Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Arye Gross & Louise Fletcher in Big Eden (2000)

Henry Hart (Gross) is a successful artist living in New York. On the eve of his latest show he receives word that his grandfather - his only living relative - is in the hospital back in his home town in Montana. Much to the consternation of his agent and friend Mary Margaret (Veanne Cox) he leaves to be with him. Upon arriving home he is immersed in old emotions about his best friend and high school crush Dean Stewart (Tim DeKay) and new entanglements with Pike (Eric Schweig), the native American store owner who has a crush on him.
Wikipedia

One of the most delightful aspects of Big Eden is the total lack of homophobia in the residents of the town, despite Henry's internalized homophobia. Each and every one of them completely accept the same-sex attraction between the central characters as natural, and they do everything they can to help it come out right with understanding and compassion. In stark contrast to yesterday's post, it's such a breath of fresh air to see a vision of a world where being gay is a non-issue.

This film was recently released, so it can be easily found on DVD. The trailer is above, uploaded to YouTube by FrameLine.

Obscurity factor: 3 (known and loved in the gay community, largely unknown to the general public, available on DVD)

9 comments:

  1. I've never heard of this movie. Then again its not surprising since I'm always on the road.

    It looks good. I'd love to watch it. I'll look for it next time I go shopping or order more movies from Amazon. I still need to order Up the Sandlot :)

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  2. That's Up the Sandbox - The Sandlot is a different film. Big Eden is such a lovely film, gentle and sweet with characters that ring true.

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  3. Sorry. My autocorrection & spell checking fail me sometimes.

    Montana is very beautiful. It's been a few years since I've been up there. The western part of the state looks a lot like what I saw in the trailer. The people are very nice, too :)

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  4. Great film - I purchased it, and have watched it several times. Cannot believe that the same director is responsible for the uber preachy "The Family Stone"...

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  5. Interesting... I didn't know that.

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  6. I know its been over a year, but I finally got to watch this. Things tend to move very slowly in my world. That & I tend to procrastinate.

    Excellent film. I wasn't quite expecting the way it ended. I almost thought that Henry would have winded up with Dean. That or Pike would have moved to New York to become a caterer.

    The seen where Henry & Dean danced was so fun to watch. The dance at the end put a smile on my face :)

    Thank you for recommending it. This is truly a keeper

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  7. It's a delightful film. I'm glad you got a chance to see it and that you enjoyed it!

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  8. Just watched this movie...How did I miss it? Loved it. OK, maybe it does portray a fictional "Eden," but it has heart, intelligence, and great humanity. Everyone in the cast was first-rate. Would that everyone were like the folks in Big Eden.

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  9. Yes, there's a real sweetness and optimism about it. I'm glad you enjoyed it.

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