My Queer Nephew

Author(s): Masnoraffis Masdil
Location: Singapore

"My Queer Nephew"

Directed by Ang Lee
Written by C. Jay Cox
Original Score by George Fenton

Principal Cast:

Ed Harris (Michael Garrett)
Randy Harrison (Samuel Reynolds)
Joan Cusack (Samantha Garrett)
Blythe Danner (Julia Garrett)
Ryan Carnes (William White)
Rosemary Harris (Barbara White)
Joan Allen (Sarah Reynolds)
Donald Sutherland (Donald Garrett).

Tagline: “What happens when the love of your life... turns out not to be your spouse but somebody else?"

Synopsis: Michael Garrett is a big shot businessman, who’s very involved in his political beliefs. He’s opposed to gay rights and shuns any gay activities. One day, he is visited by a young man named Samuel who proclaims to be his nephew. It turns out that he is the son of his younger sister, Sarah, who has left the household years ago due to an estrangement with their father. Sarah had decided to get married with a young Latino shopkeeper. The father, Donald, is a very uptight person who’s obsessed with class and position. From young, Michael and Sarah were brought up with the beliefs never to mix with people below their class and race. Due to their clashes, Sarah left the household promising never to return. Now, Sarah is suffering from terminal cancer and is in a very critical situation. As a plea to her brother, Sarah asks Michael to take care of Samuel and look after his well-being after her death.

After Sarah’s death, Michael offered to help out Samuel and offered his home. To Michael’s dismay, Samuel revealed that he’s gay. Michael was reluctant to help out Samuel but his wife, Samantha, and mom, Julia, reasoned with him to at least support him financially and give him home even if he doesn’t allow Samuel to live with them. Samuel was reluctant to get help from the Garretts as he discovers his uncle’s anti-gay stand. Even while all that is happening, Samantha and Julia are becoming fond of Samuel.

While working at a bookstore, Samuel gets acquainted with William, who’s a regular patron of the store. William was always a quiet boy, whom people can never get him out of his shell. Living with his grandmother, Barbara, she was the only friend he ever had. With Samuel, their friendship blossoms into deeper regions and William becomes uncomfortable with the feelings he’s having. When he finally comes out to his grandmother, she reaffirms her love for him and tells her she’s not disappointed at all. Samuel misses his mother’s love seeing the relationship between the two of them.

Meanwhile, Michael himself is becoming fond of Samuel, recognizing him as the son that he had once lost. After the death of his 3-year old child years ago, he realizes that his child would be at the age of what Samuel is now. Even so, his ego and the words of his father don’t allow him to reveal his true feelings. He continues his rampage against gay activities. Samuel himself, who lost his father at a very young age, wishes for a father’s touch that he has barely experience, but he’s adamant not to because of Michael’s anti-gay stand.

Will Michael and Samuel can ever put aside their ego and learn to love one another? Or will they continue on their respective path, giving hurt to the people around them?

What the press would say:

“My Queer Nephew” is a fantastic movie that is dealing with the issues of homosexuality and whether family ties can be disrupted with that. Ang Lee deals with the issue well, after his award-winning Brokeback Mountain, eliciting great performances from his characters. Ed Harris, as the protagonist of the movie, gives a superb performance as the gay-hating businessman who suddenly finds out that his dead sister has a gay son whom he’s asked to take care of. Instead of the gay guy being the protagonist here, we get the gay-hating uncle instead so giving a lot of things from his perspective. You quite loathed him most of the times with not only his anti-gay stance, but his racist attitude at the beginning of the movie. But the moments when you get the glimpse of his loving attitude towards his nephew and the flashback scene of the death of his young son tugs at our heart strings. These moments are the highlight especially as Ed Harris’s scenes are of minimal dialogue and his facial expressions & body language bring out the scenes very well.

Randy Harrison, of Showtime’s “Queer of Folk” fame, gives a riveting performance as well as the gay nephew. His confrontation scenes with Ed Harris are very strong. Being hot-headed just like his uncle, he displays his rebellions to prove that he’s not going to take his anti-gay stance lightly. His best scene was with Blythe Danner when he broke down and says he misses his parents while he was trying to defend himself for not trying to make his uncle understand him.

Joan Cusack & Blythe Danner gave commendable performances as the aunt and grandmother who longs for a son and grandson respectively. The highlight of course when Joan Cusack flares up at Ed Harris about how Randy Harrison could be their child who they had lost years ago, and how she won’t ignore Randy anymore. Rosemary Harris, as the loving grandmother to Ryan Carnes, gives a wonderful performance too as the maternal factor in Randy Harrison’s life. Ryan Carnes, as the love interest of Randy, supports the movie well. As the shy guy who’s being brought out his character by Randy, his scenes are well acted out. Even though the love angle is a supporting issue in the film, it is handled well by Ang Lee. He demonstrates that you do not need any graphic love scenes to show the romance between the two characters.

The two minor characters are Joan Allen & Donald Sutherland, who both died in the film. Joan Allen, with her few scenes with Randy, shows emotional impact and bring us to tears with her death scene. But Donald Sutherland, as Ed Harris’s ruthless father who’s racist and a homophobe, gives such a villainous performance. Even though he’s only in the film for around 16 mins, his character leaves such a vile taste in our mouth. His high-handedness of handling his family and the people around him are so well-executed.

Ultimately, this movie is a well-acted drama. Ang Lee focuses a lot on facial expressions and body language to bring out the emotional impact of his actors. I can foresee a lot of accolades for the well-constructed screenplay and the performances.

For Your Consideration

Best Picture
Best Director: Ang Lee
Best Screenplay: C. Jay Cox
Best Original Score: George Fenton
Best Actor: Ed Harris
Best Supporting Actor: Randy Harrison
Best Supporting Actor: Donald Sutherland
Best Supporting Actor: Ryan Carnes
Best Supporting Actress: Joan Cusack
Best Supporting Actress: Blythe Danner
Best Supporting Actress: Rosemary Harris
Best Supporting Actress: Joan Allen
Best Film Editing: Tim Squyres
Best Art Direction: Clay A. Griffith
Best Cinematography: John Toll
Best Costume Design: Betsy Heimann