37) RHYTHM & BLUES

Director: Stephen Lennhoff

Stars: Paul Blackthorne, Ian Henderson, Gary Fairhall, Angus MacInnes, Philippe Sartori

Year: 2000

Rating: NR

Marketed as a gay dark comedy, Rhythm & Blues stars Paul Blackthorne in one of his earliest roles, playing a cocky, sexy yet kind of mysterious street hustler named John in the UK, who joins the Boys Galore Escort service on the advice of his quasi-psychotic skinhead friend Byron (Ian Henderson), as a way of making some good, quick money.

John, confident and exuding male sexuality, quickly becomes the most popular rent boy at the service - especially when he draws the attention of Bad Daddy (Angus MacInnes), a rich middle-aged queen who purchases the time of only the best boys - usually for days at a time. When John bargains for his buddy Byron to come along for the ride, the two join Daddy and his major domo at Daddy's expensive home for a weekend of mind games, sex games, and John manipulating the players in the game with his charm, good looks and body.

The film has funny moments, but Paul Blackthorne - an amazing and underrated actor whose talents are fairly wasted here - stands out far and above his castmates, many of whom come off as total caricatures instead of real people. You do spend the film wondering if John's really a good guy or a bad guy - and Ian Henderson, as Byron, is so over the top he provides some of the funniest moments of the film - but overall Rhythm & Blues is more about the blues than the rhythm; even with a cool/funny twist at the end, the film overall (especially when Blackthorne isn't on-screen) is often flat and lifeless, both characters and story failing to leap off the screen. Even as a film targeted for a gay audience, the only thing "gay" about the whole thing are the characters; the film itself is so tame (until toward the end), you'd never know it was a film about rent boys or an escort service.

Even as the lighthearted farce the film seems to want to be, it just never shines on-screen. Except for Paul Blackthorne (and Henderson, to a lesser degree) - and there is just so much other stuff, that's so much better, you could catch him in. Not worth your time. ** - Reel Mediocre