Testosterone
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Actor: Antonio Sabato Jr., Celina Font, David Sutcliffe, Jennifer Coolidge, Leonardo BrzezickiBrand: REL
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language); Spanish (Original Language)
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 105 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2005-02-15
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Strand Releasing
DVD Reviews of Testosterone
DVD Review: Hilarious Black Comedy, not a melodrama
Summary: 4 Stars
I was surprised that so many viewers found this movie/DVD unsatisfiying. Frankly, I thought it was one of the most hilariously savage black comedies since "The Ruling Class." Film audiences are so literal nowadays, and it's much harder to suspend disbelief when watching a film than reading a book. Ironically, Testosterone (the movie) departs in numerous small ways and one giant way from its source, the late James Robert Baker's novel of the same name.
For one thing, you could take the book's stream-of-consciousness narration as a drug- and madness-induced rant, rather than as a factual reportage, although there's little doubt as to the final outcome. The movie, as I said, is more literal, but by making many of the encounters rather satyric and/or inexplicable from Dean, the protagonist's, point-of-view, director/scenario-writer David Moreton is able to recreate--in a completely different context--the odyssey of Dean's hunt for his missing lover, Pablo.
One of the main areas of divergence with the book (other than setting it--presumably for production reasons--in Argentina; the book takes place almost entirely in the greater L.A. area), is to make the character of Pablo (played by Antonio Sabato, Jr.) at worst a ruthlessly selfish "playboy" and serial philanderer. In the book, he was far, far darker and more malevolent, and--if he indeed was guilty of much of what is ascribed to him in the book--far more deserving of his grisly end.
This is where the film makes its big..."decision" is probably a better word than "mistake": it robs Dean of all "moral" authority, if that's the word. He's merely an over-the-top jilted boyfriend, rather than a victim who fights back. But to show Pablo in the same light as the novel would have robbed the film of its black comedy/Gallows humour quality and put it irrevocably into the noir category. I see this as an Almodovar-like black comedy in the mould of "Tie Me Up/Tie Me Down" or "The Law of Desire" more than anything else.
The entire cast, especially David Sutcliffe as Dean, are all excellent. Sutcliffe's edgy, manic humour is perfect--and perfectly in character--without his succumbing to the temptation to "wink" at the audience. Clearly, the antics of Sonia Braga as Pedro's "Mommie Queerest," are a wonderful contribution. I also loved the bits with Dean cutting into the pristine wedding cake and gobbling a slice of it, followed (distantly) by Antonio Sabato, Jr.'s licking a tiny bit of the whipped crean frosting from the corner of Dean's mouth--ever the seducer right up to the end!
It's unfortunate that an extensive gay bathouse/dream sequence was cut from the film and can only be viewed as a Option, because it adds considerably to the understanding of Dean's predicament.
Still, the film does leave a lot of unanswered "questions" when viewed objectively, but how many black comedies--or films in general--couldn't be accused of that? The DVD doesn't have an English Subtitles option, which is a pity, given all the accents and the need to follow the plotline, such as it is. It's tricky to review this without giving away the plot, but suffice it to say that the film in general, and the the ending in particular, are remarkably satisfiying.
Description of Testosterone
This dark film noir comedy finds Dean (David Sutcliffe of TV?s Gilmore Girls & Under the Tuscan Sun) obsessed with finding his hot lover Pablo (Antonio Sabato, Jr.) who went out for cigarettes and never came back. Pablo?s mother is played by Sonia Braga of Kiss of the Spiderwoman. Dean?s boss is played by Jennifer Coolidge of Best in Show and the American Pie films.Bestsellers in DVD
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