Imserba Webstore - Redwoods

	List Price: $19.99 Our Price: $16.99 Your Save: $ 3.00 ( 15% ) Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Manufacturer: TLA Starring: Brendan Bradley, Matthew Montgomery Directed By: David Lewis
Average Customer Rating:
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 Audience Rating: Unrated Binding: DVD EAN: 0807839004267 Format: Color Label: TLA Manufacturer: TLA Number Of Items: 1 Publisher: TLA Region Code: 1 Release Date: 2009-12-08 Running Time: 82 Studio: TLA Theatrical Release Date: 2009
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Editorial Reviews: Both original and incredibly romantic, Redwoods tells the story of an already-partnered man whose love is tested when a mysterious drifter passes through his small Northern California town. Everett (Brendan Bradley) and Miles (Tad Coughenour) are in a comfortably platonic relationship, which is held together by raising their son. While his family travels out of town, introverted Everett finally has time to himself that is until Chase (Matthew Montgomery), a striking writer, pulls up in front of his house. Shot amidst ancient Redwoods, David Lewis (Rock Haven) film is a stunning ode to the power of love.
Spotlight customer reviews: Customer Rating: Summary: redwoods Comment: This was a very endearing love story. The acting was great, the story line moved along nicely, very little sex which is what I like. You don't need sex to have a great gay romance film. I have added this film to my libary and I give a five star rating. If I could rate higher I would. We need more good films like this one. Customer Rating: Summary: Like a fine Swiss cheese... flavorful, but full of holes. Comment: Whaddya know... a gay-themed movie where no one comes out, no one is in drag, no one gets beaten up and no one has AIDS. For that alone, "Redwoods" deserves at least a star or two. The story centers around Everett (Brendan Bradley), a late-20s guy who has found himself in a very comfortable, but horribly static, life in small-town Northern California. His seven-year partnership with Miles (Ted Coughenour) has eroded to that way-too-common place where love (or lack thereof) is expressed by which coupon to use at the store and who will scrub the mold in the shower. The only life left in the relationship is in the form of their son, Billy (Caleb Dorfman), a special needs child who demands much of their attention. It's clear from the onset that Everett is miserable with the current state of affairs, but his love for Billy prevents him from actually doing or saying anything to the cold and neglectful Miles. So, like many people, he shuts up, puts up and trundles along without rocking the boat. Miles and Billy leave for a week to visit Miles' parents in Seattle. Right on cue, a handsome stranger appears on Everett's cul-de-sac, hopelessly lost and looking for directions... it's Chase (Matthew Montgomery), a writer from Minnesota who has come to redwood country to get inspiration for his latest novel. The sparks between Everett and Chase are immediate. Soon, as this is a small town, the inevitable not-so-chance meeting occurs. A friendship grows. Everett becomes more and more conflicted about his feelings for Chase until it all finally uncorks into a fairly well done love scene. Of course, this just makes matters worse for the love-starved Everett... does he abandon everything for true love or do the responsible thing and stick with his existing relationship? The idea of this film is a tremendous one... I mean, how many people out there have this kind of mid-life crisis, where they question everything they have? And with a better writer (director David Lewis also scripted) "Redwoods" could have been a helluva film. Unfortunately, Lewis doesn't give us much of screenplay and gets too caught up in the romance of this romance. He expects us to immediately buy into the Chase/Everett affair and not question anything else. And there are a lot of questions here... where did Billy come from exactly? Why is Miles so unaffectionate? If this is such a small town - where everyone knows everyone's business - why would Everett parade Chase around for all to see? Why would he introduce Chase to his family, for heavens sake? How could such a monumental, life-altering, oh-my-god relationship gain full-bloom status in the matter of just a few days? And are either of these guys aware that there's a whole lotta cheatin' going on? Sure, we can draw our own conclusions, but it would have made for a better film if the characters did it for us. Annoyingly, the script also never really allows anyone to open up and say what's on their mind. Instead we get lots of pauses, lots of drawn-out, ponderous one-line statements, and a lot of nothing being said. Most of the casting (and subsequent acting) doesn't help. First, Bradley is way too young to play someone in a seven-year relationship and with a ten-year-old kid. Second, he doesn't have the acting chops needed to carry the film. He's likeable - with his cherub face and goofy smile - but most of his deliveries suffer from massive over-elocution, and most of the acting choices he makes are way too deliberate. Likewise, none of the supporting characters seems to make any sense in this story, and none