Solo (2013)

Very Cool!!!

A Disappointing Continuation

Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

All I can say is that this movie deceived me, I don't believe as its genre tells Thriller all I thought is sort of Mystery/Drama. But the director well really do a great job, and a good choice of actors, explicitly acted and flavored by those gay scenes and nudity will surely catch the attention of audiences (especially gay audiences). It really drove you deeply with curiosity by the word "SOLO". It lingers in my thoughts that main protagonist are basically coping his loneliness but with unpredictable gestures, script lines and emotions by the actors can really made someone focus on what shall happens next. Then it come to finale that destroys my gay fantasy, as it leads to a crime that answer why he's "SOLO" or why the movie titled it is then answered.That Handsome Manuel got an angelic face that I only focused my eyes on him but then he's a devil within.

This film was great at first. You've got your handsome buff tatuado stud on the one hand, and the Rex Reed blended with Liza Minelli guy on the other hand (not that there's anything wrong with that), and they go on and on about this and that, about love, sex, strangers, hooking up. It's all going on swimmingly, until it enters into the ten-hour abyss of nothingness that is the middle of this film. And then the end. "Viewers who have been paying attention will not be surprised" say some, but after watching a movie in which both actors make "significant" expressions left and right, I must admit I let some of those clues go. Instead, I felt myself wondering how many movies are going to wrap up with a simple "homosexuals = freakish murderers just cuz" meme. Yes, the Liza Minelli mixed with Red Reed guy is a psycho bitch! Just like Amy in Gone Girl, but without the parents-being- authors backstory!Yes, the ending ruined it for me. To think, that I watched these actors swap spit for this long, just for this ending. It's like the horror films that titillate with sexuality and then immediately follow it with a moral-palette-cleansing burst of death for the evil sex-having miscreants. Viewers walk away saying, "Goodness, thank God I would never have sex or hook up with someone!" and even the sadistic torture- porn glee of the filmmaker suddenly has an aura of godliness and saintliness, as he can tell himself "I brought the audience to orgasm with a hammer to the skull slaying, but I never exploited their prurient interest" and still respect himself.

(see upbeat UPDATE at end after second viewing)I loved the first part of this movie because it was very well written and acted, but the sexual attraction between Julio and Miguel was completely unconvincing. Weekend is much better in that regard (and in every other way too - there are too many superficial similarities to avoid comparing the two movies).Julio and Miguel were naked a lot, and the two actors are very, very attractive as individuals, but I never believed in them as a couple. The dialog was sexy, but the physical interaction between them was so tightly choreographed that it was more like ballet than sex. I found myself wishing for more talk and less sex, which is a first. Their conversations were fascinating; their sex was cold and phony.The story was pretty stupid, especially when it turned psycho at the end, but no more so than classic psycho thrillers like Psycho - realism is not a hallmark of the genre.For acting and intelligent dialog, Solo is a definite winner. I'm amazed that this is the only feature-length film either actor has made so far; they're both extraordinarily good looking and talented. But the story is overwrought, the sex unbelievable, and the ending tiresome and very predictable.UPDATE: I watched it again and liked it much more the second time. Knowing the ending makes me appreciate the writing even more than I already did. It is very intelligent and cleverly constructed. The sex is still unbelievable and cold, but everything else is really good. I'm adding four more stars.

A good thriller which keeps you guessing. It could have been with straight characters as it is about one night stands etc but more intense as it is gay with risks of going off with people without telling others where you are going or who with etc. Slightly predictable but still has quite a shocking ending. well acted. The men are cute which of course helps but aren't really necessarily good looking for the plot. It is their psychological situations rather than physical looks that determine the plot. It is a bit titillating and soft porn in places but it does add to the story rather than gratuitous, for example, it is what they do or don't do sexually that develops their relationship and the story development.