Rating: 
Summary: A gay "Truth or Dare"?
Review: This mock-"documentary" is cleaver in that, I'm assuming, it does tell a somewhat truthful story overall. The problem with this video is that is doesn't know whether it should be funny or serious and this is definately a huge mistake for this kind of project/subject matter. I personally LOVE dark humor......but this aint it!!
The best part is the scene in which the "mother" talks about accepting herself as a fit parent while she was dealing with the homophobic father of a dying AIDS patient on the phone. The worst part of this whole video (and frankly I almost stopped watching a few times just because of this), are the "date scenes", in which Dirk is set up by Playgirl to go on a contest winning date with some supposed hick gal who won it. The scenes never feel real and it's obvious that everyone is over-acting during the whole mess.
One thing I noticed is that while it isn't a great film, Dirk isn't a horrible actor and I think he's actually pretty attractive, where as before I just thought he was pretty. Also NYPD Blue fans will recognize the openly gay actor Bill Bochtrup in the role of AIDS patient and "discoverer" of Dirk the centerfold.
I can't recommend this as a great video BUT I was somewhat entertained or I would'nt bother to write about it. Buy at your own risk. Try to get it used if possible and save yourself some money. Do Not buy it if you think it's a sex film or you're hoping for nudity all over the place, there's no full frontal folks....sorry. Peace Out.
Rating:
Summary: Drowning in the Shallow End
Review: This movie is dunderheaded, offensive, and hot in about equal measure. Shafer is obviously a dazzling physical specimen, and no doubt that accounts for a lot of the interest in this film, as well as the intrigue of his sham heterosexual heartthrob status. However, an intrinsic drawback of this mockumentary genre is that the joke wears thin pretty fast, and we soon feel compelled to groan at the same stale, straightfaced antics. And when Shafer makes the egregious error of using a friend's illness from AIDS (in a particularly lame performance by the actor in the movie here) to lend some poignancy to his slender theme, one may feel compelled to throw something at the screen. The obvious self-satisfaction of these laidback, self-consciously hip types, laughing down their noses at the rubes who bought Shafer's ruse, grates. Shafer seems unaware what a sick joke his feeble movie has become. His obvious self-absorption and lack of acting ability doesn't help things either. One performance does transcend the generally flaccid narcissism and cheap theatrics: the woman who portrays Shafer's mother has a scene where she gets to suggest some of the pain of a mother who realizes what her gay son has had to go through. For a moment, we are lifted out of the sleaze of vanity and lame satire and elevated to the poignance of true human suffering.
Rating:
Summary: Drowning in the Shallow End
Review: This movie is dunderheaded, offensive, and hot in about equal measure. Shafer is obviously a dazzling physical specimen, and no doubt that accounts for a lot of the interest in this film, as well as the intrigue of his sham heterosexual heartthrob status. However, an intrinsic drawback of this mockumentary genre is that the joke wears thin pretty fast, and we soon feel compelled to groan at the same stale, straightfaced antics. And when Shafer makes the egregious error of using a friend's illness from AIDS (in a particularly lame performance by the actor in the movie here) to lend some poignancy to his slender theme, one may feel compelled to throw something at the screen. The obvious self-satisfaction of these laidback, self-consciously hip types, laughing down their noses at the rubes who bought Shafer's ruse, grates. Shafer seems unaware what a sick joke his feeble movie has become. His obvious self-absorption and lack of acting ability doesn't help things either. One performance does transcend the generally flaccid narcissism and cheap theatrics: the woman who portrays Shafer's mother has a scene where she gets to suggest some of the pain of a mother who realizes what her gay son has had to go through. For a moment, we are lifted out of the sleaze of vanity and lame satire and elevated to the poignance of true human suffering.
Rating: 
Summary: Horrible, Wretched, oh my g--
Review: While viewing this, you quickly realize that this should have been a "short" (10-15 minutes MAX!). Instead, you end up with a one dimensional joke that's stretched well over 80 minutes. There are some moments of brilliance and cleverness, but they are few and far between. It's more of a shameless Dirk Shafer promo piece than anything else, probably because his glory days are over and he has to get a real job. From the opening shot, you quickly realize that Dirk is getting old, like the rest of us, and that he looks NOTHING like he does on the cover of the DVD box or in the multitude of Playgirl pictures that are shown throughout the film. His choice of characterizations is quite irritating: the gay activists are shown as bitter queens whose lives won't be complete until they "out" him; and for being so in love with his own boyfriend, there are very few moments of genuine caring between them. As one reviewer mentioned, the AIDS sideplot is pathetic and really doesn't belong in this story. Must every gay-themed movie have someone dying of AIDS? Don't people die from car crashes anymore? Or gunshot wounds? The DVD itself is sorely lacking. There are NO extras whatsoever except for a trailer of the film and a scene access feature (they call it "interactive menus"...ha!). No commentary, no interviews, not even subtitles for the hearing-impared! The picture is full-frame; no widescreen is available. This is obviously another rush job on the part of Fox-Lorber. Avoid it.
Rating:
Summary: COULD HAVE BEEN FUNNY...TOO BAD.
Review: While viewing this, you quickly realize that this should have been a "short" (10-15 minutes MAX!). Instead, you end up with a one dimensional joke that's stretched well over 80 minutes. There are some moments of brilliance and cleverness, but they are few and far between. It's more of a shameless Dirk Shafer promo piece than anything else, probably because his glory days are over and he has to get a real job. From the opening shot, you quickly realize that Dirk is getting old, like the rest of us, and that he looks NOTHING like he does on the cover of the DVD box or in the multitude of Playgirl pictures that are shown throughout the film. His choice of characterizations is quite irritating: the gay activists are shown as bitter queens whose lives won't be complete until they "out" him; and for being so in love with his own boyfriend, there are very few moments of genuine caring between them. As one reviewer mentioned, the AIDS sideplot is pathetic and really doesn't belong in this story. Must every gay-themed movie have someone dying of AIDS? Don't people die from car crashes anymore? Or gunshot wounds? The DVD itself is sorely lacking. There are NO extras whatsoever except for a trailer of the film and a scene access feature (they call it "interactive menus"...ha!). No commentary, no interviews, not even subtitles for the hearing-impared! The picture is full-frame; no widescreen is available. This is obviously another rush job on the part of Fox-Lorber. Avoid it.
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