Between Something and Nothing (U.S. 2008)

The Gist:

Small town boy Joe goes to a famous art school in Providence on scholarship and befriends fellow student Jennifer. They cope with the ever growing ridiculous demands of school by constantly partying. Also, Joe has a secret life where he is obsessed with a local hustler and becomes a hustler as well. 

Comments:

It seems that art school is filled with self indulgent, rich, pretentious, asshole kids who are terrible people, who are taught by self indulgent, incompetent, pretentious, asshole teachers who are terrible people incapable of actually teaching. Also, Providence is filled to overflowing with male prostitutes who are assholes. The only sane response to all of this assholery is to drink heavily, do drugs, become a hustler, have sex with as many men as possible, act like a jerk, and use these experiences to fuel your art. 

From reading up a little about him, director Todd Verow tends to create somewhat aggressively stylized movies featuring stories that are neither hollywood standard nor gay / romance / drama cliche. He also revisits themes such as sex and injects autobiographical elements from his life into his movies, such as when he attended art school and apparently worked as a hustler.

Many "hustler movies" tend to feel forced and emotionally manipulative and while this doesn't quite escape all of the traps of the tragic gay hustler trope, the autobiographical feel (that it has some sort of resemblance to reality) combined with the use of digital video (which makes it feel more "personal" than film would have), and the somewhat drifting narrative helps makes this a better movie than many of its brethren. 

It's an interesting movie, well done, and I must admit rather sexy (once Joe gets a Mohawk and loses his ability to wear non-ripped shirts he goes from cute boy next door to smoking hot). 

While I think it's good, actually recommending it would depend on your reaction to experimental movies. While not totally "out there" (it does have a plot and is told in a fairly straightforward manner), it could seem boring and rambling if you're uninterested in the story or the way it's told. 

Women: 

Yes

People of color:

Yes

Gratuitous nudity:

Yes

• Director: Todd Verow
• Writers: Todd Verow, Jim Dwyer
• Actors: Tim Swain, Julia Frey, Gil Bar-Sela
• 105 min 
• IMDB