dvd of the week
The sweet high school comedy G.B.F. was barely released in theaters last year and received most of its publicity for being absurdly given an R rating by MPAA “for sexual references,” clearly a homophobic reaction to teenage boys kissing. G.B.F. stands for Gay Best Friend, which is what the three most popular girls at a high school think they need to win Prom Queen. When unassuming Tanner (Michael J. Willett) is outed, Fawcett (Sasha Pieterse), ‘Shley (Andrea Bowen), and Caprice (Xosha Roquemore) vie for his attention. Suddenly popular, Tanner leaves his old crew, including his still closeted best friend Brent (Paul Iacono), still in Loserville. The film is clearly influenced by Clueless and especially Mean Girls, and it’s not as well written as either, but G.B.F. is still immensely likeable. The acting is occasionally stilted – Willett is not charismatic enough to make Tanner loveable – but director Darren Stein (Jawbreaker) keeps the action moving and jokes cracking.
