At the end of the day...

At the end of the day, it all comes down to an end. - That's what landed in my mind, sadly, when I hit the pause button of the video player at around 15 minutes toward the end of the film, where Lee, the "superior" pianist, evicted Scott, his longtime companion, out of the mansion. It was a phone call that interrupted my session with this film at the moment, yet ironically as "meant-to-be" as it may seem, that epiphany has stayed, more or less unrevised, even after I finished the film later on. - Yes, even after I witnessed the touching, moment-of-truth ending that arched backward. - Call me a pessimist on relationship.

Being told this film was the "return" of 史蒂夫n Soderbergh (as in style) and probably his last piece in foreseeable future, which definitely contributed to my urge to check it out, I'd say, now finishing its almost-two-hour company, that this film turns out to be just OKAY for me. - Putting aside the marketing cue of "now or never" or the steamy-and-seemingly-fun gay buzz, singularly for Soderbergh himself, the excellent director who did ERIN BROCKOVICH and OCEAN 11 and personally MAGIC MIKE, hell yeah I have great expectations for this "last" piece.

There's no doubt Douglas did a great job portraying the legendary pianist who splashed his desire and pleasure for young men yet remained hidden in the closet all his life, both in vividly capturing the essence of being "old and gay" and in blowing our minds with his actual spectacular skill of playing the piano. - I think he did the piano playing scenes himself, otherwise the stunt was just done so seamlessly and invisibly well.

I guess many who have seen this film were initially tempted to unveil by the funny gay-flavored campaign, e.g. costumes and intimate scenes of Douglas and Damon, simply because of this fact - Who can resist the curiosity in seeing two deadly-straight famous actors mostly seen as serious as church bells end up fooling around homosexually? I know I couldn't, and certainly this viewer attraction has approved itself. However, buzz and glitter aside, at the end of the day, it's a biography that centres on the protagonist's relationship with one particular man of the herd. On the bright side, the director brings out the warmth and sincerity of the relationship out of the obvious hot subject, while on the flip side, the expected drama somehow falls flat and predictably dull.

As previously mentioned, this film does end more positively that the sense of true love or at least genuine companionship is presented at the bedside of death. But somehow I was stuck, hanging and mourning over the breakup or should I say, the "abandonment". "Will you love me forever" seems to become a profoundly silly question to ask, as "forever" can never be guaranteed. Perhaps, if you really want to ask your partner, take this alternative - Will you love me in your foreseeable future?

 

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