Reconciliation

The subject of this film was touching and new, in fact it was very touching. Only if the performances in the film would have been better, this could have taken the film to a whole new level. Not many gay films have dealt with the subject of gay father and his straight son. We have seen many with the other way around, but this film in that sense brings something new to the table. It also mixes religion with homosexuality which tends to make it preachy at times.

Grant is a soon-to-be father, who has been behaving strange ever since him and his wife Sara have been pregnant. There is something about his childhood that bothers him. Grant privately wrestles with his embarrassment and anger toward his own father. Things take a turn when Sara receives a call informing them that Grant’s dad, Jeff, is terminally ill and his last wish is to see his son. Grant tells Sara that he abandoned his father at the age of 10 and told everyone that he is dead. Now he doesn't know what to do. On Sara's insistence, Grant goes to meet his father who is now dying of AIDS. With initial awkwardness, starts the struggle for both father and son to forgive past and start new. Grant meets his partner, his friends etc and finds out that his father got AIDS because of blood transfusion. His father and his mother had always remained friends but it was because of Jeff's insistence his mother never told him anything, since Grant was embarrassed about Jeff. However bad the things had turned, Jeff had always and will always love Grant. Jeff also tells how he had to struggle when Jeff's mother and father disowned him. They have long discussions on christianity and homosexuality. Grant finally forgives his father, even asks for his permission to name his soon-to-be born son after his name. Having being forgiven by Grant, Jeff finally dies in peace.

Jeff loves Grant unconditionally despite Grant’s hateful action and inaction towards him. This movie shows that by the end, Grant comes around and is able to love his father and his partner with the same passion. The long scenes where bible is discussed with homosexuality were a little too long. I am glad some of those issues were addressed but here is a thin fine line between information and being preachy. The initial scenes between Grant and Sara were a little awkward. They did not seem like husband and wife at all but later between Grant and Jeff, they portrayed the emotions with raw emotional punch. Jeff acted his part very well. In fact, it was very easy to sympathize with his character and at the same time feel the love for his son in his eyes. Some scenes leave you choked in the film like the one where Grant is graduating and he tells an adult partygoer that his father is dead when he is standing right there. The other one was when Sara asks Jeff his permission to name their son.

This film shows us that it is never too late to forgive. (6/10)