The New Twenty (2009)

I think the problem here is more along the lines of why would you care? As a group of friends head towards their thirtieth birthdays, each has their moment in the sun in this dreary and plodding drama that contrives to make sure that each have their trials and tribulations. There’s the gay “Tony” (Andrew Wei Lin) who is dating an undetectable HIV+ lecturer whilst sharing an apartment with his best pal and cocaine addict “Felix” (Thomas Sadoski) who is best pals with “Julie” (Nicole Bilderback) who is about to marry “Andrew” (Ryan Locke) who meets “Robert” (Bill Sage) in the same sauna where “Tony” met “Louie” (Terry Serpico). “Robert” just happens to be a venture capitalist who offers to set him up in business and that gives “Andrew” a chance to employ “Tony” and maybe his other friend “Ben” (Colin Fickes) who cruises Grindr trying to pretend he is a little fitter than he actually is. Now the scene is set, we follow their interconnected shenanigans as one betrays another, or falls in love, or out of love, or… but who cares? The acting isn’t terrible, but the characters - excepts perhaps “Tony” are shallow, selfish and undercooked and the portmanteau nature of the story telling just leaves us observing a series of interwoven vignettes that just didn’t engage. There is a great deal of dialogue and not much else as the thing plods it’s way through ninety minutes before leaving us little the wiser as to why Chris Mason Johnson ever thought this was ever a solid idea for a film in the first place. To it’s credit, it doesn’t make any big deals about race or sexuality as it meanders along and that normalcy gives it a bit of credibility, but with that goes just too much that is overly contrived.