QFest is thrilled to host the world premiere of the often hilarious, raucous tale of what one man would do to gain back his ex. Paul (Benjamin Lutz, Love Bites) is a cocky, fast-talking, hard-living, self-centered hunk and ad executive who thinks he may have lost a good thing when sensitive hunk Brad (John Werskey, also in Love Bites) drops him and begins dating another man. Not used to losing and determined to regain his love, Paul, in Lucy-inspired “great idea,” announces to all that he has cancer, a sad situation which is sure to have Brad running back to him. But the plan he concocted spirals out-of-control when Paul’s family spring into action by moving into his apartment and making it a near-hospice. With distraught parents and a skeptical sister hovering around, any chance of reigniting the romance with his ex becomes remote. A plan B is needed! Populated by outrageous characters, this is a fun, entertaining, wacky romantic comedy of what one man would do for love, brought to us by director Michael Simon (Gay Zombie). — Raymond Murray
Reviews by Amos Lassen
I can’t think of too many films that I love from the moment I begin watching but I must say that Michael Simon’s “The Love Patient” had me from the moment it began. Everything about it is very professional and the actors are beautiful to look at. Romantic comedy can be a very tricky genre since the film industry has been so filled with them. Finding something new cannot be too easy and balancing romance with comedy can be somewhat hard to do. Michael Simon does it and does it with style. How often does one watch a film with a smile on his face all the way through? I was very lucky that no one dropped in because I grinned all the way through the film.
The story is simple. Paul (Benjamin Lutz) is an advertising executive who lost his boyfriend, Brad (John Werskey who is very easy on the eyes) when he dumped him and Paul has never gotten over this. Brad moved on and is dating Ted (Jackson Palmer) and he understands that what was is over. Paul, on the other hand, cannot get over the loss of Brad and it is even more difficult in that they work at the same place. Paul comes up with a scheme to get Brad back– he stages his own cancer diagnosis and he thinks that Brad will come back to him out of sympathy. But then Paul’s whole mispoocha (family—mother, father and sister) move into his house so they will be there to nurse him through his chemo treatments. Stephanie, Paul’s very rich sister, suspects something is not kosher and the fun begins. The scene with the family eating dinner on a Friday evening won me over totally. Mother Esther lights the Sabbath candles and Paul says, “Enough with the Judaism”. I laughed uncontrollably but there is something very serious here– how we turn to religion when we need something… like a cure for cancer.
I love, love, love this movie and the mixture of grief (from cancer), love, laughs and fun is absolutely wonderful. The characters are outrageous but believable. The acting is fine with just the right amount of kitsch; the cinematography is beautiful and Simon’s direction is excellent. The film premieres at Philadelphia’s QFest this summer so if you are around, make sure you see it or you will have to wait for a DVD release and as far as I know there is no information on that. Werskey and Lutz are also in another film on the festival circuit this summer, “Bite Marks” which I also recently reviewed. The two films are totally different in every aspect and we are very lucky when we get a GOOD gay romantic comedy as they are few and far between. So I ask myself, what happens when you put good looking men together with a literate plot, excellent direction and fine acting? You get a hit and that is exactly what “The Love Patient” is.
Amos Lassen
Benjamin Lutz has real movie star chops. That much is certain after watching him carry the story of a lying, selfish manipulator from start to finish without ever losing his charm. Handsome but not primped to the 9th, Lutz has an easy-going accessibility that makes him an ideal leading man for romantic comedies like this one.
Playing an ad executive who pretends to have cancer as a last-ditch attempt to bring his ex back into the fold, Lutz navigates the character of Paul as an immature but well-meaning huckster and steers clear of the kind of smarmy arrogance that could have poisoned the appeal of his character. Coercing your doctor to lie to your family and carrying on a charade of phony chemo treatments for as long as it takes to get an ex out of his new beau’s arms and into your makeshift home hospital bed is a pretty low tactic; Pulling that off without looking like a downright bad person is no small feat, and in the hands of a lesser actor the story could have crashed and burned before the first I.V. was jammed into the our love patient’s bloodstream.