do anything to really drive things forward. Note to all gay film writers out there: Please, please, PLEASE ditch the straight brother or best friend who uses the word "dude." Please. The exception here is Montgomery, who is quickly becoming the Meryl Streep of gay indie romances. He knows how to turn in a thoughtful performance and does so here, eking out richness and depth from a script that provides almost nothing for him to work with. Look out for the day that this guy gets a solid script and co-star who can really act. All this isn't to say that "Redwoods" doesn't have its finer points. Although the analogy between the redwood trees and the theme of the film is insanely weak, the nature footage is lush and beautiful. And if romance is really your thing - and you're the kind of person that doesn't mind chucking reality aside to get your romantic fix - then this film is definitely for you... `cuz kids, this is some serious sweetness devoted to celluloid here. Realists: Run away. Me, I'm halfway between the two camps. That said, there was one beautifully realized moment in the film that really won me over: while Chase is hanging out with Everett, Miles calls. Everett takes the call and begins chatting, wandering behind the sofa where the patient Chase sits. Absently, Everett puts his hand on Chase's shoulder... a first sign of affection between the two. Everett rubs Chase's shoulder lightly, completely unaware that he's doing it. Why? Because it's the kind of thing he's probably done with his partner of seven years a million times over. This one tiny moment speaks more than any other scene in the movie, showing how comfortable Everett has become with Chase and how absently the two have fallen for each other. Now, if the rest of "Redwoods" was as well-conceptualized, it would have been worthy of a bunch more stars. Customer Rating: Summary: I will never get the time i spent on this movie back... Comment: How ANYONE can call this movie romantic is beyond me. Ive seen porno movies with more plot, and at least making more sense. I take that back, ive seen COMPILATION porno movies that made more sense than this random selection of scenes under the guise of a "movie". You get NO understanding of why this mans relationship is unforefilling, and hes so ready to cheat. I cheat because my spouse likes to use coupons! Hey im there! AFter his coupon-loving louse, and autistic kid scoot off to grannys house our main guy meets a stranger(dont horror flicks usually start out this way?), and proceeds to fall madly in lust/love(all while bleating about having responsibilities) in four whole days. I will say I was almost pleased to think that the movie might turn into a horror flick when MOM stands over lover boy and stares him down(all while NEVER introducing herself) I guess when Edward Scissorhands was editing this movie he decided it took away from the plot to say "OH! IM EVERETS MOM!!" Of course then we go on to DINNER with the family?!? huh wha? huh? wasnt mom just standing over writer boy (with an axe behind her back)? I will say youhave to love a family that welcomes in their cheating sons 4 day old trick as if hes been around for a lifetime. Sigh i wont give away the end of the movie. You will fast forward there anyway. Bring your kleenex cuz you will need them once you realize, your never getting this time back.... Customer Rating: Summary: A real disappointment Comment: I liked Rock Haven and had high expectations of this title given the (assumed) more experience of the makers. Whilst I understand what the movie wanted us to see there is no real narrative here. The performances are mostly okay (a hot sex scene, some gratuitous nudity, Matthew Montgomery really shining) but there's really no exposition of the characters to be where they are. Why is the relationship going sour? What it the history of the wordless child?, and the mother?..and so on. At one stage the male leads are deeply in love and the next they are at each other's throats. The fact that there is an affair in the circumstances coupled with the capricious behaviour of the men leaves a very poor impression of the maturity of gay men, something the weird ending doesn't correct. An inappropriate music score turns the concerned women into clowns. Of course there are the inevitable montages: a real sign of a movie having nothing to say, literally. Better value for your time and money elsewhere. Customer Rating: Summary: Sappy doesn't begin to describe it. Comment: The romantic storyline and beautiful background of the California redwoods attracted us to this movie. Unfortunately, it did not live up to expectations. The 81 minutes dragged on forever thanks to the slow (literally) dialogue and tremendous overuse of dramatic pauses. Every character seemed to have to think about every word for 30 seconds before saying it. Maybe they were trying to keep from laughing. The acting was not at all engaging or convincing and it wasn't helped by a script that could have been performed in more like 30 minutes. The story had many false starts - hints of subplots that were never developed. Overall, it seemed like it was written a gushing high school boy just out of the closet and bursting with hormone-laden false romanticism. But at least they had nice bodies.