Editorial Review:

Description:
When his conservative mom arrives to visit, a gay man attempts to keep his boyfriend and his London lifestyle in the closet with hilarious results!









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Rating: - More Fun Than I Expected
Within the glut of gay "coming out comedies" I've purchased in the past few years, I've noticed that they all seem to have similar plots. They usually present a young gay couple, consisting of one partner who is out and comfortable with his family, job and friends, contrasted by a partner who is not out to any of these people. Almost always, the happy couple is suddenly confronted by the visit of a parent or other relative (usually from another country or culture) from whom they must conceal the truth of their relationship, or come out once and for all. While many of these films mean well (especially when other cultures are involved), the result is often trite, offensive or dated. I was prepared for Touch of Pink to be all of these things, and half-wondered to myself as I purchased it why I bothered.

I was in for a pleasant surprise. The characters were real, engaging and likable. The two actors who played the couple were not drop-dead gorgeous hunks, just pleasant looking enough to have the average gay viewer identify with them. The gimmick of having Cary Grant as the imaginary friend of the main character worked better than I expected it to. All too often imitations of celebrities come off as just that - imitations, and pale ones to boot. Kyle MacLachlan has Cary Grant's vocal mannerisms down pat, without being overly exaggerated or silly. Alim's mother is pretty, bitchy and quite a lot of fun, and her character has most of the really funny lines in the picture, which are many. And I was also impressed not only by the production values and acting, which were first rate, but by the first class treatment given to the DVD release. All too often, DVD's of films with gay subject matter come at very high prices with no extras whatsoever. This disc offered subtitles in several languages (including English for the hearing impaired) a trailer and a short documentary on the making of the film. These are extras that people who purchase mainstream films take for granted, and I am always delighted when they're included in a gay title. All in all this film was surprisingly enjoyable, and I have no problem appraising it worthy of four stars.

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Rating: - A Little Charmer
"Touch of Pink"

A Little Charmer

Amos Lassen

Alim, an Ismaili Canadian living in London, chose to live far from his parents because he has a boyfriend. Things go awry for him when his mother shows up and attempts to find a proper Muslim girlfriend for him and to convince him to come back to Canada for his cousin's wedding.
The plot is not original by any means--we have seen the same idea done in many different ways and "Touch of Pink" is a charming homage to the romantic comedies of the 50's and 60's.
The characters are amazing and wonderfully constructed. The dialog is very clever and there are lots of laughs. It is filled with subtle charm and great sentiment.
Alim (Jimi Mistry) is a still photographer in London who lives with his lover, Giles (Kristen Holden-Reid). He loves vintage movies and has created an imaginary friend for himself, Cary Grant (Kyle MacLachlan) who is always there for him with all kinds of advice. Nuru, Alim's mother lives in Toronto in the shadow of her social climbing sister, Dolly. Nuru, jealous that Dolly's son is about to have a big and extravagant wedding, gets on a plane to visit her son who she foes not know is gay. When she arrives she is insensitive to her son's life and remains clueless about the way he lives. She is quite upset when she learns that Alim and Giles are lovers and she flees back to Canada, leaving her son miserable. Only Cary Grant can provide comfort to Alim and soon the relationship between Giles and Alim begins to hit bottom. Alim decides to go to Toronto for the wedding and shortly afterwards Giles shows up as well. Hilarious comedy follows and we get a watch a movie that is just a lot of fun. Maclachlan as Grant is terrific and the movie which deals with the deep issue of being gay in a Muslim family is pure entertainment.
Suleka Matthews as Alim's mother, however, owns the film. Her acting literally dominates when she is on screen.

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Rating: - great fun
refreshing and funny ! don't worry about nit-picking the details - it's meant as a light hearted romp - and should be enjoyed as such. Kyle McLaughlin was wonderful as 'Cary Grant'. He's grown up into a far more handsome man than you might expect from his 'Dune' beginnings.

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Rating: - Saw in theater...walked out
Saw this a couple years ago in the theater. As a NYC gay man who generally enjoys independent movies, I found this film formulaic, shallow, and just plain uninteresting. The screenplay was boring, the characters unappealing, the acting mediocre at best (even for a low budget indie). In fact, although I paid for two tickets (me and my partner's), we chose to leave approximately 15 minutes before the ending. I just couldn't take the agony any longer.

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Rating: - Very stylish and charming gay dramedy.
Touch of pink has a lot of different elements happening, such as culture clash, gay romance/infidility, coming out, and so on. The film is actually quite enjoyable as dramedy, even though it's geared towards being more of a comedy. While it's very pleasing visually, considered the production and wardrobe and music are very good, it's the main characters that make the film more affecting. I very much enjoyed the performance from Suleka Mathew who is made to look older to be Jimi Mistry's mother, and she steals the scenes effortlessly. Having worked with Canadian actor Kris Holden Reid in Never Forget(2007 release), I was quite surprised and taked by his willingness to tackle so many gay love scenes and nudity. He plays the love interest of Jimi, but his character is not so monogamous but emotionally committed. I do like his British accent, but I find his mannerism is too straight looking. That comes from Jimi Mistry as well, his appearance and portrayal is somewhat wooden and it's not the properly subtle gay, even his character is supposed to be closeted. The emotional range of his performance is there, and that was quite touching at times. Finally, I must say that while it's just a supporting role, Kyle Maclachlan did a marvellous job at impersonating Gary Grant. The voice and mannerism, plus the right makeup, hair, and wardrobe on him. I thought George Clooney was the only one who looks very much like Grant, I guess I am wrong.