Shortbus

This is a sex film, but it's not a sexy film, said Jack Mathews in the New York Daily News. It's certainly graphic enough to be called pornography, but there's one reason why it's not: The sex is far too out­right, too well-lit to be arousing. 'œIn fact, when Shortbus arrives on DVD, viewers may be fast-forwarding through the sex to get to the acting.' John Cameron Mitchell, maker of the brilliant gender bender Hedwig and the Angry Inch, gives us plenty of scenes you've never watched in the multiplex before. The opening of the movie zooms in on a man performing self-fellatio in his apartment. As perverted as it may seem, there's something incredibly sweet about Shortbus, said Jim Ridley in The Village Voice. Sexual misfits from all walks of life (played by amateurs whom Mitchell collected through an Internet ad) journey to the Oz of nightlife, the club called Shortbus. There they learn a lot about sex, but more about a sense of community and friendship. 'œIt's a triple-X midnight movie with a heart of the squarest gold.' But as a movie, it never rises above the experimental level, said Geoff Pevere in The Toronto Star. The plot, while engaging and watchable, is also vague, 'œand it leaves you more curious about its intentions than impressed by their articulation.'

Rating: Not Rated

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