Review of A Very Serious Person

For me, this film eventually developed an odd charm, but I suspect many will be less favorable.

Charles Busch portrays a gay nurse at the service of a dying woman in her summer home, although there is nothing particularly summer home-like about the place.  His interpretation is so affected and mannerly that it is often grating. 

Polly Bergan is charmingly curmudgeonly as the grandmother in her final months.  Her character and her acting style provide much needed relief from Busch's haughty character, although two minor characters are inserted for the supposed comic relief.

The young P.J. Verhoest gives us moments of great promise, although he seems to be directed more for a stage performance than the subtelties of cinema.  Indeed, the entire film feels a bit like it is better suited to the stage.

The thrust of the theme is the discovery of the proper way to be a gay man.  Ironically, the teen seems to have much more self-confidence in his own budding queer identity than the nurse who insinuates himself into the boy's life.

Genre: Gay themed drama

Director: Charles Busch

Language: English

Availability: DVD and streaming

99Gay-Men.us Rating: **

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