Looking: The Movie (2016)
July 25, 2016 8:21 AM - Subscribe
Patrick returns to San Francisco for a friend's wedding, and in search of closure and resolution regarding his relationships with Richie and Kevin.
The A.V. Club: "Time and timing are great themes of Looking, as they are in much of showrunner and Looking: The Movie director Andrew Haigh’s work. Here’s a meditative dramedy that demands its audience slow down, a gay coming-of-age story that pivots on how its characters’ personal journeys resonate with the wider historical movement of gay acceptance, and television’s great romance that finds grandeur in the everyday activity of simply getting to know someone. The show was cancelled, but, in the glorious tradition of Derek, granted an epilogue movie."
The A.V. Club: "Time and timing are great themes of Looking, as they are in much of showrunner and Looking: The Movie director Andrew Haigh’s work. Here’s a meditative dramedy that demands its audience slow down, a gay coming-of-age story that pivots on how its characters’ personal journeys resonate with the wider historical movement of gay acceptance, and television’s great romance that finds grandeur in the everyday activity of simply getting to know someone. The show was cancelled, but, in the glorious tradition of Derek, granted an epilogue movie."
I felt a bit of "Is that all?" at the end. I also wondered whether it really works as a stand-alone movie (I don't think it does.)
posted by larrybob at 10:35 AM on July 25, 2016
posted by larrybob at 10:35 AM on July 25, 2016
I went back and forth on this too. Richie really deserves better than either self-righteous Brady or un-self-aware Patrick; Dom - who I felt ended up (kind of by default?) with the most relatable, interesting arc on the show - was not really given much in the way of an ending here.
At the same time, I'm glad to having another last taste of Looking, which for all its crimes against diversity still managed to capture some of the specific unreality of living in gay San Francisco today the way nothing else I've seen does.
posted by psoas at 10:12 AM on July 26, 2016
At the same time, I'm glad to having another last taste of Looking, which for all its crimes against diversity still managed to capture some of the specific unreality of living in gay San Francisco today the way nothing else I've seen does.
posted by psoas at 10:12 AM on July 26, 2016
I don't think a link to Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore's essay on Looking, "City of Brotherly Love" published in 2015 in The New Inquiry has been posted on Metafilter. This seems as good a place as any for it.
"In fact, gentrification, the single largest issue in San Francisco right now, the subject of national and international headlines, is never directly mentioned in the series."
posted by larrybob at 5:31 PM on July 27, 2016 [1 favorite]
"In fact, gentrification, the single largest issue in San Francisco right now, the subject of national and international headlines, is never directly mentioned in the series."
posted by larrybob at 5:31 PM on July 27, 2016 [1 favorite]
I'm with Bernstein Sycamore on calling Rent a grotesque charade, but that piece feels more like a complaint about what Looking is not than engaging with what it is.
posted by psoas at 11:12 AM on July 28, 2016
posted by psoas at 11:12 AM on July 28, 2016
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I enjoyed this a lot, but also feel very frustrated by it. It feels rushed. Like ticking off checkboxes for all the characters, and all the elements that should be in an episode of the series. And the ending feels a little fan service-y to me - I'm just not sure I buy those two getting back together for any reason other than a bunch of fans wanted it. Or, at least, I might buy it if we'd been allowed more time to experience these characters and their life changes.
I guess I'm happy we got to have this, but I'm still frustrated that there's so little of this kind of gay TV happening.
posted by dnash at 8:27 AM on July 25, 2016 [1 favorite]