A disappointment, despite handing out the best rendition of the American national anthem that I’ve ever heard/seen. This is a film mainly based on the individual relationships of two couples. The couples, individual of each-other, convene at a swingers’ place called “Shortbus”, where they experiment, break out and break down. Outside of this dome, human relationships are dealt with as would be expected of John Cameron Mitchell, who directed and wrote this film. It initially received its fair share of publicity because of the authentic (shock!) sex-scenes (of which there are many), but to Mitchell’s grace, they’re not really what’s most interesting about the work. This film is fair, but falls flat in comparison with “Hedwig And The Angry Inch”.

This movie was awesome! Maybe I’m biased because JCM is probably my favorite person in the whole world, but… I loved it. I was actually kind of skeptical about the idea of a movie about “real sex in New York” which is how it was publicized when word first started spreading about it… but of course I have to see John Cameron Mitchell’s new film, so I gave it a go, and thank god!

The explicit sex isn’t really that big of a deal once you get past the opening scene, which I think was intended for just that purpose.

I read a lot of reviews that said the character development was poor, but I think sometimes people just feel that they need something to pick on.

Great soundtrack.

A beautiful film.