Ang Lee moved audiences with the masterful Brokeback Mountain. In Arizona Sky, Jeff London, who directed and wrote the script, presents us with a love story between two grown men who meet again in adulthood, after an adolescence of uncertainty in the area of love. With an interesting plot, the film gets lost in the clichés and lethargy of the direction, in addition to the uninspired performances of the protagonists, truth be told, they are beautiful in the extreme.
The film opens with the camera traveling through the desert: through a dry cut, it presents the characters in the past, their vows of love and soon after, both in adulthood, meeting again. One of them, Kyle, remained in the city, a telluric character, tied to the culture of his homeland, a cook and mechanic. The other, Jake, arriving from the city, reflects the stress of contemporary urban man and all his discomfort in the face of frustrated relationships and lack of love. Upon arriving in Arizona, the chances of reliving love are established. From then on, will they be able to rekindle the flame of love and revive the relationship left on standby years ago?
Jake (Eric Dean) is a metalinguistic character: a film and television writer, he never has time for anything, he is a person involved in work and his return to his hometown is a chance to rest. After 18 years away from the place, he searches for Kyle through the phone book, trying to reestablish contact and/or something else. Stressed by his frenetic life and the absence of good love, he sees this return as a possibility of rest and reunion.
Interesting are the supporting characters, who come up with their life lessons to set an example for the protagonists: the aunt who let love pass her by and then couldn't find someone else and others unlucky in love. In a certain scene, the inevitable rain falls, they both get cold and move to one of their houses. They take off their wet clothes to adjust and what happens?
The almost absence of music helps make the film lame. Matthew Scala's photography is more of the same and as already said, the direction and script leave something to be desired. Brent Revok's editing doesn't help with the pacing. At 92 minutes long, Arizona Sky could be more interesting if the direction wasn't so lazy.
"Arizona Sky" – Rating 4. Available for download on the Intercine Gay Portal.
*Leonardo Campos writes biweekly in this space about cinema and DVD releases. He is a researcher in cinema, literature and culture at the Federal University of Bahia (UFBA) and professor of literature.
