|
The Trip is an ambitiously epic gay
romance that traces the course of two men from their
initial meeting as teenagers in 1973 until 1984.
The time is the socially turbulent 1970s when radical
politics and the emerging gay rights movement clashed
with the rigidly conservative establishment.
Buy it here! |
At a swanky L.A. party, lean and lanky Tommy (Steve Braun)
locks eyes with the sexually and politically repressed
Alan (Larry Sullivan). Tommy has long blond hair, and is
openly gay with a glib sense of humor. While he’s
organizing for gay civil rights, the muscular, shaggy-haired
Alan is a member of the Young Republicans and an aspiring
journalist. He is working on his first book, a treatise
on the evils of homosexuality, and invites Tommy over for
dinner to interview him for the book. The sexual tension
is so intense that Alan's kooky girlfriend Beverly (Sirena
Irwin) quickly departs, leaving the two to begin a hot
and steamy romance.
Fast forward to 1977 – Anita Bryant is organizing
the "Save Our Children" campaign in Florida and
Alan's book has been published anonymously and used as
a tool by the right-wingers. When word is leaked about
who actually wrote the book, Tommy angrily leaves Alan
and quickly becomes a "kept boy" of Peter (Ray
Baker), a closeted wealthy gay man. Flash-forward again
to the eighties, where Tommy and Alan meet up again, making
this life-long romance come full circle. Supporting roles
in this love story are played by Alexis Arquette as Tommy's
trampy roommate, Julie Brown as a Madonna-styled secretary
and Jill St. John as Alan's floozy mother who never fails
in her efforts to embarrass her conservative husband (soon
to be ex) and her button-down gay son.
The period sets, costumes and music add loads of campy
fun to this funny, touching, political and powerfully romantic
and political drama.
|
