In the Flesh-1998
Director Ben Taylor
Starring Dane Ritter, Ed Corbin
Scott’s Review #663
Reviewed July 10, 2017
Grade: B
In the Flesh is a steamy, pre-Brokeback Mountain, LGBT film from 1998. The budget for this film is very small, and the acting is quite wooden.
My initial reaction was that In the Flesh is a terrible film, yet something sucked me in as a fan, whether the crime theme or the romance (or both).
The atmosphere is quite dreamlike and moody, which I find appealing, and the addition of a whodunit murder mystery amid the romantic drama is highly appealing; therefore, I hesitantly recommend this film for perhaps a late-night adult viewing.
But be prepared for endless plot holes and unnecessary subplots.
Oliver Beck (Dane Ritter) is a handsome college student who works as a hustler in a dive bar named The Blue Boy in Atlanta, Georgia. He has his share of loyal, older men who use his services and adore him, especially a lonely man named Mac, a barfly at the watering hole.
When closeted Detective Philip Kursch (Ed Corbin) begins an undercover assignment to bust a drug ring at The Blue Boy, their lives intersect, as Philip falls in love with Oliver and investigates his past.
As the drug investigation seems to be quickly forgotten, a murder mystery develops when Mac is murdered at the ATM- Oliver looks on, panics, and speeds away. When Philip covers Oliver as an alibi, the plot thickens.
Other side stories, like a flashback sequence involving Oliver’s past- while driving drunk, he killed his best childhood friend, the introduction of his sometime boss and girlfriend, Chloe, and his caring for Lisa, his sister, addicted to heroin, are brought to the table, but really have little to do with the main story and only confuse the plot.
The most compelling element is the relationship between Oliver and Philip and their dysfunctional love story, but many questions abound.
Is Philip secretly married or dating a female? We know nothing about his personal life.
Oliver, hustling and hating every minute of it, merely as a way to support Lisa’s habit, is ridiculous- why not get her help?
Neither actor Ed Corbin nor Dane Ritter will ever be accused of being the world’s greatest actor, and can hardly act their way out of a paper bag.
Both actors’ performances are wooden and unemotional, even when emotion is required in the scene. Still, oddly, this somewhat works in the film.
Regardless of In the Flesh being riddled with plot holes and sub-par acting, the film has some charm.
The moody Atlanta nights, rife with sex and secrets, are quite appealing. A murderer on the loose and disguised, save for a green watch, is intriguing.
The film also has a mysterious, almost haunting quality, and the muted camerawork, whether intentional or the result of a poor DVD copy, works very well.
Since it is 1998, a time when more and more LGBT films were beginning to be made, but not yet in large numbers, In the Flesh and its director, Ben Taylor, deserve credit for even getting this film produced.
The mainstream success of the LGBT juggernaut Brokeback Mountain (2006) undoubtedly helped, albeit in a small way, this film.
Though, strangely, I never noticed the two main characters ever kiss- too soon for 1998?
Not the finest acting or the best-written screenplay, In the Flesh (1998) is a bare-bones film that will be enjoyed largely by an LGBT audience seeking a peek into a time when these types of films were not running aplenty and were typically made in the independent film circuit.
