WHIRLWIND

A sexy stranger disrupts the lives of a tight-knit circle of friends.

Whirlwind's story could have been lifted straight out of Queer as Folk or Noah's Arc: A tight-knit circle of gay urban males some coupled, others not, bring a new, intriguing stranger into their midst, and all hell breaks loose. The guys are a mish-mash of cliches... one couple plans to buy a place together, but one guy freaks out; another is a partier who can't commit to a relationship, but may have just met the right guy; another guy desperately wants to be in a relationship, but, well, the desperation is a turn-off, etc. The guys are trying to pull together to throw a 25th anniversary party for their gay elders who show that long-term relationships are possible. All seems to be going well until Drake (David Rudd) enters the picture.

Drake is bad news from the start. A hot, sexy stranger, he meets the guys at a mutual friend's party. Drake seems to have a small posse of pals that watch his every move, but these guys disappear when he hones in on our circle of friends. Drake is there just to cause trouble... to cast doubt on the couple buying a place together (by hitting on them BOTH separately... one unfortunately succumbs); by building up the self-esteem of the loser-guy, trying to turn him into something he's not; and by sleeping with the group party-boy and dumping him even faster than he would have been dumped himself. Drake is like the devil-conscience that perches on your shoulder to cast doubt on your every thought and decision.

But why these guys can't see this is anyone's guess.

Next thing you know, everyone is fighting, the party is canceled, couples have cheated on each other and broken up, and yadda yadda yadda. It is not that such a plot hasn't been done before, and done better in other movies or TV shows, but that's the thing. Whirlwind doesn't do this plot particularly well (as far as acting, script, and directing), and it offers nothing new to the genre except as another predictable middling genre piece for gay audiences. Pick up any of the earlier Queer as Folk episodes, for a better taste of the same sort of plotline.