Jump to the good stuff: The Story | Some Thoughts | The Final Verdict
The Story:
Looking (the movie) continues the story of Patrick (Jonathan Groff), Agustín (Frankie J. Alvarez), and Dom (Murray Bartlett) that was started in the series of the same name.
It’s been nine months since Patrick left San Francisco to live in Denver only to return for Agustín and Eddie’s (Daniel Franzese) wedding. When Patrick arrives, he finds that Dom’s chicken restaurant is doing well, Doris (Lauren Weedman) is still with Malik (Bashir Salahuddin), and Richie (Raúl Castillo) is still seeing brady (Chris Perfetti). Also, while he’s in town, Patrick decides to find closure with Kevin (Russell Tovey) and make amends with Richie. And with that, the drama begins.
Some Thoughts:
Looking (the movie) often feels like a film searching for a story. The acting is still good, and it flows well, but the plot flounders around and feels trite and uninspired. Nothing interesting happens and it doesn’t try to say anything new about the LGBT community or society at large.
Like the series, the movie has opportunities to explore deeper issues but settles on being trite and shallow. Brady clearly has a problem with alcohol, but it’s never fully explored. At one point it becomes clear that Brady’s drinking is affecting his relationship with Richie, but the writers push it to the side. And because of that, the film feels tired and dull.
While all the characters’ motivations are clear, Richie staying with Brady seems a bit of a miss. Why he would put up with Brady’s drunken rudeness is a mystery, especially since they don’t have any chemistry. However, it’s the only bit of drama we get from this tired mess, so you have no choice but to go with it.
The Final Verdict:
Looking (the movie) is only worth watching if you saw the series and have to know what became of everybody. The acting is good, but the script refuses to allow anything interesting to happen.