The Reviews

Film critic Neil Cohen gives his assessment of six of the movies to be screened at the Desperado Film Festival.

By Neil Cohen

The Reviews

Neil Cohen previews some of the films to be screened at Desperado

Wish Me Away
7:30 p.m. Jan. 27

Country singer Chely Wright made a brave decision in 2010 to come out publicly, despite the damage it might do to her career. Her three-year journey is lovingly examined in the moving documentary Wish Me Away, a fascinating glimpse at what she went through, and how it affected her psyche.

Wright recorded some revealing confessionals leading up to well-planned media appearances. It is amusing to see the reveal counted down with the precision of a space shuttle launch, but Wright is immensely likable and she makes you care about her struggles to reconcile a religious upbringing and understand her choices and mistakes.

One intriguing point in the film is where Wright admits that she knew that she was not being true to herself when she entered into a serious relationship with country star Brad Paisley. Wright reproaches herself for hurting Paisley by leaving him without an explanation, which will strike a chord with viewers who have similarly tried to repress their sexual orientation by dating members of the opposite sex.

The film details Wright's struggles regarding her family, especially her estranged mother, as well as showing a supportive session with her spiritual adviser. Wright seems sincere when she states that she wants her story to help young people, especially in the Bible Belt, feel good about themselves and their sexual orientation.

Directors Bobbie Birleffi and Beverly Kopf have created a classic documentary because of the unique access they had to show just what goes into a celebrity's decision to be honest with their fans, and the risks they face, especially in a conservative world like country music. Despite its sad-sounding title, Wish Me Away is intended to uplift the audience and show Wright's success. That's a message we can all appreciate.

Genderf*ckation Genderf#kation: A Gender Emancipation
10:30 a.m. Jan. 28/Free screening

To be shown with the short film The Family Journey

Gender issues mark the area of greatest discrimination and lack of understanding in the LGBT community, and in the larger society. The documentary Genderf*kation is a moving testament to the strength of six individuals on their journey to be true to themselves.

The subjects come from different social, political and religious backgrounds. Each is navigating the challenging path in a unique way.

Genderf*kation director Chris Durant does a great job of shedding light on a segment of the population that is underserved in the media. There are so many variations and complexities to gender identification that it is useful to see work like this that presents a variety of people.

Set in Minneapolis, the documentary has a universal appeal. It shows what happens to individuals who self identify or fall outside of traditional gender and sexual identities.

A film like Genderf*kation goes a long way toward combating attitudes that place members of the transgender and queer communities at greater risk of being a victim of bias crimes. By introducing members of the subjects' families and medical and psychological experts, not only does the film do a great job of educating the audiences, it reaches out to those in the community who may be feeling alone or disconnected.

Tomboy Tomboy
3:30 p.m. Jan. 28

This French import is winning raves around the world, and with good reason. Set in the semi-secret world of kids and their games and relationships, Laure (a captivating Zoe Heran) is a beautiful 10-year-old who doesn't identify as female. Her parents seem supportive and allow her to dress as she likes, in the guise of a "Tomboy."

For Laure, moving to a new place is the perfect chance to be free, at least to the kids in the neighborhood. Laure becomes Mikael, a popular boy that all of the other boys like. Mikael also catches the eye of Lisa (Jeanne Disson), the playground queen bee. For a while, the summer is carefree and fun, but with school looming and Laure's parents in the dark about Mikael, something's got to give.

The inevitable climax gives Tomboy real depth and importance as a transgender coming of age story. Director Céline Sciamma's beautifully simple work and Zoe Heran's expressive performance make Tomboy one of the best films of the year.

Three Veils
5:30 p.m. Jan. 28

Three Veils tells three intersecting stories about Arab-American women dealing with a personal crisis, one of whom is a devout girl hoping to bury her lesbian feelings.

Leila (Mercedes Masöhn) is a dutiful daughter of a restaurant owner who thinks she is happy about her arranged marriage until her fiancé (Sammy Sheik) shows his true colors. She meets a sexy waiter who moonlights as a painter (gorgeous Garen Boyajian).

Amira (Angela Zahra) is a repressed college student whose devotion to religion is tested by her romantic yearnings.

Nikki (Sheetal Sheth) is always out for a good time but hiding her pain over a family tragedy.

All three women rebel against traditional Middle Eastern expectations of who they should be and how they should act. Leila's plight was portrayed somewhat typically — her fiancé turns out to be a jealous abusive bully, but Masöhn is a beautiful and engaging actress who makes her character's choices work.

Three Veils has great production values and a beautiful cast. It is unusual to see a film completely set in the Arab-American community, so it is worth taking a closer look underneath these women's metaphoric veils.

Going Down in LA-LA Land
8 p.m. Jan. 29

Casper Andreas is a prolific filmmaker of a certain kind of sexually liberated gay cinema. He has perfected his art through campy films like Slutty Summer and A Four-Letter Word and more mature films like Between Love and Goodbye and Violet Tendencies.

Going Down In La-La Land, based on the novel by Andy Zeffer, straddles both genres. It is full of hot men in various states of undress and yet it touches on more serious subjects like drug abuse in the gay community and the desensitizing aspect of working in the adult film industry.

While the theme of a fresh-faced newbie coming to Hollywood and getting corrupted isn't particularly original, Andreas' writing and casting make it feel fresh and entertaining.

Adam, played by Matthew Ludwinski, comes to Hollywood to stay with his friend Candy, played by Allison Lane, who is also an aspiring actress dating a dull guy who is supporting her. Adam scores a boring job as a receptionist at a big talent management company under the watchful eye of bitchy Matthew (Jesse Archer).

He meets a cute photographer named Nick (Andreas), who hooks Adam up with a job at a porn studio where Nick sometimes works. It isn't long before Adam is pressured to pose for pictures and more. Adam is introduced a closeted TV star (Michael Medico), a washed up diva (Judy Tenuta), prostitution and paparazzi.

Local audiences should recognize John Schile as Ron, the affable head of the porn company from his work in Broadway Palm Dinner Theatre's Bill W. & Dr. Bob.

Ludwinski gives a warm, funny performance as a not-so-naïve kid who nevertheless has to grow up fast in La-La Land's rat race. Lane's Candy is a funny variation on the clueless performer who is always taking classes but never working.

Going Down in LA-LA Land is an entertaining Hollywood expose that feels like Robert Altman's The Player, if it was written by Eating Out's Q. Allan Brocka.

Joe + Belle
5:15 p.m. Jan. 29

Here's a film we haven't seen a million times. In Joe + Belle, an ex-pat American drug mule living in Tel Aviv joins forces with a suicidal French/Israeli girl just released from a mental institution. They ditch the dead body of a drug dealer and go on the run together, falling in love with each other and the rocket-pelted city of Sderot in the process.

Director Veronica Kedar's wickedly black comedy is similar in tone to Jonathan Demme's Something Wild, except that Joe (Kedar) is happy to be on the lam with psychotic Belle (Sivan Levy). She hardly cares that Belle accidentally killed her ex-boyfriend or that the police are after them. All that matters is that life is finally fun, even in the most heavily attacked area in Israel.

This is a love story for people who don't like love stories, showing a world that we don't know well enough. -E