Is It Just Me?
As earnest as they come, Is It Just Me? is a slight comedy with a few missteps but a lot of heart. Writer/director J.C. Calciano creates an all-too-familiar theme in the land of the gays: coming to terms with an overwhelmingly superficial community where being "average" is the kiss of death.
Enter Blaine (Nicholas Downs), a handsome young writer frustrated with dating in the world of West Hollywood. He spends his days in a local coffee shop where he feels ignored because he isn’t smoking hot, only to go home to his stud of a roommate Cameron (Adam Huss), an over-sexed actor/go-go dancer.
Blaine spends his nights on gay.com where he continually avoids the guys only looking for sex, thus driving home his beliefs that he is a rose in a plastic flower shop. But then... one night... he meets the perfect guy: a naïve kid from Texas named Xander (David Loren) with no agenda who is just looking to meet new people. Too good to be true? Perhaps. But when these two decide to talk on the phone, well, sparks fly. Two nights of six hour conversations (and one round of phone sex) bring the two closer together and they decide to finally meet. But wait: this wouldn’t be a comedy if it weren’t for that nasty case of mistaken identity.
You see, roommate Cameron somehow used Blaine’s gay.com profile to meet guys himself, and put his own picture up on Blaine’s profile. So for two days, Xander has believed he was talking to studly Cameron. And instead of Blaine just calling Xander back and explaining the mistake, he inexplicably asks Cameron to meet Xander in his place. This is done under the guise that Cameron argues that looks win over personality, and Blaine thinks that even though he isn’t a hunk, Xander will still choose him... even though he thinks he’s been talking to Cameron. The machinations eventually get out of hand when it appears that Cameron and Xander have slept together. This just makes Blaine confident that his view on love in L.A. is correct: unless you look like an Abercrombie and Fitch model, you won’t find love.
The contrivance of the film is a bit of a stretch. How does Xander not recognize Blaine’s voice when Cameron sounds like he’s from New York and Blaine has a softer, gentler way of speaking? But there is a charm to it that is undeniable. The writing by Calciano is fairly believable, and the film is confidently made, with a clean Hollywood look.
The main actors all win here, beginning with Downs who, while being especially earnest in his delivery, conveys an inner turmoil that is actually affecting and grounds the film in a way that’s lacking in a lot of modern gay films. Loren is adorable as the innocent Texan, and his heart-stopping gaze is so endearing it’s impossible not to fall in love with the kid. Huss is appropriately ridiculous in a role that could have been one-note, but ends up having a wee bit more depth than expected. He ain’t bad to look at, either.
But the best character in the film is one of the most original. Xander’s elderly roommate Ernie (Bruce Gray) is a scene-stealer every time he’s on screen. This guy could have been someone who pathetically falls for his renter or who rolls his eyes at the younger generation’s "trivial" problems. Instead, he is a fresh, funny voice of reason even while having some life lessons of his own to learn. He brings a gay perspective that doesn’t preach or talk down to the younger generation, and is the kind of guy we’d all love to have as a roommate.
Is it Just Me? might not break new ground in gay film, but it’s a pleasant and well-made diversion, with its heart in the right place and a cast that wins you over.
