Title: Hard |
Release Date: 1999, 2004 |
Nationality and Language: |
Running time: 97 min |
|
Distributor and Production Company: |
Director; Writer: John Huckert |
Producer: |
Cast: Noel Palomaria, Malcolm Moorman |
Technical: Seems to be HD, flat ratio, dolby digital |
Relevance to DOASKDOTELL site: Gay cops |
Less is said about gay police than about gays in the
military, but some of the underlying issues are the same. Cops have to be
there for their partners, sometimes share intimate quarters and may fear
being the objects of sexual evaluation (and that includes not being found
attractive, as the script at one point points out). Most jurisdictions no
longer ban gays from police employment, although the But on top of all that, this film sets up a fascinating premise. A gay cop (Raymond Vates, played by Noel Palomaria) becomes involved with a man whom he realizes may and in fact is a serial killer (Jack, played by Malcolm Moorman), and in fact a killer of mostly teenage boys. He has an intimate encounter, gets handcuffed to his bed for S&M, and his badge is stolen. Then he is almost framed for the murders himself. He gets off the hook as the story hits some inflection points to race toward another denouement. Now there are a variety of supporting characters, some of whom leave loose ends, that may be explained by the twist at the very end. There is the partner (Charles Lanyer). There is the other gay cop who looks too much like the killer (except that he has more chest hair than the killer). There is the kind bartender (the gay bar is called the “Hunting Ground”). There is the straight couple where Jack crashes, and has a homosexual affair behind the wife’s back, and in one scene, comes close to molesting the pre-pubescent son. The film is billed as a police thriller, with a political bent,
something like a gay “Law & Order”, but it has the grainy look of an
October thriller, something that you expect nowadays from Dimension or Lions
Gate. The producers say on the |
Related reviews:. GLBT films, age-issue films |
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