Rating: 
Summary: Quietly Moving, Emotional Film
Review: THE TRIP is a great addition to your library if you are looking for a film that will touch your heart, make you laugh, and leave you thinking. It is so refreshing to find a movie that isn't geared solely to the circuit-boy mindset. If you missed it in its limited run in the theaters, I would recommend buying this for home viewing. No one plays their role over-the-top, and the actors carry the age range very well. Jill St John is great as the mom who figured her son out, and was ok with it. The two leads are handsome, and they capture your interest early.
Rating: 
Summary: Horrible!
Review: I had high expectations for this film after noticing that it has won a few awards and seemed to be liked by critics. I was sadly disappointed. The writing is horrible. The acting is horrible (except Jill St. John).What I'm more appaled at is that people actually gave this movie GOOD reviews! What type of melodramatic fantasy world do you people live in? One reviewer (on the DVD box) dares to proclaim that this film has 'the sort of humor that makes 'Will & Grace' a sitcom hit!' If 'Will & Grace' had any qualities of this film, it would have been cancelled after the first episode! Not even close. I do realize that this film is 'low-budget' and it may be difficult to get 'gay' movies made. It's very disappointing, though, that the films that do get greenlighted are so poorly crafted and so far behind anything considered 'acceptable' outside the gay community. Surely there are better gay writers out there who don't sound like they are writing a dating column for OUT magazine! Don't waste your time on this film. You'll be smarter for not having seen it.
Rating:
Summary: The Trip
Review: So I was browsing Amazon.com the other day and found this one independent film named "The Trip" and coincidentally I'd heard about it and had heard it was really good...... Anyway so after seeing the trailer from the official site (thetrip-themovie.com) I decided to buy it online. A couple of days later it arrived and sure enough I popped it in the DVD player and watched... so what did I think about it? Well let me not oversell this... IT'S THE BEST MOVIE EVER!!! ... It really is so good!!! It's the story of first love for these two guys and it begins in 1973 and follows them all the way through to 1984. It's so great... the cast is wonderful, the story is beautiful and poignant... it's got a lot of substance despite it being an indie film (I love indie films). It's also hilarious... which is amazing on its own because it's got so much to tell but never get preachy or boring or even sappy... and it still manages to be freaking funny! Laugh out loud funny! Now onto the superficial stuff... the actors are hot... ...and they have such chemistry together. It's not like you wath and say "Those two hated each other"... not at all... they're so good together. The lead character is Alan (played by Larry Sullivan, hot and so... adorable! He's guest starred on quite a few shows including Will & Grace... for those who wanna know, he's the dancer Will dated and was embarrassed to introduce to Grace... he's a great actor) and Tommy (Steve Braun... Canadian actor... very cute... very talented). The supporting cast (the noticeable ones anyway) are Beverly (played by Sirena Irwin) and Michael ( Alexis Arquette, David Arquette's younger brother and an indie film favorite). Alan is a "straight" republican aspiring author writing a book about the homosexual lifestyle through the ages... and he uses that as an excuse to get closer to the hot blonde he doesn't admit he's attracted to, Tommy. Tommy is an out and proud gay activist from Texas who just moved to L.A. to "change people's minds about gay people." His first friend in L.A. and roomate is Michael who is the kid you knew all through elementary school, junior high, and high school was gay. He's out there and quite flamboyant and well...... adorable and so ... funny! Beverly is Alan's girlfriend at the time Tommy and Alan meet and she is the ever evolving character in the movie. You see her change as time passes and you'll notice she's always just a tad ahead of her time... she becomes the boys' best friend despite her boyfriend Alan replacing her with Tommy. The DVD comes with great extra features like 8 deleted scenes, bloopers, cast/director/writer commentaries even for the deleted scenes... and a behind the scenes featurette. I recommend this movie very strongly and if you trust me enough... go and buy it...
Rating: 
Summary: A Timely, Sensitive Glance Over the Shoulder
Review: THE TRIP, written and directed by Miles Swain, is now available on DVD and perhaps in this venue it will receive the wider audience it justly deserves. So many of these independent little films that deal with important historical remembrances and social issues lack the funds for a wide theatrical release and PR. Unfortunate though that may be, releasing the DVD/VHS format for home consumption is bound to drive the messages so well presented here into the forefront of our thinking - especially with the increasing specter of AIDS burgeoning around the globe.
