The premise behind Defying Gravity is to show how one particular gay male deals with his coming out. The story is fairly well written, however Daniel Chilson (Griff) does not portray his character in a believable fashion. The movie is set on a college campus in Southern California. Griff, who lives in a frat house, is involved with another male, Don Handfield (Pete) from the house who has recently moved out. Griff has not "come out" so to speak, and has trouble dealing with Pete's desire to be open about their relationship. After Pete gets attacked, Griff goes through the emotional stages of coming to terms with his real feelings for Pete. Daniel Chilson does not portray this well, although I feel the direction of the film is to blame as well. Shots are often held too long, with Griff often repeating a statement for dramatic effect. All this does is make the performance less believable. I must say that the other characters, Pete, Todd (Niklaus Lange) are played quite well. Even with the bad lead character, the movie is still enjoyable and serves as a lesson that coming out is not always easy.
Review of Defying Gravity
