bkoganbing The Trip concerns a journey of life between two gay men who at the end of the film do actually take the road trip they long planned.Meet Alan, closeted gay Republican who is an aspiring writer. He's so very deep in the closet he's even written an anti-gay tract that he's submitted for publication.Meet Tommy, a newborn in a bumper crop of gay activists. There were a whole lot of those in the early seventies when these two chance to meet and fall in love in 1973. Four years later Alan's had a whole change in attitude, a lot due to Tommy's influence. But that manuscript has been sitting at the publisher's office and now with the Anita Bryant campaign against a gay rights law in Dade County, Florida the publisher sees the time is right to publish. It's published anonymously, but when Tommy finds out about it the relationship is history.Love does win out though it comes a bit late for a happy ever after ending.Larry Sullivan as Alan and Steve Braun as Tommy are an attractive pair of lovers as ever hit the gay cinema. Their story is the story of the GLBT community's efforts to organize and get our rightful share of the American dream. The film is helped out with news reports of the various things that happened to America and to us in a dozen year period.One thing I liked about this film very much is that if there is a chief villain it's another gay and rich Republican who manipulates events and people so he can gain Alan for himself. It's the Roy Cohn syndrome, that somehow the things that happen to the rest of us just don't affect you because of your connections and wealth. Roy Cohn found out that wasn't the case and this gentlemen will probably learn it as well. Ray Baker plays the part of the manipulative Peter, a gay that gays can truly hate.Also note the presence of Jill St. John as Larry Sullivan's mother. Hard to believe she's in her sixties. She's come a long way from being a Rat Pack broad, it seems a lifetime ago.It's a movie that moves, emotionally, physically and spiritually and it don't get better than that.

Merwyn Grote We have seen this before; it is known as "a very special episode," or at least it is when it pops up on TV sitcoms. It is when the comedy suddenly gets serious or the comedy disappears completely so that a sermon and platitude can be served up. It happens unfortunately in even the best of sitcoms; actors who obviously are intelligent, talented and charismatic, comfortably playing characters who are interesting and ingratiating, suddenly have to pander to some misbegotten need to "get real" and educate the viewer. The jokey attitude and contrived situations that somehow are acceptable in a comedy, become transparent when applied to the attempts at dramatic honesty. Even a bad sitcom can be funny, but there is nothing worse than a bad "serious" sitcom.At first it seems as though THE TRIP can slip by solely on the charms of its two protagonists. One is Alan Oakley, a pleasant, nerdy, somewhat goofy, wannabe writer, who claims to have a purely journalistic interest in exploring "the homosexual lifestyle," since he also claims to be both straight and a Republican. He crosses paths with Tommy Ballenger, an idealistic, no-nonsense gay activist who wants to explore more than just Alan's lifestyle. The story begins in 1973 when everyone is on shaky ground when it comes to gay protocol. Thus, whether he knows it or not, Alan is something of a tease in the way he pursues Tommy's friendship, and a lustful Tommy is left uncertain if he is being the prey or the predator in this vague game of cat and mouse.Despite an amateur sitcom-like script by writer/director Miles Swain, the story draws you in, thanks largely to the chemistry between Larry Sullivan as Alan and Steve Braun as Tommy. Their mating ritual is sweetly awkward and it amuses, even as it is apparent that their coy flirtations are far from spontaneous. THE TRIP seems to be charting a course along the familiar road of a typical opposites-attract movie romance, albeit from a gay perspective, but Swain seems as uncertain about his intentions as Alan does about his homosexuality.So the film breaks down into three episodes and the story jumps ahead in time and makes desperate attempts at being serious, first in 1977 during the Anita Bryant years and then again in 1984 during the early outbreaks of AIDS. The clumsy attempts at being a romantic comedy ("It's my parents! Quick hide in the closet!") fall by the wayside as THE TRIP makes even clumsier attempts at political statements. Telling their story against the panorama of the gay rights movement is a great idea, but like those "very special episodes," THE TRIP unsuccessfully tries to shift from funny to poignant, but hasn't built up the necessary supply of good will to justify the demands on the audience.As THE TRIP goes from sitcom to soap opera to unbelievable melodrama, Alan and Tommy find themselves at the mercy of convoluted plot twists that just don't make a lot of sense. The film can't pull off trying to have it both ways, being seriously sentimental and outrageously funny; as the road gets bumpier, Swain's sometimes desperate attempts at humor just aren't enough to absorb the shocks.Good traveling companions certainly can help. Most are broad clichés (Jill St. John as Alan's boozy mom, Sirena Irwin as the kooky fag hag, Alexis Arquette as, once again, a swishy party boy, etc.), but Sullivan and Braun sidestep the stereotypes and play nicely realized characters. They both have a flair for comedy and even overcome the heavy-handed drama well enough to make you care. Sullivan in particular gives an endearing performance as a man who isn't quite prepared to be swept up by love or social revolution. He more than anything else makes THE TRIP worth taking.

