Anything-2017

Director Timothy McNeil

Starring John Carrol Lynch, Matt Bomer

Scott’s Review #1,472

Reviewed March 17, 2025

Grade: B

Anything (2017) is a sweet LGBTQ+ independent film written and directed by Timothy McNeil. It is based on a play that he performed in Los Angeles.

While it is nice to see longtime character actor John Carroll Lynch (Fargo, 1996, and Zodiac, 2007) in a starring role and Matt Bomer looking fabulous in drag, the film suffers from contrivances and treads lightly.

The stagey setups, cliched situations, and popcorn dialogue feel forced, and the ambiguous conclusion is unfulfilling.

However, McNeil and the cast deserve kudos for showcasing a story never told before and fraught with possibilities with a powerful ‘love is love’ message.

Deeply depressed after his wife’s death, Early Landry (Lynch) survives a suicide attempt and moves from a small town in Mississippi to flashy Los Angeles to live with his loving yet controlling sister, Laurette (Maura Tierney).

While there, he develops a complicated and tender relationship with a transgender sex worker named Freda (Matt Bomer). They bond over their shared loneliness and past traumas, sparking a friendship and gradually more.

Early immediately captured me. A hulking man, his kindness and gentleness ooze from him when he takes a run-down apartment in a shady section of L.A. Surrounded by drug addicts and questionable neighbors, he makes friends simply because he is lovely.

Because Lynch frequently plays villains, this was a nice change of pace to witness, and I suspect the actor also enjoyed it.

McNeil kindly writes the character as non-judgmental and savvy despite his Mississippi origins. Oftentimes, in cinema, a Deep South character is written as racist, stupid, or both.

Instead, Early is accepting of different lifestyles. Lynch effortlessly carries the film because he gives the character authenticity and sensitivity.

I wanted to be friends with him.

On the other hand, Freda’s character took most of the film to win me over. Her unpredictable, defensive, and cutting remarks imperfectly represent typical drag queen caricature behavior.

It also took me until the conclusion not to think of McNeil’s reason for casting Bomer as a vehicle to see the pretty actor in drag. Bomer is a great actor in anything he appears in and does his job effectively.

But when Freda callously insults Early when they first meet by nicknaming him ‘Havisham,’ a character from Charles Dicken’s novel Great Expectations, she seems cutting for the sake of being insulting.

I also wanted to know more about Freda. How did she wind up in Los Angeles as a streetwalker? What was her upbringing like? We can guess it wasn’t great, but not much is said.

My reaction improved to championing Freda after a fantastic, ill-fated dinner party scene. Early invites Laurette, her husband, and their son to his apartment for dinner to meet Freda. When Laurette quickly realizes Freda is transgender, she guzzles white wine and lets loose on Freda, fearing she is manipulating her brother.

Despite the story’s groundbreaking nature, the feeling is predictable. Of course, Laurette will object to the romance as much as Freda’s friends call her a dreamer for wanting a ‘9 to 5 life’.

Straight and narrow, Early shakes Freda’s drug dependency in only one night while enduring her venom, vomiting, and unbelievably quick recovery, almost in the snap of his fingers.

I wanted a more definitive conclusion and had questions left in my back pocket that were never answered. Will the couple move in together? What will Freda do for a living? Does Laurette even know Freda is a prostitute?

Unfortunately, Early and Freda never have a sex scene, so the sexual complexities of their assumed relationship feel swept under the rug.

Though sweet-natured and carefully plotted, Anything (2017) has so much more potential story to tell that the results feel lacking.