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Review

While virtually any European low-budget, gay-themed drama is better-made than its American counterpart, sometimes sticky plot issues get in the way. That is certainly the case here with Juan Luis Iborra's Valentín. Beautifully-made and shot in the most wonderful-looking small Spanish village, the film has some serious plot issues. Great points: the hot young actor does a full-frontal nude scene; the gay characters are full-fleshed and have lives; and there are wonderful characters in this film. All that said here's the story. A "straight" director is rehearsing "Romeo & Juliet" at a small regional theater in the country. The all-male cast will be playing all of the roles -- male and female. The cast and crew gathered contains gay, straight and lesbian people. The director, who has never been with a man before becomes obsessed with the young lead. He takes him out skinny-dipping, hence the great nude scene. The young man who was to play the female lead becomes very jealous and enacts a Shakespearean revenge. To say what's wrong with this film and not tell the ending is difficult as it all happens in the last 10 minutes of the film. The ending is similar to "Romeo & Juliet" and it's not gay-positive. That's all we'll say. In addition to the ending, let's categorize the GL characters: the lesbian doesn't get the girl and is lonely at the end of the film; one of the gay guys is a murderous villian; and the other gay guy cruises truck stops. If you want to see handsome guys, a great nude scene and a clever film, you're in the right place. But we're warning you, don't expect to feel great about being gay at the end of this film....

 -- Scott Cranin