Just what I expected

From my favorite movies..

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

What better and more normal casting than to have an openly gay man play an openly gay character. Brilliant, Ron Oliver, also an openly gay director. With a terrific actor like Chad Allen, the story and direction has a natural flow to it. For once gay people aren't treated with kid gloves and hushed silence. They are represented as normal everyday people who happen to be gay. This I tribute to not only a wonderful scenario by Mark Saltzman, adapted from the gay detective series written by Richard Stevenson, but an excellent supporting cast backing up Allen's natural and genuine performance.Sebastian Spence plays his other half. Although he is straight (ugh I hate that word) he seems to easily work well with Allen. You can see the trust and enjoyment they have in their working relationship. Spence brings charm and humor to his Myrna Loy type role. In supporting roles there is Jack Wetherall, from QAF, playing a ruthless gay outer in the political fields. A good actor, and I hear also an acting teacher as well. Handsome well built Woody Jeffreys plays his lover and worth watching; the delightful Sean Young in a very small role; David Palffy as a not so nice guy, out to settle the score with Allen; Daryl Shuttleworth, as a cop who works with Allen eventually in finding the answers to a murder; Nelson Wong in a small role as a hotel clerk who eventually becomes part of the Starchey team in latter films; Rob deLeeuw in a small role as a puppeteer with a dark past and finally the one and only porn star, Matthew Rush, playing, guess what? A porn star. Go figure. He was funny to watch him play himself with tongue in cheek. Yes, he gets frontal views. Isn't that his business?Get this movie. You'll get hooked. I intend to make a collection of all the Donald Starchey series.

I have seen the Richard Stevenson novels in bookstores for years, but was never really compelled to pick one up. I'm glad that HERE! saw fit to begin adapting them for a cable movie series, since there's never been anything like it. Having said that, I hope that the production values pick up in future episodes, because THIRD MAN OUT really has a hard time keeping its low-budget seams hidden. What definitely redeems it is the chemistry between the two leads, Chad Allen (DR. QUINN, MEDICINE WOMAN) and Sebastian Spence (the Sci-Fi Channel series FIRST WAVE).Allen stars as Stevenson hero Donald Strachey, an openly gay P.I. with the hard-boiled, streetwise demeanor you'd expect from any gumshoe worth his weight in pictures of cheating spouses, and whose main soft spot is his love for husband Timmy (Spence), who works as the chief aide for a Senator. THIRD MAN finds Strachey involved with the case of a muck-raking gay journalist named John Rutka (Jack Wetherall - "Uncle Vic" from the series QUEER AS FOLK), whose specialty is outing prominent figures in politics and entertainment whose actions and beliefs are detrimental to the gay community. John is about to select his next "coverboy" for his notorious website "The Rutka Report," when several attempts are made on his life, each one deadlier than the next. Rutka manages to hire a reluctant Strachey to take his case, but when evidence comes to light that the hated activist might be trying to play him for a patsy, Donald drops the case faster than a pan of hot-cross buns. But once Rutka's fears of being murdered are finally justified, he takes up the trail once again to find the killer. All the regular conventions of investigative crime dramas are here, with the gay angle providing some fresh and unusual wrinkles. The only problem is that the reliance on this aspect gets a little heavy-handed at times, even preachy (Wetherall has his work cut out for him, making Rutka's speeches about outing hypocritical power players sound justified without careening into crazed zealotry, but he manages well.) What keeps the movie entertaining is the banter and the obviously loving relationship between Don and Timmy, (whose portrayal as kind of a gay "Nick and Nora Charles" is 100% intentional.) None of the "mystery" would even be very engaging if they didn't work, and the two actors are great together, making me want to see more from them. (Fortunately, there's another movie and many more books to film as well.)The supporting cast besides Wetherall aren't bad, and Sean Young appears in a cameo where she's not exactly wasted, but one wished her role had been much larger. The target audience for this movie becomes more than apparent by the casting of Falcon porn-god Matthew Rush as a C.I. of Strachey's. Nice to know that along with his incredible looks, Rush CAN actually say lines convincingly and not bump into the furniture, (in spite of a blanket prejudicial perception applied to many of the "actors" from that particular part of the industry.)As I mentioned before, the settings in which the film takes place are more than overtly "Vancouveresque", although the story is supposed to be taking place somewhere in the U.S. - a snag that hamstrings many North American productions, but definitely more of those films of the lower-budget variety.Director Ron Oliver still plays it smart by concentrating on the more 'noir-ish' aspects of the drama, and the appealing chemistry of the cutest gay couple in crime-solving. Here's hoping that everyone ups the ante in future episodes, because all things considered, THIRD MAN OUT is still an engaging, entertaining start.

Chad Allen is perfectly cast as Donald Strachey, a slightly haggard and totally "out" gay PI who lives with his Brooks Brothers hubby, Timmy (played by Sebastian Spence). Set in Albany, New York, of all places, Strachey investigates the attempted murder of gay activist John Rutka (Jack Wetherall), who has made enemies by "outing" still-in-the-closet VIPs.The film's final ten minutes transform what had been a mildly interesting story into a blockbuster whodunit that even Agatha Christie would be proud of. It's been quite some time since I have watched a film wherein the plot twists were so startling and stunning. The film's writers give you the clues you need to solve the puzzle. But those clues are so subtle that the probability that you will latch onto them is slightly greater than zero. It's worth every bit of the viewers' time to endure a tangled, serpentine plot, and some minor plot holes, one of which could have been corrected by the use of a different camera angle.The somewhat muddled plot conceals a substantial theme. But again, that theme does not appear until the final ten minutes. This is the kind of film you have to stay with, to appreciate its significance.Apart from the great story, "Third Man Out" exudes a classy, cosmo-chic style, reminiscent of 1940's crime noir, by way of the sultry jazz sounds of "In Heat, In Love" and "Martinis By Moonlight". At appropriate intervals, shadowy induced suspense punctuates the trendy atmosphere, consistent with what viewers would expect, for a whodunit.The film's cinematography, especially the lighting, is excellent. Production design and costumes (love those black suede jackets) render high quality visuals. Overall, acting is adequate. And some of the dialogue sparkles: "You know, I'm starting to wonder if maybe life isn't always so black and white, in Kansas maybe, but not here in Emerald City".Despite a slightly tangled plot, "Third Man Out" is a terrific film that can be enjoyed by viewers, gay or straight, who revel in stylistic murder mysteries.

I'm used to seeing under-achieving gay movies, with laughable acting, unbelievable writing and downright bad directing. But not "Third Man Out"! The plot is excellent. The actors are believable - and really good. The directing is second to none.The only disappointment is that too many gay stereotypes were used - not stereotypes imposed on gays but stereotypes created by gays. That is, evil cigar-smoking Republicans hiding their hypocritical deeds, and evil church officials ruining the lives of others. But, the movie was so good, I can forgive the writer for injecting his own bias. Good job overall!I also get tired of seeing gay lovers always fighting. For once it was refreshing to see two characters really love each other - portraying what we all seek. In addition to that, the two characters really had different lives and different tastes, yet they made the relationship work. It was a good match.Thank you and congratulations to Chad Alan, Sebastian Spence, Ron Oliver, and Mark Saltzman.