Last Summer (2013)

Gays have to stop rating movies highly just because cute boys are in love with each other in them. The first four minutes of this are literally close-up shots of walls, and it doesn't improve much after that. The rest of the movie consists mostly of interminable shots of people doing nothing. While that may be representative of small-town living, it doesn't make for a good movie.

This film starts out with close-up photographs of things you can't quite recognize and goes on feature beautiful shots throughout every scene. It's a sort of suspended time in the beautiful, small town south. Old buildings, town streets, shops, woods, homes, all shown in lovely light.

Luke and Jonah have been friends for most of their lives and boyfriends for years as well. They have a strong and comfortable relationship, but are different and heading in different directions. Luke is athletic and academically challenged and rooted in his hometown. It is uncertain whether he will pass a summer course in order to graduate and not repeat his senior year of high school Jonah is intellectual, artistic, adopted and has always felt out of place. He is off to college at the end of the summer. Though they want to maintain their relationship, they are both realistic that their efforts might not succeed.

The two are at an antique shop and Luke chooses to purchase an older camera. It turns out these will be the photos we see at the start of the film. He worries about Jonah falling in love with more interesting people than him and wanting to live in more interesting places (to Jonah) than their small town. His response is to appreciate their time together over the summer and not try to hold back Jonah from what he wants. It's a well-observed film with strong performances from the lead actors and a low current of dramatic tension that feels very organic.