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== Release ==
== Release ==
The film had its world premiere at the 2019 Outfest on July 23, 2019.<ref name=":0" /> It was also show at the [[New York Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, & Transgender Film Festival|NewFest]] on October 26, 2019.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://filmpulse.net/newfest-2019-full-lineup-announced/|title=NewFest 2019: Full Lineup Announced|date=2019-09-19|website=Film Pulse|language=en-US|access-date=2020-02-21}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://newfest.org/2019-program/|title=2019 Print Program|website=NewFest|language=en-US|access-date=2020-02-21}}</ref> In August 2019, [[Strand Releasing]] acquired U.S distribution rights.<ref name=":1" /> The film will be released in a limited release on February 28, 2020.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ifccenter.com/films/straight-up/|title=IFC Center - Straight Up|website=IFC Center|language=en-US|access-date=2020-02-21}}</ref>
The film had its world premiere at the 2019 Outfest on July 23, 2019.<ref name=":0" /> It was also show at the [[New York Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, & Transgender Film Festival|NewFest]] on October 26, 2019.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://filmpulse.net/newfest-2019-full-lineup-announced/|title=NewFest 2019: Full Lineup Announced|date=2019-09-19|website=Film Pulse|language=en-US|access-date=2020-02-21}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://newfest.org/2019-program/|title=2019 Print Program|website=NewFest|language=en-US|access-date=2020-02-21}}</ref> In August 2019, [[Strand Releasing]] acquired U.S distribution rights.<ref name=":1" /> The film will be released in a limited release on February 28, 2020.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ifccenter.com/films/straight-up/|title=IFC Center - Straight Up|website=IFC Center|language=en-US|access-date=2020-02-21}}</ref> The film will be released in the United Kingdom in March 2020.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://twitter.com/straightupfilm/status/1230270464485756928|title=Sky Cinema. March 2020|last=|first=|date=2020-02-19|website=Twitter|publisher=@straightupfilm|url-status=live|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-02-21}}</ref>


== Reception ==
== Reception ==
Line 66: Line 66:
== References ==
== References ==
{{Reflist|2}}
{{Reflist|2}}

== External links ==

* ''[[imdbtitle:8855960|Straight Up]]'' on [[IMDb]]
* [https://www.seedandspark.com/fund/straight-up#story Campaign] on [[Seed&Spark]]


[[:Category:2015 films]]
[[:Category:2015 films]]

Revision as of 05:27, 21 February 2020

Straight Up
Directed byJames Sweeney
Written byJames Sweeney
Produced by
  • David Carrico
  • Ross Putman
  • James Sweeney
Starring
CinematographyGreg Cotten
Edited byKeith Funkhouser
Music byLauren Fay Levy
Distributed byStrand Releasing
Release dates
  • July 23, 2019 (2019-07-23) (Outfest)
  • February 28, 2020 (2020-02-28) (United States)
Running time
95 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Straight Up is a 2019 independent film written, produced and directed by James Sweeney. Sweeney stars in the film with Katie Findlay, Dana Drori, James Scully, Tracie Thoms, Betsy Brandt and Randall Park. The film premiered at the Outfest on July 23, 2019.[1] The film will be released in a limited release by Strand Releasing on February 28, 2020.[2]

Plot

Todd, a twenty-something with OCD, meets Rory, a struggling actress, in the self-help section of a library. "However, the friendship brings on an identity crisis of sorts as Todd begins to wonder if he’s only socially conditioned himself to be gay and can find happiness by dating a woman. Though friends dismiss the idea as an example of Todd’s internalized homophobia, Rory agrees to pursue a romantic relationship with him ― though sex and other acts of physical intimacy are off the table. Things take a comical turn when Todd introduces Rory to his parents".[3]

In an interview with The Desert Sun, Sweeney said "If you think it’s not a love story, maybe the film should challenge what the idea of love is. Even the idea of romantic love, because there’s more than one type of love, but specifically the idea of romantic love is a relatively modern concept and especially the western notion of what that love is, is part of what inspired the concept of the film. [...] Here are these two people, Todd and Rory, who click each other’s boxes in so many ways except for this big box known as sex. Can you not love somebody because you don’t have sex with them? I’m not trying to answer that question for all people or make a statement of what love is, because that’s not for me to say. Everybody has their own relationship with love".[4]

Cast

Production

Straight Up was partly funded through a crowdfunding campaign on Seed&Spark which raised $23,340 for production.[5][6] The film was shot in a 4:3 frame.[1]

