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Review: Graham good in "Gray" |
by Loren King
The Sapphic twist on the chick flick has become its own little genre. Starting, more or less, with "Kissing Jessica Stein" and followed by "Imagine Me and You" and now "Gray Matters," these chaste romantic comedies about young, pretty, straight(ish) women finding their inner lesbian (though "gay" is the preferred term in these films) are aimed at the "You've Got Mail" set and have no male equivalent. They are sweet enough to be appealing to a wide demographic of girls, but nonthreatening in their depiction of lesbian lust.
In "Gray Matters," Heather Graham is Gray, a Drew Barrymore-type role of a likeable, good-hearted klutz who lives with her nice-guy brother (Tom Cavanaugh). These two do everything together -- including ballroom dance -- as they both seek Ms. and Mr. Right. There are a few hints that Tom is gay, but little foreshadowing that it's actually Gray who's the closeted one, until the pair and Charlie (Bridget Moynahan) "meet cute" in a dog-walking park.
Charlie and Tom hit it off and quickly set a wedding date, while Gray finds herself unusually excited by her sister-in-law-to-be. Director Sue Kramer gives the self-searching a screwball spin, taking the girls out on the town in Vegas and staging an awkward sing-along of "I Will Survive" with Gloria Gaynor that feels more karaoke than cabaret.
The sprightly Graham proves she can carry a screwball comedy as well as Barrymore or Kate Hudson by managing to rise above the cliches about being true to oneself and following one's heart. Alan Cumming as the conduit to this self-discovery is superfluous; the role of a cab driver with an unrequited crush on Gray provides him the chance to yet again don bad drag. Faring better is Molly Shannon, who brings personality and pizzazz to the best-friend character.
The biggest obstacle is Bridget Moynahan: Paired with veteran actors Cavanaugh and Graham, she's an amateur in a part that needs an actress with charm, comic chops and earthy appeal. But Graham's thrill and confusion as Gray kisses the drunken Charlie the night before the wedding transcends any lack of chemistry.
"Gray Matters," after Cumming, has another six degrees of separation with "The L Word" when Rachel Shelley shows up as Gray's alluring boss. In this role and her ongoing one as Helena Peabody in "The L Word," Shelley may be the new pinup for straight girls' gay fantasies.
When Gray finally does follow her heart into the arms of a woman, it takes place off-screen. Graham conveys the joy of release the morning after, but audiences may feel shortchanged by this sanitized romance. "Gray Matters" isn't trying for boldness, but the film's positive message will definitely appeal to the newly out, the curious-but-timid, and those in search of a feel-good rom-com with the genders right.
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