There are some strong supporting performances as well, such as the delightfully campy scenery-chewing screen time of Madison Gray as Paul’s foil and younger sister Madison, a self-made woman who resents her brother’s uncanny ability to luck out despite his clumsy, self-centered ways. Paul’s mother (Laura Ulsh) is also a force to be reckoned with, particularly when she hosts a macrobiotic dinner and hallucinogen-spiked new age-y ceremony led by a wild-eyed hippie with an indiscernible accent named Earth (Annabelle Monroe).
John Werskey, as Paul’s ex Ted, brings things down to earth as he earnestly struggles with Paul’s condition with his residual affections bubbling up to the surface, and the events unfold just as they should, although the pace does drag at times.
There is a streak of a sort of sitcom television mildness running through The Love Patient that stops it just short of its potential. This is, after all, a pretty dark affair, what with the C word hovering over everything, but other than a feather-light storyline involving a young boy who is afflicted, much of the story is played safe, almost to the point of blandness, and there are scenes where the actors visibly struggle to bring life to some stilted bits of dialogue. In a TV format, Paul’s apartment, where he spends most of the film, might suffice as the primary set, but on film the apartment doesn’t provide enough visual bang for your movie buck. It feels and sounds a little empty and stifling.
In any case, the premise for the The Love Patient provides a gutsy platform for the rom-com antics therein, and the conniving primary character Paul is brought to life with warmth and affability by actor Benjamin Lutz, whose love patient could drive a man’s man to a rush degree in nursing.
Alejandro Morales, QFest Attendee
I was privileged to screen this movie while it was making the festival circuit. As with all festival movies, I watched it with no expectations – I go in expecting nothing, watching them with an open mind to see what I see.
What I found in The Love Patient was a movie that was clearly filmed with a low budget, but a great deal of heart and considerable considerable effort on the part of the cast and crew.
Was this a Hollywood blockbuster? No, of course not. Was it a multi-camera, special effects extravaganza, nope. Was it a well acted, well written and well directed movie that gets its point across – absolutely.
I have been an aficionado of independent gay movies. I frequently scour the Netflix movie list for anything even remotely gay, so I can screen them and check them out. In that pursuit I have seen some horribly awful movies in the written by/directed by/starring category. This movie is not one of them.
Was this movie Latter Days, 24 Days of Christmas or other such gems? No, it wasn’t. Was it an enjoyable, humorous romp of the typical romcom variety? Yes it was.
What is honestly reminded me of was an episode of Three’s Company or I Love Lucy. Character gets a crazy idea to win back the love of his life. Whacky plan is implemented. Craziness ensues, including crazier family, misunderstandings and miscommunication, brushes with illegality, moral ambiguities, then ultimately the right decision is made.
Adding to the whole package is an extremely attractive cast led by Benjamin Lutz, John Wersky, Jackson Palmer and the lovely Madison Gray.
As mentioned earlier, obviously budgets were limited so clearly sets were improvised and re-used. The careful viewer can see that the same sets where re-used for different scenes – but who cares? The “moral” of the story comes across easily, and the acting is – IMHO – superb. It’s clear that well made movies do NOT take multi-million dollar budgets.
My hat goes off to write/director Michael Simon. He clearly had a vision for this movie, he gave his heart and soul to it and he made it happen. It is a whacky romantic comedy that may not be for everyone, but despite some of the (clearly disgruntled) reviews on IMDB this is a good movie that deserves to be seen. Judge this movie on its merits, not on other peoples’ biased reviews (who probably are deeply involved in competing movies from the festival circuit).
Watch the movie, enjoy it, and make your own decision from there. I’ll bet you will enjoy it and have fun.
Toantom, TLA Customer & Semi-Professional Movie Reviewer
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