Customer Reviews

Love & Death on Long Island [Import]

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

John Hurt plays Giles De'Ath, a proper British widower who is unwittingly locked out of his house one rainy afternoon in England. he goes to the local theater and starts watching the only show there "Hotpants College II" starring Ronnie Bostwick (Jason Priestley).

De'Ath develops a fascination with Ronnie and reads up on him in teen girl magazines. He finally decides to go to Long Island, where Ronnie lives, and meet and befriend him.

Although it may seem otherwise, because De'Ath certainly is in love with Ronnie, there is no intention of a sexual relationship. De'Ath sees Ronnie as holding the key to what is missing in his life these days. But is he actually the answer to anything, much less his own life? Ronnie's girlfriend seems not to think so!

This is an interesting departure in roles for Jason Priestley, best known for playing Brandon Walsh on TV's "Beverly Hills 90210", his tidal-wave hairdo almost more famous than he was in the 1990s.

The perfect change of venue for the "Death in Venice" thematic -- older man falls in love with younger male, only here it's a pedantic Brit writer and the boy is . . . a Hollywood pulp actor in movies like "Hotpants College II" (!) who lives on Long Island. As in Mann's original story, the fixation is Platonic rather than sexual, but the film pulses with pathos, a dark Wagnerian atmosphere perfectly captured by the haunting, sublime music score by Richard Grassby-Lewis, but also the drollest wit in recent moviemaking. John Hurt as the older Brit is just priceless, his role a gem with facets that gleam in all directions...I give it the full galaxy of FIVE STARS.

a nice and charming story about obsession. John Hurt plays a writer who walks into the wrong movie and finds the handsome Jason Preistley fasinating and he goes and becomes so obsessed with the actor he goes to Long Island to seek out where he lives, he eventually finds out and meets him threw his girlfriend because he told her hes such a big hit in London, so they meet and they become friends. Hurt's passion for Preistley grows(only if it where someone other then a old man loving a guy, ehhh) and then people are rejected. good filmmaking with superb performances all around. Maury Chaykin and his fellow restaurant staff are hilarious, especially the highlighted scene where they all talk about dog names. a wonderful film

This really is a great film. Fans of films like XXX steer clear.
It is dark and very thought provoking, and watching Hurts obsession with the young actor grow is fantastic. Who'd have thought that jason priestly would appear in a good film!!

This movie continuously appears to have potential, but it is never realized. Every innuendo is so undeveloped that you pray that another one isn't dropped on your lap. The effect is that the movie drags to a slow death. The "big" scene is banal and embarrasingly thin. One must conclude that there was a lot more footage but that it was edited out in an attenpt to keep the length tolerable. It wasn't.

I really liked this movie but I thought it was a bit short. I think I would have enjoyed it a bit more with either a longer ending or a different ending. The whole movie is very interesting but the ending falls flat. What I liked about it was the fascination John Hurt has for Jason Priestly... John Hurt does a fantastic job acting in this film and he really carries the entire movie on is back. Jason Priestly isn't bad but anybody could have played his role just as good. Overall I give this movie 5 stars.