Circuit (2001)

I love this movie so much

Perfectly adorable

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

A dramatic film about the conjunction of three things that become deadly when put together under the guidance of a fourth one.First you have techno music that goes along with partying as a total lifestyle. Those parties or rave parties if you prefer are the moment when everything is possible, when all risks are negated and forgotten, when for a few hours, generally about ten, you can do what you want, and particularly what is forbidden. A rather vast share or slice of the young people pie want to try and the older you are the more addicted to it you become. And in fact it is not only techno music that can have this dimension.Second you want to look good, and in this culture to look good is to have strong and hard muscles, to be some kind of muscle man and you end up taking steroids, and all other hormonal complexes to increase your muscular structure. You also have to do a lot of lead pumping or beef pumping. You become then desirable, you become an object, a live object that finds its pleasure in being looked at and desired. Some will go slightly further and get on the stage to just make it a profession, on the stage of showbiz or the stage of hustling. The result is often the same: you start living in the light and stars of an artificial sky that does not exist except in your own mind.Third, and that is one option, you enter the gay planet and of course the AIDS trip, and then you can go further down everyday since you have to perform and to perform you have to take drugs that are short lived and that blur and dull your own sensations which means you need more of the stimulant to get up again and perform. The vicious circle that leads to an overdose sooner or later and then it will be too late.The fourth element is the supervision you get from some entrepreneur who only aims at exploiting the mine. He organizes everything, hires the place that has to be a big hall easy to equip and evacuate eventually with higher floors that provide the party-revellers with all the equipments they need to amplify the partying with personal and more intimate ventures. That man is exploiting the show people on the stage, who are artists in spite of all, as if they were chattel, and even maybe cattle since when one is finished it has to be shot, and we all know we even shoot horses from time to time.That mixture is set of course in Los Angeles and in Hollywood and then the rest is script writing to get a scenario that can hit the road with suspense and enough titillating to attract the voyeurs but not too much lest it would mean the film could be X-rated. You are targeting young people over 15, so please keep quiet enough and try to sound pedagogical, especially about the vanity of age, youth, as if the number of years had any sense when two minds meet, when two souls communicate.And yet there is something attractive and even fascinating in that film: the slow discovery that love has nothing to do with this. Love needs some permanence, some natural passion, some trust in the other, some trust in nature and natural means to achieve that passion and the sentiments and desires that go along with it and that can even consider any physical intimacy as not necessary most of the time. Two men can find their satisfaction in just loving each other in all kinds of everyday activities, even chores.Dr Jacques COULARDEAU

*SPOILERS* This movie is the most dreadful, horrid, wretched, awful piece of trash I've ever seen. The acting is pathetic (unless you enjoy soap operas & children films), the directing is horrible and the writing is appalling. It is actually so bad that my friends and I have created a 'way to get through the circuit' by inventing a drinking game for this garbage.The film manages to hit just about every stereotypical gay male fantasy possible in the first half of the film (pre-Red Party) i.e. cowboys & indians, slutty football player, mysterious hooker, frolicking naked in a pool & the list goes on...mysteriously they start to fade half-way through (did they run out of ideas?). The drug use is actually done in a somewhat decent manner, however there should be more of it if they wish to remain accurate to 'the scene'. The dialog is what I enjoyed the most about Circuit (guilty pleasure, because I'm a cynical kind of guy). As a result of the writing, this film has become the BEST comedy (intended to be a drama) of all time. Best line of the film: "because *dramatic pause* we are killing ourselves" (as I wonder, did he forget his line? oh wait no, it's going to empower the audience to understand the directors/writers vision --what a joke!) Do yourself a favor and avoid this film at all costs --unless of course you enjoyed watching the world trade center crashing to the ground (this film leaves a similar taste in your mouth).

Dirk Shafer made the delightful film "Man of the Year" so I eagerly awaited this fascinating-sounding film. Unfortunately, there is nothing to keep one interested until the end of the action in this movie. The characters are vapid and boring - surely all gorgeous gay men are not this pathetic and uninteresting, one hopes. Watch "Circuit" to see some beautiful men, but don't expect any kind of story or characters that you would care about. When Hunk #2 (you will never recall the names of any of these personality-free characters) dies near the end of the film, you will not only not care, you may even be relieved. We see no evidence of any kind of life for any of the characters. Shafer can do much better than this. I hope his next film gives us someone to care about, as "Man of the Year" did.

I was looking forward to seeing this movie based on content. When I got there, the cinematography, the screen play, the acting, and pretty much the whole concept really sucked. My friends and I thought that the acting was done by a bunch of failed porn stars. Basically, I was truely disappointed.Sincerely, Alex