WERE THE WORLD MINE

RYAN: Gimme an F!

CAROLINE: Seriously?

RYAN: Gimme an M!

CAROLINE: Whatever.

RYAN: What’s that spell? Fantasy musical! Two of my favorite genres collide in the clever, sexy and visually stunning film, “Were the World Mine.”

CAROLINE: I didn’t get to see this with you, but I know you were excited about the premise, which combines Shakespeare with music and burgeoning homosexuality.

RYAN: This movie represents sort of a new wave of independent filmmaking in which directors are distributing their movies themselves, kinda like music artists do when they release their own albums. I don’t know if it’ll work as well for movies though since when you’re self-distributing, you can probably only afford to get your movie in a couple theaters in NY and LA.

CAROLINE: This type of niche movie plays better on the coasts anyway. They can reach a wider audience with the DVD release.

RYAN: Totally. It’s directed by Tom Gustafson and it was inspired by a short film that he made. It’s a coming-of-age story about an out gay high school student well-played by Tanner Cohen, who’s very tall and very easy on the eyes. He’s a great singer; it’s a real breakout performance from him. In it, he’s struggling with being gay in a unsupportive town, and he goes on to turn the whole community, for a short period of time, into a gayborhood. It’s an interesting commentary on how a majority of gays would change the world.

CAROLINE: Isn’t there a high school play involved too?

RYAN: Yes. He attends an all boys academy which is putting on a musical version of Shakespeare’s “Midsummer Night’s Dream” with the female roles being played by boys. There’s a subplot with the soccer coach battling the drama teacher about not wanting the boys on his team playing girls’ roles. So it’s a very controversial concept at a pivotal time in our society for the gay rights movement.

CAROLINE: It’s political and musical all at the same time.

RYAN: The music is absolutely wonderful; I actually went on iTunes and downloaded some of the songs. My only complaint is there weren’t enough songs. It’s a short movie, about an hour and a half, and there were only three songs. There should have been at least seven.

CAROLINE: Are there any love scenes?

RYAN: A couple, and they’re refreshing. The whole film is beautiful from the lighting to the costumes to the set design. It almost reminded me of a darker “Moulin Rouge!” at moments. And Robin Williams’s daughter, Zelda Williams is in it. I wonder how she broke into the business?

CAROLINE: Ha. It must have been really hard for her.

RYAN: She’s actually very cute though, and she has a great voice. It also stars Judy McLane who was in Broadway’s “Mamma Mia!”

CAROLINE: Sounds like a movie tailor-made for you. What’s your bottom line?

RYAN: If it’s playing in your town, get out and see it. Any fan of movie musicals will appreciate it. It has terrific music that will stay with you and a great message to boot!