this week's current films are found on the Now Playing Main Page.
Most films are now available for rent on DVD and we recommend ScreenSelect who operate an efficient online rental service by post with no late fees and you can keep up to 3 DVDs for as long as you like. If you'd like a film permanently in your DVD collection, then the best prices are normally found at Amazon. | |
Lantana Movie Rating: 
Forceful PerformancesA woman's disappearance uncovers the mid-life crises, sexual liaisons, and stagnant marriages lurking beneath seemingly content lives like the cruel thorns hiding under the blossoms of the Australian lantana bush. | |
| Police detective Leon (Anthony LaPaglia) has an affair with recently separated Jane (Rachael Blake). Leon's wife, Sonja (Kerry Armstrong), bares her soul to troubled psychiatrist Valerie Somers (Barbara Hershey), who is coping with her daughter's death and her crumbling marriage to John (Geoffrey Rush). |
Anthony LaPaglia & Kerry Armstrong
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|
Director Ray Lawrence and writer Andrew Bovell skillfully interweave
multiple storylines that gradually reveal their importance to the mystery in
surprising ways. Despite the heavy-handed symbolism and sluggish pace,
the film generates an impressive degree of suspense and isolation through
silence, location, visual composition, and forceful performances.
Gay Interest:
A central plot revolves around gay character Patrick -
played by handsome Peter Phelps - who brags of his affair with a
married man
during a therapy session with Dr. Somers. The doctor becomes convinced
that
her husband is gay, and that the emotional gulf between them could
possibly
be due to Patrick. | |
Some
