When Benny (Matthew Frias) and Christopher (Edmund Donavon) meet playing a friendly game of football during
downtime at college, they quickly fall for each other and start dating. Yet as their college finals approach and they
prepare for a spring break trip to Florida, a secret from their past involving
an interaction between their families creates a seemingly insurmountable wedge
between them…
The moral of Akron is that gender and ethnicity do not matter – love is love. And it is admirable that a family drama set
in Ohio plays out without the slightest hint of homophobia or discrimination. The two teens are passionate without being
camp, intelligent without being social-justice activists, and (mostly) nice to
their mothers without being complete mummy’s boys…
Yet Akron
is a very safe movie. The story is interesting – if not centred around an astronomical coincidence –
and the performances are tender and compelling for the size of production. But everything about the film feels very
PG. Not every LGBT film has to be edgy
or erotic, but Akron‘s narrative does
feel made for TV instead of the big screen.
Having said that, the relationship
between the two teenagers is very sweet, and the focus on texting and recording
each other on iPhones feels reassuringly contemporary. College life feels kind of tame in Akron, OH,
but at least the audience isn’t patronized into thinking every dorm room party
is like Project X.
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