mikey McKay THE TRIP, written and directed by Miles Swain, is now available on DVD and perhaps in this venue it will receive the wider audience it justly deserves. So many of these independent little films that deal with important historical remembrances and social issues lack the funds for a wide theatrical release and PR. Unfortunate though that may be, releasing the DVD/VHS format for home consumption is bound to drive the messages so well presented here into the forefront of our thinking - especially with the increasing specter of AIDS burgeoning around the globe.THE TRIP is an examination of the 1970s and 1980s and while it is a fine love story between two men at opposite ends of the political spectrum, it does not come across as a 'gay-only' film. Credit Miles Swain for bringing out not only a re-creation of the drugged out, hallucinatory 70s and the development of the effects 'post-Stonewall' on gay activism, but also including important film clip reminders of the Nixon/Johnson/Reagan era with its Anita Bryants/Harvey Milks/AIDS devastation. In this setting Swain introduces an intelligent gay man named Tommy (Steve Braun) who encounters a closeted confused 'Republican misfit' Alan (Larry Sullivan) and collide with great humor in the presence of the very funny Beverly (Sirena Irwin). Alan slowly opens the closet door and he and Tommy become lovers in a solid dignified relationship. Alan is a young novelist and during his closeted years wrote a book on homosexuality in a less than friendly light. Once with Tommy, Alan manages to prevent the book's being published only to have the dragon raise its ugly head four years later. Tommy leaves, Alan opines, and then with the ever present entries of Beverly and Alan's ex-chorus girl wise mother (in a memorable performance by the beautiful Jill St. John) Alan discovers Tommy is in Mexico needing his help. In a last attempt to regain his real love and mend past hurts, Alan goes to Mexico where Tommy has secluded himself. The title THE TRIP references an unfulfilled early promise of Alan and Tommy taking a Road Trip and it is this trip by car from Mexico back to the USA that ends the story.In keeping with the authenticity of the time frames, the stars are hampered in the first half of the film with outrageous long hair wigs and clothes that make them seem caricatures at first. But as with all of the cast (including Alexis Arquette in a fine cameo) the acting is strong enough to carry us with their transformation to the fine looking people they are. This film has many hilarious moments that serve to relieve the tension from the sad moments and in the end, despite all of the reminders of the mistakes of history, we are left with a beautifully tender love story - one the brings back (for this viewer) some of the best parts of the classic film MIDNIGHT COWBOY. Well worth your time!

Sly_Svaak Loved this movie! Sweet storyline, great writing and directing as well as great acting. Cast is very cute and makes you believe in the characters they are playing. I loved the fact that it is drawn out over 14 years and it intercepts real video images of events that were going on in the years the movie took place. It's been a while since a movie made me laugh and cry and wish that these characters were real so that I could meet them. I only wish that Tommy didn't have to die (sorry if I spoiled it for you) but then that's what made it so real. If he hadn't, it would have been a totally different movie so I guess the writer knew what he was doing. I hope that Miles Swain will provide us with a sequel... would watch it in a heartbeat!