Giant Little Ones

 3.5/4

Starring: Josh Wiggins, Darren Mann, Taylor Hickson, Maria Bello, Kyle MacLachlan, Olivia Scriven, Niamh Wilson, Peter Outerbridge, Hailey Kittle, Kiana Madeira

Rated R for Sexual Content, Language and Some Drug/Alcohol Use - All Involving Teens

Finally, here is an LGBT movie without all of the trappings of "queer cinema."  There are no drag queens. No pride parades.  No flamboyance or kitsch.  Instead, it's about real people having real problems.  Coming to terms with your sexuality is never easy, and "Giant Little Things" never pretends that it is.  In fact, it illustrates the confusion, uncertainty and pain that come with it.

Franky (Wiggins) is an average teenager.  He's smart, handsome, has a girlfriend named Cil (Kittle) who wants to take things to the next level with him (although he doesn't seem to be too interested in her), and has a spot on the swim team with his lifelong best friend, Ballas (Mann).  Ballas is a stud through and through, cocksure and athletic and has no problems scoring with his own squeeze, a girl named Jess (Kadeira).  Franky decides to lose his virginity with Cil at his birthday party.  But while he ends up doing the deed, it isn't with Cil.  It's with Ballas.  This throws his whole life into chaos, causing him to question things about himself that he never considered.

Writer/director Keith Behrman tackles this complicated milieu with remarkable tact and emotional honesty.  No one in this film has everything figured out.  Both Franky and Ballas are equally confused and hurting, although they deal with it in different ways.  Franky internalizes it and does his best to ignore it, but Ballas acts out.  The key here is that we understand their feelings and that they have questions that have no easy answers.  More importantly, we understand why they act the wayside they do even if we don't agree with them.  In a strange way, I was reminded of last year's searing anime film, "A Silent Voice."  Although this isn't nearly as excruciating to watch.

Behrman knows that, no matter how open-minded your parents and friends are, the fear of being labeled or discovered as gay is ever present and overpowering.  Save for a bully on the swim team, no one in this movie could possibly have anything against gay people.  Any member of the LGBT community will tell you that, for a time, such knowledge is irrelevant and of little comfort.  It causes such a huge paradigm shift that it feels like life will change forever.  And for Franky and Ballas, that fear is real.  Behrman conveys this with considerable restraint, never pushing the material for effect or because he feels the point will be lost on the viewer.  This is the hallmark of a strong, confident filmmaker.

Not to be left out are the array of excellent performances.  Josh Wiggins provides a solid anchor for this tricky material.  In his own low-key way, he gives us insight into Franky's mindset.  He is by turns confused, hurt and angry, but this is a journey he is going to have to take alone.  For a question as personal as this, all anyone else can do is provide support.  His mother Carly (Bello) and his sister Deanne (Scriven) see it as no big deal, and he finds kinship with Ballas's younger sister Natasha (Hickson) who has a similar, but much darker, scandal in her past.  And his relationship with his father Ray (MacLachlan) heals (Franky has long resented him after walking out on their family after falling in love with another man).  One problem with Wiggins is that while his performance is excellent, the actor could pass for being gay.  Normally an actor's appearance doesn't bother me, but here it does.  For a film that tackles a sexual act between two resolutely straight men, the fact that Franky could conceivably be gay robs the film of a bit of its edge and muddies the waters in a way that hurts the film, if only slightly.

Wiggins is surrounded by a gifted supporting cast.  Darren Mann is equal to the task of playing the macho Ballas.  His shame and confusion lead him to do some reprehensible things, but Mann helps us identify with his character.  That prevents Ballas from becoming a one-dimensional jerk.  Taylor Hickson adds a huge dose of heart and stability as Natasha, who is more troubled but nonjudgmental.  She knows what happened and provides a sense of comfort for Franky.

There are some parts of the film that do not work.  Although the film does embrace the psychological and emotional quagmire the characters find themselves in with eloquence and sensitivity, it does so in a way that I didn't care for.  The first half of the film is presented in a clipped, aloof style that has become trendy in a lot of independent cinema.  Conversations are short, rarely lasting for more than a few lines.  In a situation with so many layers and so much confusion, the director's choice to present it so obliquely is a mistake.  I would much rather have listened to them express themselves, rather than be left to intuit everything.  It took me out of the moment, many times, particularly when big events are not set up properly or when we only see the aftermath.  It's a directorial choice that rarely works, and this is no exception.  The characters eyes and behaviors betray their real feelings and motives, but there is much more material to be mined that can't be presented through body language alone.  There is also a scene between Franky and his openly lesbian friend Mouse (Wilson) that, while very funny, doesn't really fit and feels inappropriate on a few levels (not to mention the fact that I didn't believe it for a second).  I also didn't like how the film ended.  It's satisfying, perhaps, but ill-fitting.

The MPAA, in its infinite wisdom, gave this film an R rating.  Although there is plenty of profanity and frank talk about sex, it's never salacious.  Even the sex scene between Franky and Ballas is handled in a low-key manner.  Why try and prevent teenagers from seeing a movie about characters they can relate to? Who have the same fears, pains and feelings?  This is another instance when the notoriously worthless ratings board didn't see the forest for the trees.

Who is this movie made for then?  Teenagers, for one.  Even if they don't have any questions about their sexuality, they will share similar feelings to Franky, Ballas and everyone else. "Giant Little Things" is a coming of age story more than anything else, and conveys that growing pains are more than just outgrowing your clothes and finding yourself wanting to eat everything in sight.  I think it's also for the LGBT community as a whole.  There is a common belief there that drag shows, pride parades and being flamboyant are to create a supportive community for everyone, but this movie shows that belief to be naive and a bit self-serving.  While the film doesn't explicitly deal with it, there's no doubt that the bulwark of Ballas's reprehensible behavior is that his sense of masculinity is threatened.  The common defense of LGBT stereotypes doesn't work for him.  In an oblique way, it offers an explanation for a lot of the behavior that pride parades and activism are meant to stand against.

I loved this film.  And I didn't want to let the characters go.