I
Am Michael jumps
chronologically around the ten years between Michael Glatze (James Franco) being a prominent gay
activist and queer magazine editor in San Francisco and Canada and him becoming
an evangelical, anti-homosexual Christian preacher in Wyoming. A kind of going-back-in-the-closet true story
that both delighted the Christian community and horrified the gay community
around 10 years ago.
At first Michael is shown picking-up
guys in nightclubs and taking ecstasy with his boyfriend Bennett (Zachary Qunito), before being somewhat
radicalized by news of the tragic death of Matthew
Shepard. They eventually move to Canada due to Bennett
getting a job, where they also meet Tyler (Charlie
Carver) – a young gay radical that joins them as they live as a
threesome. The lovers decide to go on a
road trip around the West Coast to lecture about LGBT rights and make a
documentary about young teenagers telling their stories, where increasingly
Michael complains about having heart palpitations and insists on getting advice
from lots of medical professionals.
After finally getting the all-clear, he starts to attribute his recovery
to a higher power and makes moves to get in touch with different religions and
clear his head (and remove his homosexuality).
James Franco is becoming the central
poster boy for gay rights awareness in America.
From Milk and Howl to the experimental vanity project Interior: Leather Bar and even The Interview (he does passionately kiss
Kim Jong-Un after all…) he has tried to normalize and recognize gay love and
sexuality like no other actor – all the whilst publically teasing us all about
his own orientation… In I Am Michael
he is complex and multi-dimensional as Michael and manages to portray this
figure throughout his descent into religion whilst at no point turning him into
a villain. You might not agree with his
journey or his motivations, but it is clear that it is his own personal
struggle.
Filmed on a modest budget, the film
feels a bit like this year’s Behind The Candelabra – a real-life made-for-TV movie with
A-list stars that asks questions about gay relationships. The much-anticipated (and frankly, somewhat
stale) threesome between Franco, Quinto and Carver is the kind of scene that
would worry major distributors in the same way as Soderbergh’s Liberace film
famously did.
Ironically, the most interesting dynamic
between any of the characters is between Glatze and his new strictly
conservative and chaste girlfriend Rebekah (Emma Roberts). Her coming to
terms with his sinful past before embracing him as a model reflection of
born-again Christianity is utterly compelling and undermines the chemistry
between Quinto’s somber Bennett and Franco’s vulnerable Michael.
The central question that is reflected
is whether Homosexuality (or other orientations) is a lifestyle ‘choice’ or
simply an innate part of someone’s personality. And regardless of how good this
film is as a biopic, it would have been infinitely most interesting and
insightful if presented as a documentary with the (still living and public)
Michael Glatze himself, as well as friends, family and other commentators from
both ‘sides’ of the issue. This issue is
so contentious and toxic that not many people are going to watch this film and
change their minds on it, but Franco and first-time director Justin Kelly have done an admirable
job of (hopefully) bringing it to the mainstream.
I Am Michael was this year's opening night gala at BFI Flare
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