Rating: 
Summary: Is there shame in your love?
Review: I have to say that I truly enjoyed Big Eden. It is a story about a man who left his hometown for reasons that he has to deal with. It is a story that many, many gay men have and do experience everyday. As I titled this review, "Is there shame in your love?", is appropriate for many men who come from a strict family background and have grown up believing that love between two men or two women is wrong. His grandfather eventually shows him how much he loves his grandson by giving him a sort of okay to love as he does. That there is no shame in his love. If only all parents could be so. I recommend this story to those people who are questioning their love and find shame in it.
Rating:
Summary: Thoroughly enjoyable fantasy
Review: What I have enjoyed most about this movie is trying to figure out the "back story" that put the characters where they are in this movie. I can't help but think that Big Eden was not what it is now. That as times have changed, so have the people of Big Eden. The movie is predictable, but for me, all the more enjoyable for that.Henry, a successful NY artist (and he's not getting ready for his first opening, just an important one), returns to Big Eden to care for his ailing grandfather. He has spent the last 18 years in NY trying unsuccessfully to get over his highschool crush, Dean. I think probably because he ran away in the first place and never had closure. Pike, the owner of the local market/coffee house, secretly loves Henry, maybe since highschool. That question, although asked, is never answered. Pike is so shy that he cannot tell Henry how he feels, so he cooks for him. Dean, Henry's heartthrob, has recently moved back to Big Eden too. Dean desperately wants to be in Henry's life, but he "can't" be in it the way Henry wants him to be. A lot of the relationship between Dean and Henry, I think, is about coming to terms with how to love each other without being "together." It's not really summed up in the end, but you can imagine that Henry was probably best man at Dean's wedding. Both Henry and Pike are fairly closed off people, not just in the closet. It's wonderful to see them both come out of their shells. Pike's cooking scenes with his cronies are a hoot. My only complaint is that I would have loved a longer, more detailed, epilogue.
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting Perspective, Slightly Fluffy, Yet Enjoyable
Review: It was fantastic to see the stereotypical gay landscape change for once. "Big Eden" is a wonderful affirmation that gay life does, in fact, exist outside of a few big cities. Yes, gay people exist without clubs and leather or whatever else the rest of those movies must imply. The mood of the film is comfortable, which is what you feel from watching the people of this small town, who are quite accepting, contrary to skewed perceptions about those places after the Matt Sheppard event. Henry Hart is a loveable character, but my favorite is Pike, the shy guy who tries to win Henry's heart by cooking up delicious meals for him (secretly) and that angle is just kind of, well, beautiful. So in other words, it's a feel-good, funny movie which dispels some horrible myths that people in the Mid-West or Mountain state are just a bunch of "narrow-minded, ignorant rednecks."
Rating:
Summary: Happiness is a warm movie
Review: Big Eden is the one gay movie all your friends will enjoy. (All MY friends have loved it anyway!) Everyone - gay or straight, has yearned for someone to love them, and these 2 hours of sheer joy brings back that certain feeling all over again!
Plot:
Gay painter Henry Hart upsets his busy New York career by returning to his hometown of Big Eden, Montana, to care for his ailing grandpa. Meeting up with childhood crush Dean gets him contemplating to stay on in Big Eden. Trouble is - Dean is straight and likely to remain so.
The gentle townspeople badly wants to include Henry in their community and so a plan takes shape. This includes a matchmaking widow, the painfully shy Indian manager of the local store, and some wonderful cooking... Few romantic movies live up to their own hype. This one does. Big Eden has that intensely self-contained mood you want to experience again and again. It doesn't relate to a singular time or place. It's not dependent on anything but your imagination. Like Wuthering heights, Portrait of Jennie, Elvira Madigan, Summer of 42 and Love Story, it's simply there to be enjoyed by lovers of all creeds. It could be the music - country and western love songs have rarely been used this effectively. It could be the scenery: Big Eden, Montana is shot in a National Park, all woodlands and mountains. It could be the cinematography, shaded autumnal tones, wonderfully lit log cabin interiors, the brilliant big sky. And, of course, the actors, the direction... I guess I have to use the well-worn cliché: This movie IS greater than the sum of its parts. And very, very enjoyable. 5 stars.
