Overrated

Best movie of this year hands down!

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

OK, I'm most likely in the minority here, but i was not a fan of this movie. I liked parts of it, I liked the whole gay activism theme of the movie, i very much enjoyed that, along with the occasional view of real life footage, and i thought the acting was quite good. However, i didn't think it was a good movie. I think the only time it got to be a good movie was the final 20 minutes, when they were on the road trip. If the entire movie had been like that, two exes on a road trip reuniting, i might have enjoyed it a bit more, but i just didn't enjoy it for some reason. I don't think i can really put my finger on why i didn't like it, i just didn't. It seemed a little too predictable i guess, a couple of things weren't explained very well, and i guess i would have liked to have seen a bit more of Alan (or Andy, i'm not very good with names) and his coming out process. It just seemed like 'yep, i'm now gay!'. I would have liked to have seen it explored a bit more, his mindset while he was writing the book. Anyway, that's just my opinion. An OK movie, just not one i'd watch again

Although earnest and well meaning, "The Trip" eventually falls victim to a series of preposterous plot turns and derivative rip-offs of other movies. Set in the 1970's and early 1980's, a romance develops between gay activist Tommy and closeted Republican writer Alan. Opposites do attract, and the appealing leads, which are played by Larry Sullivan and Steve Braun, have chemistry and try hard to make the absurd seem convincing. When Alan's book, which is critical of gay rights, is published without his consent, the work undercuts Tommy's political activism. However, the two men, who have been together several years at this point, never discuss the matter or work toward a solution. Evidently, their relationship takes a back seat to everything else, which, in this film, includes even the proverbial kitchen sink. Without revealing too much of the convoluted plot, a "Thelma and Louise" spree unexpectedly develops in Mexico, Alan's mother breaks in on a dinner party and takes to looting the silverware, and an airline ticket clerk turns into a Medusa when Tommy coughs during check-in. Do not even ask how these segments fit together.Director-writer Miles Swain had too many ideas swirling around simultaneously. Instead of focusing on the evolving relationship between Tommy and Alan, Swain wanders all over the gay landscape. Fortunately, he does find some amusing characters, especially a spacey Valley Girl, wonderfully played by Sirena Irwin; her initial encounter with Tommy is one of the film's best scenes. Jill St. John also has a great time as Alan's free-spirited mother, and she enlivens every scene she steals. Unfortunately, Alexis Arquette fills the requisite dizzy-queen stereotype, and his over-the-top performance eventually grates.Swain evidently never decided if "The Trip" was to be a comedy, a romance, or a political discourse, because the film rambles into each genre without developing any focus. While the movie is generally entertaining, especially for undemanding fans of PG-rated gay-romances, Swain's work is less than the sum of its parts. Although actresses St. John and Irwin walk off with the honors in a boy-boy romance, Sullivan and Braun hold their own when on their own. If viewers can suspend disbelief for 90 minutes, they may be modestly entertained. However, whatever their feelings about the film, everyone will keep "The Trip" near the TV just to replay the priceless scene when Anita Bryant received a pie in the face.

The Trip concerns a journey of life between two gay men who at the end of the film do actually take the road trip they long planned.Meet Alan, closeted gay Republican who is an aspiring writer. He's so very deep in the closet he's even written an anti-gay tract that he's submitted for publication.Meet Tommy, a newborn in a bumper crop of gay activists. There were a whole lot of those in the early seventies when these two chance to meet and fall in love in 1973. Four years later Alan's had a whole change in attitude, a lot due to Tommy's influence. But that manuscript has been sitting at the publisher's office and now with the Anita Bryant campaign against a gay rights law in Dade County, Florida the publisher sees the time is right to publish. It's published anonymously, but when Tommy finds out about it the relationship is history.Love does win out though it comes a bit late for a happy ever after ending.Larry Sullivan as Alan and Steve Braun as Tommy are an attractive pair of lovers as ever hit the gay cinema. Their story is the story of the GLBT community's efforts to organize and get our rightful share of the American dream. The film is helped out with news reports of the various things that happened to America and to us in a dozen year period.One thing I liked about this film very much is that if there is a chief villain it's another gay and rich Republican who manipulates events and people so he can gain Alan for himself. It's the Roy Cohn syndrome, that somehow the things that happen to the rest of us just don't affect you because of your connections and wealth. Roy Cohn found out that wasn't the case and this gentlemen will probably learn it as well. Ray Baker plays the part of the manipulative Peter, a gay that gays can truly hate.Also note the presence of Jill St. John as Larry Sullivan's mother. Hard to believe she's in her sixties. She's come a long way from being a Rat Pack broad, it seems a lifetime ago.It's a movie that moves, emotionally, physically and spiritually and it don't get better than that.

It is two in the morning and still I am awake. My husband and I watched the movie The Trip this evening. It is a powerful movie. Like the equally excellent Longtime Companion, it is a tale spread over many years. And perhaps this is where I am caught. There is a nexus here in the passage of time and the prison of the closet experience. The Closet in this context refers to an experience of shutting away who you are and hiding from others to protect yourself or your loved ones. It is very damaging.There is so much loss involved. And pain. Perhaps this is what resonates with me from The Trip. The protagonist struggles with a strong closet experience that contributes to the loss and the tragic line of the story. How much have we lost over the years in an effort to maintain the closet walls? How deep is the fear we breathe in from our society? Consider the story of Ennis in Brokeback Mountain. When you think about the society that would produce a father who specifically brings his young boys to see a murdered and genitally mutilated body… It is extreme, but do not consider it extreme based on your own life experience. It is not unrealistic. Consider the children rejected by their parents. Consider the bashings and violence that continue to this day.The reasons for living in a closet are real. Hiding is often an effective option. It exacts a price, however. Hiding crushes love. Hiding limits opportunities. Hiding impoverishes lives. All our lives. Consider the way the twisting can damage people. Consider Roy Cohen or Jim West. These men hurt others in their effort to hide. In the case of Mr. Cohen, many others.What do we do? How do we improve our society? How do we help our children? Educate yourself. Read about Bayard Rustin and many other famous men and women who have lived productive and happy lives. Speak of this with all our children. Tell the history of the Stonewall riots and the life of Harvey Milk. You don't have to be focused on someone you suspect might be gay (a bad guessing game). Tell all your children. Tell all your colleagues. This will make the world a better place and in that safe space, the hiding will stop. People will be who they are and we will all be stronger for it. -LiteraryTech from ExistentialRamble