(2011, 132 min)
Country: Canada
Director: Daniel Roby
Studio: Wolfe Releasing
SYNOPSIS: The King of disco. The man with a secret life. The rising star eager to get ahead. The music producer desperate for one more hit. In Montreal in 1976, they all wanted to see and be seen at the trendiest club in town, and juggled freedom and tradition, lovers and family, drugs and sobriety, fame and anonymity, in a time when excess was the norm, and disco ruled. Based on true events, Funkytown brings back the glitter, glamour and edginess of that era.
REVIEW:
Funkytown follows several different characters who congregate at "The Starlight," a wildly popular Montreal nightclub that boasts about having "a special floor for the homos." There are too many characters and plot strands to mention, but the one of most interest to gay viewers concerns super-cutie Justin Chatwin (Showtime’s "Shameless"). If you’ve seen the pilot episode of "Weeds," you may remember Chatwin as a conniving young drug dealer who turns tricks for married suburban men on the side – he has a hot scene in his tighty-whities (as he does in this movie).
Chatwin stars as Tino DeiFiori, a closeted waiter who frequents The Starlight with his "girlfriend" and dance partner Tina (Romina D'Ugo). The pair catch their big break after winning a competition and earning a spot as dancers on the hit Canadian TV show "Disco Dance Party" (think "American Bandstand"). Soon after this success, Tino catches the eye of fashion icon, TV personality and "king of disco" Jonathan Aaronson (played by Paul Doucet with a perfect mix of likeability and lecherousness). Jonathan figures out Tino’s secret quickly and sets about seducing him. They meet up at a cruising spot under the bridge and quickly become secret lovers.
Jonathan falls for Tino pretty hard. Sadly, Tino is nowhere near ready to admit his desires. He convinces himself that he must marry Tina and start a family if he has any hope of living a normal life. Their relationship doesn’t seem destined to continue out in the open, but that doesn’t mean they can’t enjoy some carnal pleasures together in private. After all, in Tino’s warped devout Italian-Catholic mind, gay sex doesn’t really count as cheating anyway – since it isn’t natural, of course.
In 1976, that year during which this film is based, I was not yet born. For that reason, Funkytown didn’t make me feel nostalgic for the era that it depicts, but I did feel nostalgic for the numerous disco era-based movies that popped up in the 1990s during the ‘70s retro craze - Boogie Nights, 54, Summer of Sam and The Last Days of Disco, to name a few. Funkytown combines a lot of elements (namely sexual promiscuity and cocaine abuse) already covered by those movies – and Saturday Night Fever, of course – but has a compelling style all its own. The film is fast-paced, packed with thrilling visual flourishes, compelling performances and perfect period design. It also has a non-stop soundtrack filled with toe-tappng '70s hits.
-- Robert O'Neill, TLA Video (http://www.tlavideo.com)
