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October 18, 2003

My Life on Ice

The second movie Friday night was My Life On Ice (IMDB). The premise is that 16-year old Etienne has just received a video camera as a gift, and the movie is his filming his life for about the next year. He is a talented ice skater, but is also coming to terms with his sexuality.

I have very mixed feelings about this movie: it was interesting to watch --- you really did have the feel of watching Etienne film his life, and he is a good skater, and it is enjoyable to watch him skate (the actor, Jimmy Tavares, apparently is a real life champion skater). Both Etienne and his best friend Ludovic are very cute, which doesn't hurt.

What does hurt is that you really did have the feel of watching Etienne film his life. After watching this, I swear I'll never shoot handheld video again. Some parts early on just about gave me a headache. And it is interminable. My comment after the movie was over was "that's the longest coming out story I've ever seen". On the one hand, it is realistic: when you're in the closet, you don't tell anyone. He films people he likes, but relatively discreetly or with excuses. It's very late in the movie when he actually makes real progress in coming out. On the other hand though, reality rarely makes for a good movie, and I'm afraid this is a good example (even though it's only pretend reality).

Because it is interesting, even when you're looking at your watch wondering how long it has to go, and the skating is good, and Jimmy Tavares (Etienne) and Lucas Bonnifait (Ludovic) are very cute, I'll give it a 6. Posted by abatie at October 18, 2003 02:25 AM

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