In America, the 1970’s was a dark age, when it comes to
rights of homosexuals. Travis Fine’s character drama “Any Day Now” set in 1979
(in West Hollywood), explores the gay adoption rights through an unlikely trio
of misfits. The movie also tries to get across the message that a male's
femininity isn't hilarious or grotesque and the film never gets preachy in
order to push through a pointedly political message.
Rudy Donatello (Alan Cumming) is a free-spirited drag singer
and earns a meager amount in a West Hollywood bar. He lives in a dirty
apartment and uses his flamboyance to come over the loneliness and insults.
During a performance, he catches up with Paul Fleiger (Garrett Dillahunt), a
district attorney and a closeted homosexual. Their one-night relationship might
have ended, then and there, if not for Rudy’s junkie neighbor and her innocent,
down-syndrome-afflicted teenager, Marco (Isaac Leyva).
Paul is attracted to Rudy, but gets embarrassed when Rudy
runs storms his office to discuss about the fate of Marco, whose mother was
incarcerated in a drug charge. Soon, Child Services comes in for Marco and
place him in their ruthless foster care program. Even though, Rudy is broke and
doesn’t know much about the boy, he feels the need to look after the child.
Paul comes up with the ‘temporary custody’ idea and they both meet the mother
in prison to make her sign a petition, so that they can look after Marco (for a
brief period). Paul asks Rudy to movie in with him and the boy thrives in that
loving and stable environment. But, things take a turn when the couple’s
homosexuality comes into spotlight. They are forced into a crusading legal
battle to keep Marco.
Travis Fine, the actor-turned-director, opted for career
change after 9/11. He worked as an airline pilot. Fine has reworked and
co-written the script by George Arthur Bloom, which was written almost four
decades ago. He has successfully combined the character flourishes of Bloom and
has created a narrative arc, which turns the film into a forward-barreling
story rather than being a typical melodrama. The regular gay clichés are not
present in this movie and it delicately handles the issue of the relationship
between gender non-conformant parents and children.
Alan Cumming, though his blazing performance conveys a huge
range of emotions: courage, neediness, desire, reckless abandon and hurt. His
low-key approach in playing highly emotional character is a perfect choice.
When comparing to Alan, Dilahunt has a less determined presence. He gets
emotional too quickly and his character isn’t fully established. A closeted
homosexual comes out in the open, fighting a fearless battle. The character
description looks good, but the metamorphosis of Dilahunt isn’t fully explored.
Another character that doesn’t come full circle is Marco’s; however, Isaac (as
Marco) delivers the necessary warmth to keep us engaged.
Yeah, there is lots of sentimentality and cheesy lines like:
“all a child needs is love”, but the subtlety and careful pacing absolutely
delivers the foreshadowed message. Director Fine should be hailed for having
the guts to stay away from happy ending. The ending feels a bit rushed, but
showcases the pervasive nature of homophobia. The final adds another layer of
poignancy.
“Any Day Now” effortlessly evokes the era and ends with a
hopeful note that intolerance – in the case of Rudy – is a thing of the past.
It is an intimate character study about people, who always gets pigeonholed in
mainstream cinema.
Trailer
1 comment:
Wow! I had never heard of this move.... thanks for sharing, good insight!
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