I watched the movie 'Working Beks' today and it was fun to watch five different gay characters go through issues which gay men face these days. The film though doesn't look like a whole movie but more of a hodge-podge of five different stories that have barely threadbare connections.
I have two favorite scenes in the movie. The first one was when Edgar Allan Guzman's character comes out to his mother, played by Raquel Villavicencio. Definitely brought some tears to my eyes. The second one was the scene where Joey Paras was undergoing some kind of anti-gay therapy and he was asked to shout "I want vagina" again and again!
Another story thread details the outing of a popular heartthrob, which in a way, pokes fun at certain big TV studios ways of protecting the heterosexuality of their male wards.
Well, TJ Trinidad has a short shower scene showing his nice hairy body and Prince Stefan shows his shirtless body several times and even has a well-choreographed and subtly-lighted penetration scene. That's where all your 202 pesos went.
Of all the actors in the movie, I liked John Lapus' portrayal the most, maybe because it was the first time I've seen him do a subdued role, as opposed to the histrionics he is wont to do in his other movies. It was great to see him rein in everything and play his character with quiet dignity.
This movie may play well within the LGBT community but I don't know if the straight crowd will watch it. One good thing though about this movie is that it puts on the centerstage such issues as the prevalence of HIV/AIDS in the country, and the discrimination of openly gay employees.
