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The series of gay shorts that Strand Releasing began back in 1995 trudges onward without the resonance it once possessed. Of the four segments, two (improbable fantasies) feature older men embarking on romantic odysseys with lovers significantly their junior. In Brian Sloan’s "Bumping Heads," mood-altering drugs and a fight lead to a hospital visit and circuitous banter about the other man. Eric Mueller’s "This Car Up" overuses split-screen technology to convey the longing between a chain-smoking businessman with thinning hair (Michael Booth) and a tattoo’d bike messenger (Brent Doyle). Phillip J. Bartell’s "L.T.R. (Long Term Relationship)" is a tedious mock-reality-TV show that follows the disintegrating love life of a 21-year-old party boy (Weston Mueller) and his 19-year-old live-in (Cole Williams). The one episode that provokes is Alan Brown’s "O Beautiful," which borrows from the Matthew Shepard tragedy as a gay-bashed teen (Jay Gillespie) lying half-naked in a cornfield is given aid by a high-school jock (David Rogers). It turns out the jock was there for the attack; what ensues is a poignant joust over truth, responsibility, and identity. Other than that, you’d be better off clicking onto Boy Meets Boy. (83 minutes)
BY TOM MEEK
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