Sadly Over-hyped

Best movie ever!

A brilliant film that helped define a genre

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties.

I think the users here are world class pianist Richard Kennington (Paul Rhys) and his manager cum lover Joseph Mansourian (Allan Corduner) is seducing the handsome and talented Paul Porterfield (Kevin Bishop who also plays Jim Hawkins in Muppet Treasure Island) just to have sex with him.....But Joseph tells Richard that Paul uses them to gets what he wants (what a baloney)First of all Paul is not poor nor a hustler.....he uses his body to Richard because he loves him and idolize him and let Joseph gives him a blow job because he knows that he is Richard's manager in order to hear news about him......Paul even nick the picture of Richard that the latter gave to his managerWhat's wrong in achieving your ambitions?????Paul is still a teen ager and he let those two uses his body but doesn't accept payment and only want to be a world class pianist like Richard......Kevin Bishop is so wholesome that showing off his body and butt makes me smile.......flawless

I agree with what another person said that this movie should have been based in London instead of New York/San Fransico since most of the actors were British.The accents were not bad considering some of the actors struggled to sound American. I started to like the movie and the characters until the ending.I didn't think it was fair to leave us hanging and wondering what the hell was gonna happen next between Richard and Paul.I found it funny how each character seemed to be using one another for some reason or another.The older male characters would use their wealth and power or celebrity status to lure young Paul into sex,while he had his own agenda and knew how to play all of them to get what he wanted as well. I liked Kevin Bishops portrayal of Paul.Some thought he was too wooden but it worked for me.Other then the abrupt ending,I thought it was a good film portrayed nicely with humour and drama.

I wanted so much to like this film, and I tried very hard to do so. But it is so inept, and has so many flaws, it is hard to know where to begin.The basic story is simple enough: piano student Paul is seduced by and falls in love with his idol, fortyish concert pianist Richard; he gets dumped inexplicably and spends the rest of the film trying to make sense of it. But add these extra ingredients -- Paul's neurotic mother also falling for the pianist, Richard's lover/manager seducing Paul while the boy is being kept by yet another older man -- and you have a rather heady Freudian stew, indeed.What these noxious, self-absorbed characters have in common, keeping the handsome 18-year-old confused and depressed, is their duplicity. Nobody tells Paul the truth, rendering him unable to make a decision in his own interest. His beauty makes him desirable. His ingenuous nature makes him an easy mark.The dialogue is oddly disjointed though lifted directly from David Leavitt's well-written novel, The Page Turner. For some reason, about half of Mr. Leavitt's lines have been deleted, making those that remain a crazy-quilt of non-sequiturs. Adding to the confusion are British actors playing American refracted through the eyes and ears of a Spanish director. Then there are the Spanish actors who have learned their lines phonetically, wildly inflecting words incorrectly. Finally, a classical music consultant could have insured the proper pronunciation of composers' names, or pointed out that most of the pieces Paul plays are embarrassingly inappropriate.What the film does do well is to depict the haute-gay classical music demi-monde of New York, and the predatory older men who rule from lofty Central Park West enclaves. This exclusive oligarchy devours the seemingly unlimited supply of hopeful young artists, like Paul, who want to succeed but cannot due to inexperience and inaptitude for the game. A 'civilized' veneer covers, but never quite hides, the self-serving artistic Darwinism.Exquisite Kevin Bishop, who plays Paul so perfectly, is a real find. He has a low-key style, lovely body, and astonishing blue eyes. Barcelona is exotic, the photography is beautiful, and the original score is well done, but the DVD itself has problems. The dialogue is somewhat out of sync, is overly loud in some places (mainly due to Juliet Stevenson's histrionics), and nearly inaudible in others.

You may consider what follows a "spoiler". Too much information may "ruin" it for you so may not want to read on.This is a movie about discovery and confusion and anger and love. A young man comes of age and recognizes his potential but in an odd way. And older men seem to find confusion and angst and yet wield their weight as mature people of position. The entire drama takes place against the backdrop of a gorgeous city in Europe and then a wonderful American city and also Orange County, California (filmed in a European suburb, actually).Some folks have panned this movie but I can't figure out why. The Ðirector is not American, he is definitely European and he's interpreting an American writer's work. But he does so beautifully. The characters take on depth and there is humor, drama, some irony and a bit of pessimism. I also found the definite sense of futility that is part of the European character of where the movie is being filmed.This movie's actors do a marvelous job and the thought that they need "direction" or lack it is an insult. In particular Juliette Stevensen needs no director's hand - she is a classically trained actress and it does show.If you're looking for an epic or a "Bond" flick or something of that nature that is not this film. If you want a film that makes you think and smile a bit and wonder and if you love beautiful scenery and gorgeous people this is a flick for you to enjoy for a bit.