Aaron… Albeit A Sex Hero (2009/Water Bearer Films DVD)
Picture: C
Sound: C Extras: C Feature: C
The idea of doing an action film in the context of gayness
of any kind has been attempted a few times in independent productions and has
yet to work. At best, a gay production
will take the action elements as cliché and throw them in in certain moments to
simply pump up an otherwise gay drama.
Such punctuation does not equal action and Paul Bright’s Aaron… Albeit A Sex Hero (2009) makes
those mistakes and more in a story of two men who don’t get along, but will get
along too well in the end.
The title character (Matthew Charles Burnett) is one of
two hosts for a trip elderly women are going on to get away, but there is an
instant personality clash with fellow host Jesse (Rafiel Soto), who is possibly
involved in some drug or arms deal.
However, things get crazier when the criminal element closes in
unexpectedly and the two men become involved.
Some comedy is intended, but it makes about as much sense as Last Action Hero did and that is not
good. If the action was fully developed
and made more sense, this might work, but the script is too convoluted and
we’ve seen this all before.
The anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image on the soft
side and sometimes cuts the image up in ways that do not help a low-quality
situation, shot apparently in low definition digital video at best. Editing is not bad at times, but this can be
trying, especially when it gets fancy. The
Dolby Digital 2.0 sound is sometimes stereo, with some monophonic sound from
the location taping that is a mixed affair at best. Sometimes dialogue in inaudible and music can
cut into it. Extras include a trailer,
milepost markers in the feature and a Behind-The-Scenes Interview featurette.
- Nicholas Sheffo
