DREAM BOY

I got halfway through the dreamlike, sad Dream Boy before I realized I had actually read the book about gay teens in the South.

I remember thinking, "This sure seems a lot like that one story I read... wait a second... that plot turn cannot be a coincidence!" Sure enough, the film is based on the gay teen novel of the same name by Jim Grimsley. For the most part the movie successfully portrays the tone of that sweet and sad book.

A teen boy named Nathan (Stephan Bender) moves to a new rural Southern town with his family. It is conveyed that they move around a lot... something vague about his dad's work. Nathan doesn't have any friends, and is very withdrawn. Their only neighbors live just across the way—there is a boy named Roy (Maximillian Roeg) who is older (a senior), more mature, and more worldly. Oh, and he is totally foxy in a sort of shaggy Shawn Cassidy kind of way. Roy is everything that Nathan is not.

The boys start a tentative friendship. Roy tries to pull Nathan from his shell, and Nathan is thrilled at the attention of the charismatic older boy. So it is kind of a surprise when Nathan makes the first move, touching the older boy's hand in a study session. They begin a very secret, and kind of sweet affair.

Dream Boy is touted on the DVD cover as a sort of Brokeback Mountain for teens, and I could see that comparison. The story takes place in a small town, in an era vaguely in the 1970s or 80s. There is surprisingly little dialogue in the film between the main characters. The longing and crush is conveyed entirely in glances and mood. And also the feeling of dread slowly builds, but you are not sure where this feeling is going to take you.

After I saw the film, I totally remembered the book. The ending of the story is controversial and maybe even a little vague. The book left it more up to interpretation, whereas the movie was pretty spelled-out, and, I must say, more abrupt.  The film has an easy afterschool-special feel to it leading up to the final act, and I can't say the ending of the movie entirely worked.

But, whether you accept or reject the turn of events in the movie, it must be noted that a nice job was done by the two leads. Though it may not have a dream conclusion, Dream Boy is certainly a watchable interpretation of a sad story of young forbidden love in the repressed South.