★ 3 / 10
This is about a young man dealing with
kinrich30
This is about a young man dealing with a childhood trauma and also coming to terms with being gay. The story was pretty good, although it doesn't really reveal…
This is about a young man dealing with a childhood trauma and also coming to terms with being gay. The story was pretty good, although it doesn't really reveal he was dealing with trauma until the end of the movie, even though it was billed that way. My only thing was that the ending felt a little weak. You go through the whole build up to the revelation, they deal with it for a few minutes and then it flashes to a future time and we don't see the full fallout from the revelation.
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★ 5 / 10
Emmanuel" (Andre Myers) - who takes a shower
CinemaSerf
"Emmanuel" (Andre Myers) - who takes a shower whilst still wearing his glasses (?) - can't decide what milk to buy for baking. Luckily for him, hunky…
"Emmanuel" (Andre Myers) - who takes a shower whilst still wearing his glasses (?) - can't decide what milk to buy for baking. Luckily for him, hunky supermarket assistant manager "Demetrius" (Jerimiyah Dunbar) is on hand. Later on, and luckily again, this same man is there to stop him driving home whilst blotto! Next morning he wakes up in strange surroundings, quickly discovering that he is in the bed of his new guardian angel (alone). Hastily, and embarrassingly, he meets the young man's two gay dads before they take a bus into town. Sobered up, "Manny" suggests they hang out for a bit and it's at this point we discover that he has some intimacy issues - which the rest of this film sets about explaining to us. The last ten minutes sort of redeem it, but for the most part this is a poorly paced affair with Myers turning in a performance that I found just too tepid before an ending that is hinted at earlier, but rushed and undercooked when it comes. Clearly made on a tiny budget, the hand held camerawork is twitchy and disorientating at times, and the dialogue struggles to put any meat on the bones of this really rather disappointing, if quite good looking, story.
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★ 5 / 10
Strangely written movie with a couple of good performances
volare12
I watched "As I Am" after reading the reviews on this site. I'm not sure why I read the reviews first, and I'm not sure why I watched the movie after reading…
I watched "As I Am" after reading the reviews on this site. I'm not sure why I read the reviews first, and I'm not sure why I watched the movie after reading them, since they seemed to be largely negative. Normally that would have put me off, but the trailer was intriguing enough to me that I decided to give it a go anyway.
I won't lie: much of the negativity on here is definitely justified. The worst aspect of the movie by far is the writing, acting and direction of the principal adult characters. As the respective parents of Emmanuel and Demetrius (the two young men who are the romantic protagonists of the story), they simply do not resemble any real people on this planet - they are over the top caricatures and stereotypes saying and doing ridiculous things, and I was cringing in disbelief watching their scenes (some of which appear to be intended as comic relief but fall way short of the mark). It's hard to pick who is the worst offender acting-wise, but my vote would be Rodney Chester as Kevin, one of Demetrius' adoptive fathers who's way too in touch with his inner "sassy black woman" - a truly obnoxious performance.
The shallow awfulness of these characters cannot be overstated, and its effect on the movie as a whole is almost insurmountably detrimental. Which is too bad, because Emmanuel and Demetrius, whose story this is, are actually interesting and appealing. They could have been better developed (the film is very short for a feature, clocking in at just over an hour, so a little more time spent on the principal relationship would not have been a bad thing), but actors Andre Myers and Jerimiyah Dunbar have a great chemistry together and are very convincing in their roles. Myers has the more difficult part - his socially awkward Emmanuel appears almost on the autism spectrum at times - but he pulls it off very well, and Dunbar has a natural screen presence, making Demetrius very likable, with both worldliness and vulnerability. I did find it believable that the two characters would fall for each other, primarily because of the actors' skills, but the writer would have done well to flesh out their relationship more. The ending is abrupt and very clumsily handled - out of left field Emmanuel confronts a familial abuse situation from his past, but it's just barely touched on, and the next thing you know the two romantic heroes are apparently heading off together for parts unknown.
I wouldn't say this is a good movie, but it does have some worthwhile ideas floating around in it, and two commendable lead performances. Several reviewers have complained about the sound quality, but I didn't notice anything particularly amiss about it, and that's something that *would* bother me if it was present. If you watch "As I Am", my advice would be to fast forward through any scenes that the parents are in - you won't be missing anything.
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50%
TOMATOMETER
· 6 reviews
71%
AUDIENCE
4.7/10
2.5K
