Rating: NR
Genre:
Comedy Drama
Theatrical Release: 10/06/2006(USA
Release Date: 03/13/2007
SubTitles: French/Espanol
Dubbed: English
Sound: DD5.1/DD2
Run Time: 102 Minutes
Flags: Nudity, Strong Sexual Content, Not For Children, Adult Humor, Profanity
Distributor/Studio: Velocity / Thinkfilm
John Cameron Mitchell, who created a cult sensation as writer and director of
Hedwig and the Angry Inch, blazes a brave new trail with this
comedy-drama which combines the stories of a handful of emotionally unsatisfied New Yorkers with some of the most explicit sexual material to ever appear in a mainstream motion picture.
Sofia (
Sook-Yin Lee) is a couples' therapist who has a major relationship problem of her own -- she's never had an orgasm, and her husband
Rob (
Raphael Barker) doesn't seem capable of giving her one.
Sophia's clients include
James and
Jamie (
Paul Dawson and
PJ DeBoy), a gay couple who have been together for five years and are beginning to grow tired of one another. As
James and
Jamie discuss the possibility of bringing another man into the bedroom,
Sophia accidentally mentions her problem, and they tell her of an upcoming "Shortbus Party," a sexual free-for-all in which straight, gay, and lesbian couples are all welcome to either talk about sex or take a more active role in the main ballroom. As
James and
Jamie hook up with
Ceth (
Jay Brannan) for some mutually satisfying action at the bash,
Sophia experiments with Sapphic diversions, and begins to truly find herself when she encounters
Severin (
Lindsay Beamish), a professional dominatrix. However, while
Sophia begins to find what she needs with
Severin, she discovers that while
Severin is able to casually enter into a sexual relationship, she's never been able to emotionally commit herself to someone else.
Shortbus was screened in competition at the 2006
Toronto Film Festival.
~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
;)
