Love life (U.S. 2006)

The Gist:

Joe and Mary, a closeted, gay, former pro-athlete and a fairly repressed lesbian, are in a marriage of convenience, for both appearance sake, and for Mary to not be cut from family money by her mother. While the rules of their marriage allow for (discrete) sex with other people, an emotional connection with anyone else is forbidden, a rule that is tested when an old (female) college friend visits Mary, and what should just be a quick hook up with a man threatens to turn into something more for Joe. 

Comments:

We have "closeted although he apparently constantly cruises parks for sex with men" husband Joe and "closeted to the point of repressing all emotions as much as possible" wife Mary, and the two people who end up testing the rules of Joe and Mary's farce of a marriage: out gay landscaper Thomas and out lesbian friend from college Aura. 

All in all a rather attractive, if not particularly likable group of people. Actually unlikeable is being polite. At times they, especially the two leads, act like complete and utter jerks, although perhaps this is understandable considering the restrictions of their fake marriage has made them both miserable, as the dialogue and over-obvious metaphors make abundantly clear (their house is undergoing a remodel so the interior is covered in confining, oppressive plastic tarps, and if that weren't clear enough, dead plants abound).

It has some of the standard low budget movie technical issues, and while not exactly bad, is not exactly good either. It's main fault is that the story is simple enough that even at a relatively brief 72 minutes, it goes on way too long, and ends up feeling like it might have been better as a relatively brief short film. 

Women 

The wife, her friend, a reporter, and that's about it, although in its defense, the movie has a very small cast. 

People of color:

One rude reporter, although again, a small cast.

Gratuitous nudity: 

A male lead who sheds clothes at the drop of a hat, and multiple sex/love making scenes, so yes, both boy and girl "bits" are on display, although it does a good enough job of making it feel natural that gratuitous is not quite the right adjective.

• Director: Damion Dietz
• Writer: Damion Dietz
• Actors: Stephen D. Gill, Stephanie Kirchen, Keith Bearden, Jill Kirchen
• 72 min
• Note: I listened to the DVD director's commentary, and the most interesting thing was not about the movie itself, but rather about reactions to the movie, mainly about how assorted LGBT film festivals tripped over themselves at trying to figure out how to schedule a movie that had both gay men AND lesbians characters, and thus wouldn't fit into their neat (and segregated) boxes of L or G or B or T films. 
• IMDB