Spin the Bottle (1999)

Spin the bottle, spun out

This movie is what starts out as your typical reunion of five childhood friends that have returned to the lake of their youthful summers for a weekend reunion after many years, I got the idea that they more or less hadn't seen each other since 8th grade or so. You have all your typical stereotypes present in this small group. There's the guy next door, the nerd turned hunk, the promiscuous pretty girl, the good girl, and the girl that has made all the wrong choices. Each of these friends brings an often funny moment to the movie as they share their moments together and the final parting and the cause of it are well worth the watch. May 8, 2007

What More Can You Ask For?

All I know is that a group of us watched this film and really enjoyed it. We didn't expect to see Oscar performances we just expected a good gay themed story and we got it. It certainly was far above the usual norm for this genre! March 28, 2003

Stop Spinning & Check Out Cowboy Jesus

Spin the bottle is a slow movie with bad acting but a great plot. Although the movie has alot of potential the development of the characters by the actors is horrible. The editing is classic and good. Jamie Yerke's commentary is amusing throughout. What makes this disc shine is a copy of a short called Cowboy Jesus. It is perfection. The story is crisp, thoughtful and the cinematography is excellant. May 5, 2002

Some Silence Please!

One of the main problems I've noticed with some films done by folks new to filmaking is a HUGE overreliance on what they perceive as witty or "Politically Important Dialogue" This film, while advertised as a gay Big Chill with a twist, was more similar to sitting in a classroom while a bunch of senior creative writting majors read their mid-term rough drafts to the class. First we have the innocent couple debating telling folks that they are engaged. Then we have the sexy troublemaker rambling on at dinner about how eating meat is a sexist evil perpetuated by the partiarchy, next is the overly dramatic girl with self esteem issues that is horrifically poorly acted to the point that you cannot tell if she is an escaped mental patient or just somebody who likes whinning in a babyish voice. Basically the plot of the movie wasn't too bad and it would have made a fun short film, say...20 minutes. The problem was in trying to show us how clever some of the characters were it passed the point of sardonic or tongue in cheek to merely self indulgent and boring. The homophobia at the end seemed a bit stuck on as well. November 7, 2001

This was a good one...

So many gay themed movies are bad or are so poorly made that they are hard to watch. This movie, however, was a good one.

It is not gay-themed in the same way that Beautiful Thing, Get Real or Trick is. It is more similar to The Hanging Garden. Like The Hanging Garden, it is complex and multi-layered though not quite as much. It focuses on many issues at once and the ending would make a good topic for conversation. Nobody wins and nobody loses entirely though everyone loses something. The viewer is also reminded that an act of revenge is never as sweet as the thought of revenge.

My favorite character is Rachel but all the acting was pretty good. In the first part of the movie, the Alex character was a bit over the edge but I grew to like her much more at the end.

There are some technical difficulties with sound but they are not insurmountable.

Overall, a good movie. Not a feel-good movie but a good one just the same. September 15, 2001

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