THE TRIP is an examination of the 1970s and 1980s and while it is a fine love story between two men at opposite ends of the political spectrum, it does not come across as a 'gay-only' film. Credit Miles Swain for bringing out not only a re-creation of the drugged out, hallucinatory 70s and the development of the effects 'post-Stonewall' on gay activism, but also including important film clip reminders of the Nixon/Johnson/Reagan era with its Anita Bryants/Harvey Milks/AIDS devastation. In this setting Swain introduces an intelligent gay man named Tommy (Steve Braun) who encounters a closeted confused 'Republican misfit' Alan (Larry Sullivan) and collide with great humor in the presence of the very funny Beverly (Sirena Irwin). Alan slowly opens the closet door and he and Tommy become lovers in a solid dignified relationship. Alan is a young novelist and during his closeted years wrote a book on homosexuality in a less than friendly light. Once with Tommy, Alan manages to prevent the book's being published only to have the dragon raise its ugly head four years later. Tommy leaves, Alan opines, and then with the ever present entries of Beverly and Alan's ex-chorus girl wise mother (in a memorable performance by the beautiful Jill St. John) Alan discovers Tommy is in Mexico dying of AIDS. In a last attempt to regain his real love and mend past hurts, Alan goes to Mexico where Tommy has secluded himself. The title THE TRIP references an unfulfilled early promise of Alan and Tommy taking a Road Trip and it is this trip by car from Mexico back to the USA that ends the story.
In keeping with the authenticity of the time frames, the stars are hampered in the first half of the film with outrageous long hair wigs and clothes that make them seem caricatures at first. But as with all of the cast (including Alexis Arquette in a fine cameo) the acting is strong enough to carry us with their transformation to the fine looking people they are. This film has many hilarious moments that serve to relieve the tension from the sad moments and in the end, despite all of the reminders of the mistakes of history, we are left with a beautifully tender love story - one the brings back (for this viewer) some of the best parts of the classic film MIDNIGHT COWBOY. Well worth your time!
Rating: 
Summary: Trying high, but reaching poor
Review: I purchased "The Trip" based on a trailer on another TLS release. The trailer let me belived the movie might be much better. Although a low budget movie, which is fine, I found the cript lacking some real material. Cliches, after cliches, it seems that the writer has not seen any other movies in ages. Give us soemthing new. The acting is average. I also regret the fact that the movie is shown is full screen, instead of letterbox. I would pass this one, of watch it well advise that this might dissapoint you.
Rating:
Summary: Riveting...not to be missed
Review: The Trip is just that - a romantic comedy/drama and history lesson rolled into one. Certain to make you laugh "out loud" and cry tears of joy and tears of pain. The movie follows the lives of 2 opposites, Alan and Tommy from their meeting in the early 70's through the 1980's. Inside the story line are interwoven glimpes of our very short gay and lesbian human rights history - many through actual images, voice and video impacting our world during the period including the Nixon years, Carter, Anita Bryant, Reagan and eventually AIDS. A love story and history lesson unfold quickly in this well acted and directed film. A MUST for your collection. As someone now in their 30's, this is a trip down memory lane, as I recall the times reflected upon. For those younger, a lesson on the battles already fought and won, and those we need to keep fighting. For those older, probably an even more impacting film. Not just a historical perspective, the film is full of love and humor. In my estimate, the film rates high with some of my other favorites including Torch Song Trilogy and The Sum of Us. Not to be missed!
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful movie
Review: I loved this film. I was able to show this movie to my straight friends, male and female, they only squirmed a bit.
I was impressed by the footage they showed of the struggle for gay rights through the 70's and onto the 80's. Most of my friends had no idea so much occurred with the gay rights movment. (they dont say much about the gay rights movment in schools, even to this day)
Larry Sullivan is beyond adorable as Adam and Jill St John is wonderful as Adam's Mother.
Rating:
Summary: The Best Gay-Themed Movie..EVER!!!
Review: I first rented this DVD from Netflix,and after watching it,realized if ever there was a MUST OWN DVD, The Trip is IT!! This movie`s appeal will resonate with a very broad audience,..not only the gay audience for which it was made..The themes in this superbly written and acted film reach across all lines of society..straight and gay alike.Larry Sullivan and Steve Braun as the lead characters,Alan and Tommy,not only bring these two characters to life,they are so convincing that they actually BECOME these two men.Sirena Irvin and indie fave Alexis Arquette are hilarious in their supporting roles along with veteran stars Jill St.John and Ray Baker.Not to be overlooked on the DVD is the director`s commentary which provides an interesting "backstory" about the movie as well as a commentary on FALCON`S LAIR..the legendary last home of Rudolph Valentino at which much of the movie was filmed(The first time ever this home has been used in a movie)!Miles Swain,the writer director,in my opinion is a very talented man and I only hope we see much more from him and the rest of this outstanding cast!This movie is NOT TO BE MISSED!!!!
