Dog Tags
by Damion Dietz
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DVD details
Actor: Amy Lindsay, Bart Fletcher, Candy Clark, Paul PreissDirector: Damion Dietz
Brand: TLA Releasing
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language)
Format: Color, DVD, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.78:1
Running Time: 90 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2008-11-18
Audience Rating: Unrated
Model: TLAD203
Studio: TLA Releasing
Product features:
- Abandoned by his father and raised by a single mother, Nate Merritt joins the Marines to support his soon-to-be fiancee. While on leave in Palm Springs, he meets a seemingly free spirited young gay man, who leads him on a path of better understanding; of himself and the surprising identity of the father he never knew. Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA Rating: NR Age: 807839003
DVD Reviews of Dog Tags
DVD Review: "Did the Director ever find out 3 Stars
.........his true sexuality is?"
((Here is my approach to obtaining/viewing/reviewing Gay tales in film form. Simply, it's seeking the holy grail of that genre, or looking for the "Addictive Film"---that movie one returns to time and again). Selection/purchase is based mainly on finding new releases by favorite directors/screenwriters and/or your comments/reviews at major online film sales or review sites. Sometimes I feel correctly steered by you (the "Keepers" filling my DVD shelves), other times mislead, occasionally badly (the "Throwaways"----and I do toss 'em). Rarely, I come across the "Addictive," those watchable every couple of months or so (see below starred *** area for a list......and some "near-Addictive" as well). For some movies, I'll share a review with you, as follows. Thanks for sticking with me so far.))
When buying this film, I had hoped for something perhaps as well done, and along the lines of, the recently released "Shelter" a film highly received by many of we everyday, nonprofessional reviewers. However, that hope was quickly turned topsy-turvy (learn the primary reason for this by continuing on to the Postscript, below).
To this viewer, this is NOT a "Gay Romance" and certainly not a "Gay Drama." (Oh, I know, I know, those of you who've seen the film will say: "what about the bed and shower scenes?" Then I'd come back with: "maybe he was just getting to that 'you-show-me-yours-I'll-show-you-mine' life phase a little later than most"). But to continue, what this film is, is a story in drama form of two young men trying to find themselves and their roles in life. One is heterosexual (Nate), one is gay (Andy); one is more a goalless, live-day-to-day type who's looking for a way to change all that; one is, simply, a free spirit......with a haunting memory. Our lead character, Nate, is someone at the most vulnerable point in his existence, someone desperately in need of comforting----and it just happens that the person who then comes into his life is gay. And, now that you know bare details for each character, you should also be made aware that, because of strong needs brought about by problems in both men's lives, they do fall into sex.........but they do NOT fall into love. Still, Paul Preiss (Nate) and Bart Fletcher (Andy) are, together, able to achieve quite a high degree of "chemistry" (not of the Trevor Wright / Brad Rowe caliber), which is very important to making their characters believable to us.
But, wait, there is yet another character of note making up this interesting little group of ours: Nate's mother, Deb (nicely played by Candy Clark). In this character we have someone who, to avoid a hurtful situation, sets an even more painful event into play. She seemingly loves her son, but whether she's always honest with him, as would be hoped, remains for us to find out.
I do have to especially address Paul Preiss's performance because, as a newbie to filmed acting, he most definitely gives this viewer a sense of his being "a natural" to acting (similar to, I would say, the case of Wright). Further, unlike Fletcher who is very good in his role, it is Preiss who takes control of / commands our attention.
One especially jarring note, for this reviewer, involves the writer / director's apparent need to insert what I consider gratuitous gay sex into the film's first twenty minutes. A heterosexual sex scene, on the other hand, seemed appropriate to developing aspects of Preiss's character. Again, I certainly did not see any real need for the nude male frontal scenes associated with Fletcher's character building (I've already got others of that type DVD). What was the director trying to do, anyway, shout out: this IS a gay movie?!! Obviously, Dietz chose not to aim this production for the mainstream market---too bad for Preiss's and Fletcher's futures; they deserved more. (Extra Point / Star given for Preiss and Fletcher extra given for the director's)
PS--To, finally, address this review's subject question about sexuality, we know that character, Nate (representing the Director), at the most emotionally low and vulnerable point in his life, has a "gay event" with likely the most understanding and encouraging person he's ever met. But, from that point on and through film's end, is there anything that tells us, definitively (or even near definitively), what the sexuality future of Nate / Damion is going to be? Please don't give me conjectures in trying to answer this.
((NOTE to Director Dietz: Check your Dog Tags, in addition to name, SSAN, blood type, they'll tell you your sexuality.))
***This DVD won't get tossed out in the trash----but it certainly won't make it onto this viewer's "Addictive" list either. Other, but not all, films which are habit formers: "Just a Question of Love" / "Brokeback Mountain" / "Boy Culture" / "All Over the Guy" / "Second Skin (Unrated Version)" / "The Man I Love" / "The Man of My Life" (maybe for older/gay thinking man viewers) / "Oh Happy Day" (do youselves a big favor and see this one / no longer available here, but see DVDPriceSearch.com) / "Fashion Victims" (only if you have an all-regions player---then try Amazon.com.UnitedKingdom)
Description of Dog Tags
Emotionally daring and bristling with powerful performances, Dog Tags explores the cost of self-discovery as two unlikely souls connect. Abandoned by his father and raised by his single mother, handsome and sexually confused Nate obligatorily joins the Marines to support his fiancée. On leave, the detached Marine meets Andy, a magnetic and seemingly free-spirited young man with big dreams of Hollywood. Initially their bond is purely platonic, but the smoldering chemistry they share is undeniable as it sizzles into something sensual and intimate. Together they plunge headfirst into waters of vulnerability and desire, while the identity of Nate s father finally rises to the surface.Bestsellers in DVD
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