Rating: 
Summary: Big Eden: Like No Place on Earth
Review: Sort of a lite, gay Jane Austen novel set in the lush landscape of backwoods Montana, "Big Eden" is sweet, gentle, and warm enough to overcome its many rough edges and decidedly low aim. Successful New York artist Henry (schlebby Arye Gross) moves back to Montana to take care of his ailing grandfather, and begins of veritable marathon of romantic matches, mistakes, and misunderstandings. Hijinks ensue. It's all very silly, a little confusing, and highly engaging. It's no wonder festival audiences and DVD renters have responded so favorably The major critical complaint about "Big Eden" seems to be that it isn't "realistic" enough--that is, it's a gay movie without bashing, AIDS, or self loathing. Ok, ok. Big Eden isn't an entirely real place. But I've never heard "Pretty Woman" criticized for not having enough cancer, or "Ghost" ridiculed for it's lack of wife beating. Perhaps those who see gay men and woman as essentially tragic figures may be disappointed by "Big Eden." But those of us who know our lives run the gamut from silly to sublime should enjoy our very own date movie moment.
Rating:
Summary: A Must See Movie
Review: Hetrosexuals need to see this movie as an example on how to treat homosexuals and themselves.
Homosexuals need to see this movie as an example on how they should view themselves.
The beauty of the story and the people is only eclipsed by the beauty of the scenery. Those with a large screen will enjoy the impact even more.
Rating:
Summary: If you like your movies warm-and-fuzzy
Review: This movie has a winning charm. If only we could all have the fortune of growing up in a town that was so supportive! The supporting characters threaten to steal every scene in which they appear. (And I especially loved, loved, LOVED the widow.) BIG EDEN is an unusually warm-and-fuzzy, often humorous gay romance without resorting to using gay men as the object of stereotypical humor. These characters are among the more realistic and noble depictions of gay men on film today. We need more uplifting movies like BIG EDEN. However, I've given this movie four stars out of five because, at times, I felt that it went just a little too far, verging on becoming schmaltzy and saccharine. Of course, you may like your movies with that little extra spot o' sugar.
Rating:
Summary: New York meets the back woods and gets real.
Review: A great movie with wonderful characters that are easy to identify with. Every gay man has a high school sweetheart that he fantasizes about, most get over it more quickly. The true nature that shows through is that what matters most is love. As corny as it sounds it plays beautifully, and the soundtrack was one of the best for this wonderfully scripted country love story. It is too bad that most of the world does not see things so clearly as all of the characters. The whole premise of sometimes you don't know true love till it hits you in the face and then the stomach is beautifully protrayed. Even your favorite straight friends would enjoy this story.
Rating: 
Summary: A Better Eden
Review: "Big Eden" must represent an idealized reality. The tolerance and understanding shown seem like a place one would hope to find rather than a place that exists on the map. Even given that premise, it isn't good cinema, especially compared to "Far From Heaven." Arye Gross played Adam on the Ellen DeGeneres Show & had a small part in Spielberg's "Minority Report." Here his character Adam Hart is a wishy-washy self-involved guy who is profoundly untalented at reading other people. "Last of the Mohicans" actor Eric Schweig plays his love interest, Pike. There isn't much chemistry between these two. Most of the romance happens anonymously with Pike cooking gourmet dishes, passing them off as the Widow Thayer's. The other hole is Dean, played by Tim McKay who was an agent in "Swordfish" with John Travolta. Dean whacks Hart on the butt, keeps flinging his arm around him, and bear hugging. We get that he likes Hart, but what's going on is never articulated. Is Dean bi-sexual? Is he a hetero who's trying to be gay? Who knows? So the torch Adam carries for Dean for 20 years is nonsensical. Nan Martin as Widow Thayer is a great busybody. What Grace Cornwell's relationship to the Hart family is unclear despite Louise Fletcher's good portrayal. The soundtrack is enjoyable with Lucinda Williams, but the film just doesn't hang together. Yes, it would be nice to live in a place as tolerant as Big Eden. That's the only thrill here. Taxi!
Rating:
Summary: Send a Message to My Heart....
Review: Don't miss this one. Big Eden shows us a town that is more loving and caring while fairly lacking in bigotry and prejudice. What a nice way to spend a movie.
Give a lot of credit to the creators for an entire package: great acting, rustic beautiful scenery, music, humor, drama, cuisine, love, death,.... A total movie. I really loved Pike and Henry, but the entire cast is great, lots of fun characters. Fill the popcorn bowl and enjoy!
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