Review of The Journey of Jared Price

The title character, played by Corey Spears, leaves small town Georgia to create his new life in Los Angeles, although not in the way that many plan to take charge of the city.  He has no dreams of becoming a big movie star.  He simply wants out of Georgia in order to find himself, something that he manages to accomplish in this combination of a coming out film and coming of age movie.  It fits comfortably into both genres without breaking any new cinematic or thematic ground.

The film was made in six days for a mere $30,000.  It shows, but it has enough charm to make it worth watching, preferably with a good man curled up next to you.

The pleasure comes primarily from watching Spears who is very pleasant to observe, especially during the steamy gay sex scenes.  However, he also delivers a rather credible performance for such a low budget feature. 

Jared Price, who is only just discovering his gay orientation, manages to work in two gay affairs during the six days of production, and the objects of his lust (played by Josh Jacobson and Steve Tyler) or as Jared wishes, love, are also pleasing to the eye and turn in acceptable portrayals.  Jacobson in particular gives us a winning performance.

The director and the three actors mentioned, above, show talent.  Tyler has the most experience and is also the most polished, but the others could be worth keeping an eye on if they land projects will a bit more time to develop.

The Journey of Jared Price is not the next sleeper classic, but the backers of the film definitely got their money's worth.  If you rent this DVD, you will get your value from it, as well. 

Genre: Gay Drama

Director: Dustin Lance Black

Language: English

Availability:  DVD

99Gay-Men.us Rating: ***

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