Cheap Latter Days (R-Rated Edition) (DVD) (Steve Sandvoss, Wes Ramsey, Amber Benson, Jacqueline Bisset, Mary Kay Place) (C. Jay Cox) Price

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Customer Reviews of Latter Days (R-Rated Edition)

A terrific love story...not just another gay movie
I really loved this movie. Admittedly, I was able to relate to both main characters - having similar seasons of my life when I was trying to find myself. The thing is, this isn't just another gay movie. So many of the movies for gay audiences don't care about plot or production values. Actors need not be talented as long as they are attractive and willing to show some skin. In this movie, it is obvious that the actors really care about the roles that they are portraying. They provide what I believe to be an accurate, non-stereotypical representation of both lifestyles. (Well, I guess there is some stereotyping, but a lot of the story seems to convey an attempt to overcome those "norms".)
What makes this film even better is the amazing love story that is represented. It's not a gay love story...it's just a love story. Any two people in love could tell tales similar to those shown in the movie.
All in all, a great buy. Not the best movie of all time, but definitely a major leap forward for gay cinema. I rode the emotional rollercoaster during the entire film.

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Praying and Playing: Love with a Proper Stranger
With no preconceptions---- no knowledge, actually --- of this movie before I saw it, I found Latter Days to be much better than it had to be, and more universal than a romance about two very different gay men falling in love ("opposites attract" says the tag line) might appear to a general audience.

The depth of the cast is jaw-dropping: Jacqueline Bisset, Mary Kay Place, Amber Benson (recognizable from her role in Buffy the Vampire Slayer), Erik Pallidino (familiar to ER viewers as Dr. Malucci), Joseph Gordon-Levitt (from Third Rock from the Sun) and Michael Moriarity in supporting roles.

Obviously, this movie is a "labor of love". And I mean that in every sense of the phrase. This "course of true love never did run smooth" for these two characters, but this is a tale of true love laboring to realize itself.

Four Mormon missionaries who move to his Los Angeles apartment block represent a challenge to a licentious and gorgeous gay hedonist, ironically named Christian (played by Wesley A. Ramsey). He makes a bet with his fellow waiters to seduce one of the four. The Elder named Aaron (played by Steve Sandvoss) seems the most receptive. There is no doubt that Christian is attracted to him--- even perhaps beyond his usual flavor-of-this-sixty-seconds attraction.

Aaron is miserable in his fascination with Christian: it confirms what he has known about himself and resisted, but it represents sin beyond forgiveness or understanding in his missionary world. It represents the end of life as he has known it. Naive and wise at the same time, he tells Christian that relationships have meaning, must have meaning beyond a handshake. Aaron tells Lila (Jacqueline Bisset), the restaurant owner who employs Christian, that even if we can't see the connection between the dots, there is meaning and connection from God's view. Aaron can't give up that belief even when his faith is stripped from him.

Meaning in relationships is a new concept to Christian, our pilgrim in this movie. Aaron's view of him as shallow shocks him, and so Aaron has already made a difference in Christian's life which pushes the bet very far down in his priorities, almost out of his consciousness. Finding any serious chord in himself is a disturbing surprise to him, and stimulates his growth into something more than a pretty party animal.

The script begins with ribald wit, and might have maintained that wit throughout with a bit more production money and time for a few more re-writes. The transitions become a little rougher as the movie goes on. There are some dramatic sequences (especially one significant plot point between the two main characters outside in the snow at the Salt Lake City airport) quite obviously awkward, which in a bigger budget production, would probably have been re-shot.

But this movie's profound and universal messages are about prejudices, about love, and about miracles. The movie has its agenda: just as it is very controversial in its depiction of the Church of Latter Day Saints as grotesquely intolerant, it will shock some with its fairly graphic depiction of homosexual sex. It is not a movie which is gentle with everyone's sensibilities.

The story briefly reminded me of Longfellow's "Evangeline", where the lovers worked so hard to find each other again, and also more tellingly of an excellent book about a deeply moving love story between two gay men, my introduction to the idea of real romantic love between men: The Charioteer by Mary Renault. Very much as that book enlightened mine and my friends' preconceived notions about the depth of emotions possible between homosexual men, this movie has something universally applicable to say about love's fostering our growth into the people we are meant to be.

My companion said "another small-but-smart movie not to be heard of at next year's Academy Awards", but it is entirely possible this one may find a nomination in a musical category. The score was good, and some of the songs really first-rate. Rebekah Johnson---aka Rebekah Jordan---, playing Christian's roommate Julie, gave those songs a real chance to be memorable.

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Love this film
This is a must see movie. I've viewed it several times and can't stop thinking about it. A perfect mix of drama, romance, and comedy. The acting is brilliant and the chemistry between all the characters very believeable. Strong performances from the cast makes up for the brief moments that the plot falters. But over-all the script is excellent and boldly takes on the self-hatred and homophobia that religious teachings have been brainwashing people with for centuries.

Wes Ramsey ("The Guiding Light") gives a wonderful performace as shallow party boy Christian who accepts a bet with his friends that he can seduce his new neighbor, closeted Mormon missionary Aaron Davis, wonderfully protrayed by Steve Sandvoss. Sparks soon fly and romance ensues between the sincere, naive Aaron and the carefree Christian. Aaron is both drawn to and disgusted by Christian, who he sees as shallow and vain. But the audience and Aaron soon learn that there is more to Christian than his party boy ways and one-night stands. Of course it all hits the fan when the budding romance of Aaron and Christian is discovered by Aaron's fellow Mormon missionaries. Aaron is sent home in shame to face his family and church while a serious misunderstanding leaves Chris devastated, his life forever changed by the encounter with Aaron.

Ramsey and Sandvoss have great chemistry and both do a wonderful job of bringing their roles to life on-screen, making Christian and Aaron complex and rich characters. Completing the cast is Jacqueline Bisset as Christian's motherly and compassionate boss Lila. Rebekah Jordan as Chris' roommate and best friend Julie, a would-be singer. Amber Benson ("Buffy: The Vampire Slayer") as Chris' friend and co-worker Traci, a struggling actress. Scene-stealer Khary Payton gives a funny performance as the HIV+ Andrew, another pal of Christian's. Erik Palladino ("ER") appears as a man dying of AIDS who Chris befriends. And Mary Kay Place gives a strong performance as Aaron's unforgiving religious mother.

I highly recommend this film and applaud the cast and writer, C. Jay Cox, for bringing this controversial movie to life.