Rating:
Summary: Great!
Review: Miles Swain's ambitious and moving "The Trip" is a journey well worth taking, encompassing a tender, wrenching love story set against an 11-year span of the gay rights movement, from 1973 to 1984. Swain balances the personal and the political, allowing his film to be intimate while keeping a larger perspective. It is refreshing to see people on screen who are living in a real world. There is some first-film awkwardness; the harrowing concluding sequence that gives the film its title is a bit drawn out, and Swain tends to over-caricaturize the styles and trends of the '70s, the decade he was born. But the film's occasional rough-around-the-edges quality fades alongside Swain's flair for succinct characterization, his storytelling and, above all, his ability to create two involving central figures, portrayed with impressive range by his two young stars, Larry Sullivan and Steve Braun. The film opens the year the American Psychiatric Assn. declassified homosexuality as a mental illness and concludes with the breakout of AIDS in the '80s. During that period, the gay community was hit by Anita Bryant's homophobic campaign in 1977 and the assassination of pioneering San Francisco gay politician Harvey Milk the following year. When Sullivan's Alan and Braun's Tommy meet, they are at opposite ends of the political spectrum. Tommy is an openly gay, committed activist, while Alan, a Young Republican, has just begun a career as a reporter at a Los Angeles daily; in an attempt to deny his homosexuality, he is completing a homophobic history of gays. But sex overwhelms politics, and Alan embarks upon the path of self-acceptance as his romance with Tommy flourishes. Alan is relieved that his publisher has dropped plans for the manuscript he now disowns. Swain skillfully plots tumultuous developments in the lives of the lovers, triggered by Alan's mentor, Peter (Ray Baker), a friend of Alan's father (Art Hindle) from the military and a politically powerful attorney. Peter holds gay sex-and-drug orgies at his magnificent secluded estate (Rudolph Valentino's Falcon's Lair), but his public persona is that of a rugged conservative. Peter's personal ambition and private desires outweigh the welfare of others; he wouldn't hesitate to harm the interests of those of his own sexual orientation both on a political and personal basis. (Think Roy Cohn.) Swain may resort to melodrama and comic relief in telling this story, but it is anchored to a sure sense of psychological validity and blunt social realties. Cinematographers Charles Barbee and Scott Kevan make the modestly budgeted "The Trip" look good. Baker is solid as a man who induces wariness -- but just the type to inspire trust in a naif like Larry. Alexis Arquette is fun as Tommy's campy pal who grows increasingly serious, and Jill St. John lends crucial support as Alan's glamorous, perceptive mother, carrying off the film's key comic sequence. Sirena Irwin is stuck playing an embodiment of '70s fads; luckily, she turns up later as a surprisingly sane type. In little more than 90 minutes, "The Trip" covers a lot of territory, and it adds up to quite an accomplishment.
Rating:
Summary: Yeah, don't compare this to Thelma and Louise
Review: Another reviewer gave The Trip 1 star and said not to compare this movie to Thelma and Louise. I studied Thelma and Louise in a film class, and I can tell you this: that entire movie was based on the most ridiculous set up I have ever witnessed: first we have Thelma, who is so afraid of her husband's revolver that she holds it with her thumb and finger - like someone would hold a turd or something radioactive. Then, we're supposed to believe that despite her INTENSE aversion to this gun, she decides to bring it along on their trip. (GIVE ME A BREAK) 2nd, we have Ms. Louise. Louise is totally in control, a neat freak, a bit anal about the cleaning around the house, etc, etc. Bottom line, she's miss cool customer, in control at all times. Except of course when we need the ridiculous plot twist where Louise completely loses control, pulls out the gun that Thelma brought, and then shoots and kills a man just because he insulted her! Oh my god. That is the most ridiculous set up ever. The entire movie is based upon this completely irrational event. So I agree with the uninformed reviewer that said not to compare the Trip to that crappy movie...The Trip is a sweet movie with moments of hilarity and at no point do the characters do things which are completely ridiculous and insanely implausible given their personality and character development - something which that other movie cannot say, not that I'm comparing them or anything! ;-)
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