Most movies with gay characters are targeted at either a gay audience or a “mainstream” one. It’s rare that a movie — or a website for that matter (ahem, Modern Tonic) — has gay content that is meant for everyone, unless its gay story line is either neutered (My Best Friend’s Wedding), outlandishly flamboyant (The Birdcage) or about a tragic figure (Milk, Brokeback Mountain and Philadelphia). Dare (opens Friday in NYC and Los Angeles) is one of the exceptions.
The indie release, which premiered at Sundance and closed Los Angeles’ Outfest film festival over the summer, is about drama geek Alexa (actress/singer Emmy Rossum) and her best friend Ben (newcomer Ashley Springer) who, in their senior year, fall for the same popular guy: Johnny (Friday Night Lights’ Zach Gilford). Despite its well-known leads, the film won’t likely get much mainstream attention (don’t get us started on the sorry state of indie film), but it’s as much about the angst of high school as it is about the angst of budding homosexuality, and it treats stereotypical characters with surprising ambiguity.
Written by an openly gay guy (David Brind) and directed by a straight one (Adam Salky) — they teamed up while studying film at Columbia University — Dare has cameos from Alan Cumming and Sandra Bernhard and owes a nod to every high school-set story from My So-Called Life to Cruel Intentions. Dare hints at the promise of a new generation of queer writers and straight directors.
Dare opens Friday in New York and Los Angeles from Image Films.
