Bob is a chubby, not overly attractive gay man who carries about all the acquired baggage of being gay in a straight world as well as feeling undeserving of love in the gay world. It's understandable that this burden has left him with a poor self-image, a suspicion of anyone who might appear attracted to him and a defensive, protective bitchiness to stave off any more rejection. I happened to re-watch Love! Valour! Compassion! the same day I watched this film and Jason Alexander plays a similar role, further complicated by being HIV positive. Jason Alexander successfully engenders sympathy and compassion, both among his friends and those watching the movie. Jonathan Lesecki as Bob, not so much.
As the synopsis states: Bob has "fabulous friends" and a "great job" as a supposedly much sought after party planner. It's a little difficult to buy into Bob's party planning success with the few drab, low-key examples in the movie. Even more difficult to understand is how Bob managed to acquire & keep these fabulous friends or the two guys who appear to be romantically attracted to him.
Two of his "fabulous" friends, Aidan and Chase, are indeed beautiful in appearance, funny and amazingly supportive. I think their presence saved the movie for me. Still, exactly why they seem to have taken on the mission of befriending and encouraging Bob remains a mystery. Bob is nothing like the other friends they have, shares none of their interests or enthusiasms and at times is caustically offensive to them. Why their friendship with him endures defies reason.
Bob's self-deprecating humor is sometimes somewhat comedic, though often tedious, and his constant stream of self-loathing while keeping people at a safe distance must wear thin on those he knows. It might be explained as a consequence of all his insecurities, but why he has managed to keep any friends at all is inexplicable. Bob does not engender love or compassion and those who stick by him during his trials and tribulations must have very high pain thresholds.
He has an ongoing slightly amusing banter with his mother, but she is a two-dimensional character that contributes nothing useful to the story and, had her character been eliminated from the movie it would have moved things along at a better pace with no loss.
"Real" people do not conform to stereotypes nor do they behave predictably, but stereotypes exist for a reason and too many characters in this movie behave in ways that seem unfathomable in the context of the story. And yet as is true in most fantasies and fairy tales, all is eventually & inexplicably resolved, more or less. True love and affirming self-esteem survive Bob's best efforts to kill them off. For some reason the resolution doesn't inspire hope so much as incredulity and relief that the credits should start rolling before long.
I've generously given the movie a neutral 5. Some of the issues explored have been dealt with far better in other films. At times the point about loss of self-esteem in an image-conscious environment is rather heavy- handed and preachy. There are probably better things you could do with your time, although Ethan Le Phong, who also appeared in Naked Boys Singing, and Todd Stroik, make watching the movie bearable
which is ironic since their physical beauty and charm negate the movie's message about inner beauty being more important than superficial and physical characteristics.
