“I DO”— Love and Friendship
“I Do”
Love and Friendship
Amos Lassen
One of the films that is gaining a lot of attention on the festival circuit is Glenn Gaylord’s “I Do”. David W. Ross wrote the screenplay and stars as Jack, a British citien living in America and helping to raise his niece. Is brother had been killed in an accident some seven years before the film begins. When his work visa expires, he understands that the only way he can stay in this country is to marry and so he turns to Ali (Jamie-Lynn Sigler), his lesbian co-worker and best friend. They get married but things really get complex when Jack meets Mano, a Spanish architect, (Maurice Compe) and falls for him right away.
Jack wants to be in love and is ready for it and we feel that in Ross’s fine performance. The film actually looks at gay marriage and makes some fine points about it. Gay marriages which are legal in some states are not legal on the federal level so there is no real equality for same-sex marriages. We also get a look at what happens when an American citizen marries a non-citizen. We are also given a look at the differences between friendship and love. When the sham marriage between Jack and Ali falls apart, David learns quickly that Mano cannot protect him from deportation and his situation become tenable. Further complicating things is Jack’s commitment to his dead brother’s widow and Jack faces a very big decision.
I suspect that there will be a great many movies made about gay marriage now that it has become such a major issue and is even one of the points in the upcoming presidential election. Rumor has it that is a film not to be missed and there is no question about how contemporary it is.
- Posted in: GLBT Film
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