Holding Trevor (2007)

I gave it a 7.5 out of 10

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

everything you have heard about this movie is true.

If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

Trevor, you're an idiot. Here you have a great guy that is willing to do anything for you and what do you do????? You let "friends" be a deciding factor on whether you stay with him and move to NYC or remain in LA.And you, "FRIENDS", how can you call yourself his close friends by pouting and trying to find fault why he shouldn't move to NYC since it's been a hard road for Trevor finding someone that he can finally feel comfortable with. I would not consider you quality friends if you're only thinking of yourselves. Don't use length of friendship and health issues to guilt someone into staying permanently in your life.Trevor you will never find happiness now that you've thrown away the one good thing to come into your life in a long time. Dude, (I had to throw that word out there), you deserve the loneliness you're going to receive for a long time now. Trust me those friends won't be able to fill the void you're going to have now.

A small film about love but though it is interesting, there are many shortcomings.The first one is that there are a great number of scenes in very dark atmosphere, I mean lacking lighting and that creates a sombre atmosphere that is not in touch with the subject.The second is that Trevor's psychology is not very constructive. He seems to be going through a rejection phase. He has made a choice and that choice turns sour. So he rejects everything and everyone when he is most needed and as if he had no responsibility in what is happening around him. In other words he is an escapist.One of his friend and, ex-boyfriend, is on drugs and Trevor is satisfied with knowing that he is on methadone and he does not want to have anything to do with him any more, and he is brutal about it. His brutality ruins the party of his female room mate and he does not seem to give a damn and he even insults this room mate when she protests.Another shortcoming is the fact that the gay scene, and more widely the young people's sex scene is seen as being intertwined with binge drinking and drug addiction, with irresponsibility in such states that makes you take risks and play it bareback instead of safe. It is the female room mate who falls in that trap and she gets HIV positive of course. Slightly superficial and easy and hardly pedagogical about the problem.Trevor insists, even too much, on his father as a negative castrater and depriver and frustrater, etc, that forced him all the time to leave what he liked behind and yet this father is magically regenerated when it is needed with a sentence that is more than surprising: when you go away you don't have to leave things behind, or something like that. And he feels justified to go away from Los Angeles to New York with his lover who might be a life affair and leave behind without one thought about it all those who were his friends, shared his life and helped him in many ways to be what he is and even to meet his new and maybe lasting love of his, the doctor taking care of his drug addicted ex-boyfriend.It is in a way an interesting romance, but it is less shiny and beautiful than it should be. It is based too much on cutting off branches, pruning off limbs. One cannot live with no recollections of and no connections with one's past. That's either purely egotistic, and then love is a sham, or it is in many ways leading to schizophrenia and that is a shame.Dr Jacques COULARDEAU

Young Trevor, played by screenwriter Brent Gorski, is intelligent enough to know that it life is not on track. He is dissatisfied and feels cast adrift. Nothing will 'hold Trevor', until he finds what he wants out of life, but will he find completeness in the love that he craves?Trevor is entangled in an unhealthy relationship with Darrell, a self-destructive heroin addict. And, Trevor is equally trapped in a boring, telemarketing job--a job which, he sees, as taking him nowhere on a dead-end road. The party scene is vapid, and I can't help but wonder why Trevor would seek comfort from something so empty and lonely?Trevor's roommate, Andie, and Jake (a singer) are his best friends. Like Trevor, they seem to be pulled apart by boredom and discontent.Darrell overdoses, once again and, at a hospital, Trevor meets a medical intern by the name of Ephram. Ephram, filled with ambition, gives Trevor hope. Ephram, a man of strikingly good looks, offers Trevor warmth. He also gives Trevor a chance to break out of his entanglement with Darrell, a relationship which is dragging Trevor's life consistently down. But, will Trevor find passion, romance, and security?Trevor seems poised to make some positive changes, in his life, which includes ending his perilous relationship with Darrell. Trevor makes an attempt to patch up his impaired relationships with Andie and Jake. Trevor's celebration, of a negative HIV test, explodes in rage and sorrow. Darrell shows up, unannounced, and makes quite a scene. Then, at the same time, Ephram suggests that Trevor is not yet ready to make a commitment. When he is down, Andie also verbally attacks Trevor.While being pulled all over the place, in conflicting directions, will Trevor be able to stand his ground and better his life?Director Rosser Goodman (That's What I'm Talking' 'Bout, Frameline29) is given ample opportunity to explore fertile territory in Gorski's script, but fails to provide a focus on the required raw emotions. For this reason, I rate the film a 6 out of 10. Yet, with all of its flaws, the film's script shows potential for further development. I would like to see Ephram showing up, at the beginning of the film, rather than towards the end of the film. In this way, tension would increase at the start of the film, instead of midway. Additionally, the love scenes require more work, in order to make them believable. But, the film is a fair attempt, and worth seeing.

I was fortunate enough to catch HOLDING TREVOR today at OUTFEST, the Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Film Festival. I think it is really charming. It is beautifully directed, very funny and ultimately very moving. I thought a group of 20-somethings was going to bore me to tears. But the characters are vivid and interesting. The directing and acting are superb. Brent Gorski, the writer and star, is really a wonderfully talented filmmaker. And he is very, very easy on the eyes. One of the sexiest screen actors I have seen in ages. The camera loves him and so will audiences who catch this delightful movie.It's funny because now that I think of it no one in the movie really does "hold" Trevor. But I realize the title is a metaphor for Trevor being adrift in life. So, never mind.BRAVO!!!