Those People

Writer-director Joey Kuhn makes an impressive feature debut with "Those People," a stylized meditation on loyalty, love, friendship and familial angst among well-to-do Manhattanite twentysomethings.

This particular territory has been chartered before, notably in last year's underrated indie, "Affluenza," where rich tweens were at the story's center. Kuhn's focus is more on a gay tale of unrequited love (or is it?) than scandalous, spoiled blue bloods behaving badly.

Shy and sweet Charlie (newcomer Jonathan Gordon) has been BFFs with pampered and conceited Sebastian (Jason Ralph) for fifteen years. The first scene with the two young men immediately establishes their relationship. The boys are sitting on the floor singing along to "I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major-General" from Gilbert and Sullivan's "The Pirates of Penzance," competing to see who can out sing the quick-fire lunatic lyrics as the song speeds along. Sebastian, as always, wins. And Charlie is fine with this, since the looks of longing on his face show that what he really wants to win is Sebastian's heart.

Alas, the self-hating yet egotistical Sebastian has rich-boy issues. His father is serving a life sentence for some Bernie Madoff-type of white-collar crime that has resulted in government seizure of the family fortune. Sebastian can't even go out without being hounded by the media. Although, you get the idea that he enjoys some of the drama.

Charlie lives with his devoted mom and is studying art at school. He keeps painting different portraits...all of Sebastian. One day, at a piano bar, he meets Tim (Haaz Sleiman), who brazenly tells him he's handsome. Charlie, who is more used to "pining," is shocked and intrigued by Tim and eventually starts seeing him.

Rounding out the main cast are two interchangeable, underdeveloped female characters (Meghann Fahy and Britt Lower, both as good as the script will let them be) and the "token straight boy," Wyatt (too-handsome Chris Conroy, not given enough to do).

Kuhn's abilities as director make him a talent to watch since "Those People" is always visually arresting (credit cinematographer Leonardo D'Antoni as well) and intriguing even when his script is occasionally predictable and obvious (co-story credit goes to Grainne Belluomo). In particular, a third act death feels like a plot-ploy and the discovery of a paper clip in the oddest of places is just contrived.

Kuhn does develop the central relationship really well, so much so that although we may become fed up with toxic Sebastian's treatment of Charlie, we are given clues to understanding he's acting out of fear and actually, love, even when he seems manipulative and sadistic.

What truly makes the film soar is the performance of Jonathan Gordon as Charlie. Gordon is so adorable and endearing that even Charlie's bad choices seem right. Although part of what makes him likeable is his indecisive nature. I've never seen Gordon before so I have no idea if the actor simply shares many of his Charlie's traits or if he is just gifted at character immersion. I am guessing a combination of both. Regardless, he makes it easy to root for Charlie and keeps us interested and invested in his journey.

In a particularly honest sequence, Charlie finds himself in a potential threesome. Kuhn, smartly, refuses to cut away or take any easy roads with this sequence. He lets it play out organically and the reveals are plentiful.

"Those People" sometimes plays like an overlong episode of "Gossip Girl" funneled through the filmic universe of Whit Stillman (none of that is a bad thing), but it's a more than commendable first effort. I just wish Kuhn had been a bit more daring with his ending.