'Gray Matters' review
This girl-meets-girl flick falls far short of other similar takes on the subject
By Caralyn Green
Published: March 27th, 2007 | 10:30am
You know the story. Girl meets girl. Girl wears hot pantsuits and carries that Coach tote I've been eying all winter. Girl realizes she's gay. Girl can't have girl. Girl comes out. Girl leaps into the air, and turns the world on with her smile in a totally Mary Tyler Moore moment of "I am woman; hear me whimper."
Gray Matters is the kind of rom-com modern gals should feel free to love. All gooey liberal PCness, and smart, successful heroines who eat hot fudge sundaes and rock climb and dig ballroom dancing. But what Gray ponies up in terms of promising concept and Same-Sex in the City aesthetic, it neglects in terms of dialogue, narrative, and, well, acting execution. First-time writer and director Sue Kramer aims for a skewball comedy with a classy, vintage vibe, but Gray Matters is more of a happy hour cosmopolitan — cloyingly sweet and choked down with a smile — than that bottle of Bordeaux you've been saving for a special occasion.
In fact, Gray Matters, with its B-list celebs, overly set-feeling sets, and accept thyself mantra, would have made a smashingly enjoyable ABC Family Original Movie, or even a Lifetime Made-for-TV, if Lifetime would just get over its victim turned victor obsession already. But as a widespread cinematic release rather than a Sunday afternoon on the sofa guilty pleasure, Gray Matters falters. The banter feels as clunky as those platform loafers that went out with Manic Panic polish, and the story gets bogged down with what seems to be Kramer's baby dyke guide to coming out (lez bar, check; office un-closeting, check; hug from the sibling who says he always knew, check; interrogation from female friend pertaining to her alluringness, check).
The leads are golly-gee cute enough, but Heather Graham leaves something to be desired from Sapphic lead Gray (that something could be comic timing), Bridget Moynahan's scantily clad Charlie never transgresses her one-dimensional lust object status, and Tom Cavanagh as Gray's brother Sam plays the cardboard straight man in more ways than one.
While it certainly is refreshing to see another queer-friendly chick flick on the market, Gray Matters sinks in the wake of such films as Kissing Jessica Stein and Imagine Me and You, both of which tackled the theme of coming out as an affluent, femme urbanite with more style and wit than Gray Matters could muster even at its most sparkling of moments.
Image courtesy of Yari Film Group
Issue #35
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