Release

The film had its world premiere at the 2019 Outfest on July 23, 2019.[1] It was also show at the NewFest on October 26, 2019.[7][8] In August 2019, Strand Releasing acquired U.S distribution rights.[2] The film will be released in a limited release on February 28, 2020.[9] The film will be released in the United Kingdom in March 2020.[10]

Reception

Straight Up was the Breakthrough Centerpiece at the 2019 Outfest and won the Grand Jury Award at the 2019 San Diego Asian Film Festival.[11][12][13]

Keith Uhlich of The Hollywood Reporter wrote: "Both Sweeney and Findlay are more than up to the task of playing arrested millennials dancing around their problems, forever walking a fine line between charm and aggravation. And Sweeney as filmmaker effectively goes the Wes Anderson route of letting emotion bust through all the aesthetic archness at key moments. [...] We often make our own psychological prisons, and Straight Up is a droll embodiment of its protagonist's (and perhaps its maker's?) inner turmoil. Todd's sexual proclivities aren't fully on one side or the other of the Kinsey scale. Maybe he has none at all (that's fine, too!)".[1]

Carlos Aguilar, for TheWrap, wrote: "Lack of intimacy, both physical and emotional, is at the heart of Todd’s current crisis. Unfulfilled with same-sex romance, he wonders whether a foray into straight dating could unblock the door to self-discovery and prevent him from spending the rest of his days alone (as he exaggeratedly puts it). [...] True to the unlabeled happiness Todd is after, “Straight Up” doesn’t conclude by assigning a new concrete definition of what these sexless sweethearts understand as being in love, regardless of the mechanics of their commitment. Sweeney’s movie lets it flow with all its moving parts and uncertain specificities, focusing only on their spiritually solid bond".

Black Girl Nerds gave the film a 4.5/5 rating and Donnie Lopez wrote: "In Straight Up, the two characters fall for one another’s intellect. [...] But just like any rom-com, no good thing can last without there being some kind of complications to their unique coupling. This struggle is brought on by a modern understanding of a relationship — one that is not often covered in people’s everyday lives. This film gives way to the underappreciated and overlooked forms of sexuality. [...] Too often the narratives that circle gay and queer stories are about physical mating, yet queer people are more complex than that. This film explores a different kind of gay narrative, one that opens discussion up to a different perspective. [...] The film Straight Up gives you a sense of love from a different perspective. No jabs, no punches, just a real-life interpretation of what two people in love with each other’s mind would look like — just a lot of heart".[14]

References

  1. ^ a b c d "'Straight Up': Film Review | Outfest 2019". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2020-02-21.
  2. ^ a b Ramos, Dino-Ray (2019-08-06). "Strand Releasing Acquires James Sweeney Comedy 'Straight Up'". Deadline. Retrieved 2020-02-21.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  3. ^ Wong, Curtis (July 23, 2019). "In 'Straight Up,' A Gay Man's Search For Love Becomes An Identity Crisis". HuffPost. Retrieved February 21, 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  4. ^ Blueskye, Brian. "'Straight Up' is a quirky comedy of sexual identity and obsessive compulsive disorder". Desert Sun. Retrieved 2020-02-21.
  5. ^ "Can a Gay Man and a Lonely Girl Fall in Love? New Film 'Straight Up' Explores Sexual Fluidity". www.pride.com. 2018-04-18. Retrieved 2020-02-21.
  6. ^ "Straight Up". Seed&Spark. Retrieved 2020-02-21.
  7. ^ "NewFest 2019: Full Lineup Announced". Film Pulse. 2019-09-19. Retrieved 2020-02-21.
  8. ^ "2019 Print Program". NewFest. Retrieved 2020-02-21.
  9. ^ "IFC Center - Straight Up". IFC Center. Retrieved 2020-02-21.
  10. ^ "Sky Cinema. March 2020". Twitter. @straightupfilm. 2020-02-19. Retrieved 2020-02-21.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  11. ^ Ramos, Dino-Ray; Ramos, Dino-Ray (2019-06-24). "'Straight Up' Clip: James Sweeney's Comedy Explores OCD Love Without Touching". Deadline. Retrieved 2020-02-21.
  12. ^ "The 2019 Outfest film festival casts a spotlight on L.A.'s queer scene past and present". Los Angeles Times. 2019-07-16. Archived from the original on July 17, 2019. Retrieved 2020-02-21.
  13. ^ "Announcing the 2019 SDAFF Award Winners". 2019 San Diego Asian Film Festival. Retrieved 2020-02-21.
  14. ^ Lopez, Donnie (November 5, 2019). "A 'Straight Up' Film Review With Jokes and a Lot of Heart". Black Girl Nerds. Retrieved February 20, 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)

Category:2015 films Category:American independent films Category:American films Category:2010s independent films

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