Mr. Smith Gets a Hustler

Rating:
Summary: Hustle is Right
Review: The only hustle here is the poor sap who gets hustled into spending bucks to see this movie because it stinks. Stinks big time. It looks like they took two dollars and got the cheapest sets and cameras they could and they begged their next door neighbors to be in the movie. The so-called hot guy isnt hot either, and if you cant figure out who Mr. Smith is ten minutes into the movie you need to get out more often. Waste of time and money.

Rating:
Summary: Don't Give Up Your Day Jobs, People
Review: The title of this DVD made me laugh, and when I laughed I decided to take a chance. Fortunately, playing Russian Roulette with DVDs isn't as dangerous as playing it with guns, because if it were MR. SMITH GETS A HUSTLER would have killed me dead.

MR. SMITH is based on a way-off-Broadway play by writer Matt Swan, who appears to have survived the opening night audience at least long enough to adapt his play into an incredible barrel of tripe for the screen. A handsome young male prostitute named Bobby (Alex Feldman) supports his single mother's alcoholism by working for a semi-evil pimp out of the most boring looking bar you can imagine--and he meets an older and distinguished looking man named "Mr. Smith" (Larry Pine.) Pretty soon the two are up in Mr. Smith's hotel room, but much to Bobby's surprise the client doesn't want do anything but talk about how Bobby's such a nice kid. Gee! What's going on?

Well, I'll tell you what's going on: a total waste of your time. The two leads aren't bad, really. Larry Pine seems to be a somewhat talented actor, and Alex Feldman is at least passable. But... the rest of the cast ranges from dismissible to flatly inept. Swan's script is atrocious, Joe Labisi's idea of cinematography is wannabe-arty angles that were passe fifty years ago, and Ian McCrudden's direction consists of putting the actors in front of the camera and hoping for the best.

Frankly, if I had been involved in this movie, I wouldn't admit it, much less put it on my resume. Don't give up your day jobs, people. Dire to the nth degree!

GFT, Amazon Reviewer

Rating:
Summary: true masterpiece of gay (erotic/mystery) cinema
Review: This is quite simply a precious gem of queer filmmaking. From the extravagant, lush shots of of the twinkling NYC skyline interspersed with the raw and gritty back alleys and cheap bars they hide -- to the many erotically charged, voyeuristic snippets of the NYC hustler world, teeming as it does here with gorgeous boys for rent -- to the move-you-to-tears performances of a top-notch cast -- this is a pure winner as entertainment and as art.

Ian McCrudden's direction is nearly flawless here, whether he's revving his audience up with smoldering not-quite-but-almost-pornographic action shots featuring the gorgeous Alex Feldman (and several other unnamed hotties you may recognize from more, er, "artistic" films -- blessedly, these actors don't need large speaking parts here), or whether he's leading you down the shadowy, forlorn path of the emotional mystery story that forms the core of his plot. Skilled craftsmanship and a keen sense of style were required to elevate this world of "smut" to these artistic heights. You will grieve for Bobby Blue as his world is shattered by Mr. Smith's secret. And you will at once love and hate -- and fear -- Mr. Smith for thrusting his mysterious presence into the world he himself made, and for suffering so brutally the consequences. (It isn't quite Hitchcock, and it isn't quite Chi Chi LaRue, but there are brilliant elements of both here.)

McCrudden may be legitimately questioned on one score: Are the hustlers' encounters so erotic and the climactic violent acts so brutal that they detract from the very human story that he is trying to tell? Perhaps. But perhaps it is with intent that he means to contrast the startling emotional impact of this story with the raw, super-sexualized energy of the world that frames these weak, lost characters. Either way, this film will yank you from Hollywood's sanitized world of play-acting and move you on many different levels.

And, of course, we anxiously await further efforts from the talented Alex Feldman. One hopes that his gifted acting will be as much of a star as his sweaty backside in future films. As both things had significant roles to play here, this lovely and sad film is a wonderful achievement with which to begin writing his resume.