Like It Is
1998
An honest portrait of homosexual love set in England. The story concerns a bare-knuckle fighter and a record producer who fall in love despite their incredibly opposite backgrounds. Daltrey makes a memorable appearance as a cranky boss. Read more
| Starring | Steve Bell, Ian Rose, Roger Daltrey, Dani Behr |
|---|---|
| Director | Paul Oremland |
| Genres | Drama, Gay/Lesbian |
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Like It Is
An honest portrait of homosexual love set in England. The story concerns a bare-knuckle fighter and a record producer who fall in love despite their incredibly opposite backgrounds. Daltrey makes a memorable appearance as a cranky boss.
| Starring | Steve Bell, Ian Rose, Roger Daltrey, Dani Behr, Christopher Hargreaves |
|---|---|
| Director | Paul Oremland |
| Studio | PECCADILLO PICTURES |
| Run time | DVD: 1 hr 30 mins |
| Certificate | |
| Genres | Drama, Gay/Lesbian |
| Language | English |
| Hearing-impaired | English, German |
| Subtitles | German |
| Released | DVD: 11 Sep 2000 Production year: 1998 |
| Format | DVD |
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Critics' reviews (3)
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A young boxer from Blackpool (played by British amateur featherweight champion Steve Bell) finds love and disillusionment in London's gay clubland in first-time director Paul Oremland's refreshingly good-natured production. Ian Rose is the record producer naive Bell follows to Soho after a one night stand, only to face harsh realities in the big city. Roger Daltrey is Rose's predatory boss and Dani Behr Daltrey's latest singing discovery, and both see Bell as a threat. Slightly awkward, yet refusing to fall into the cliché traps that often handicap gay dramas, this is the same old “coming out” story but done with a light, naturalistic charm and without any preaching. Rather good of its type.
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This so-so first feature gets away with casting Behr as a disco diva and Daltrey as an amoral record company boss.... read more on Time Out
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Most helpful member's review
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16 out of 19 people found this review helpful
So it's rubbish then!!
I just love people who write a review 'it was so bad I had to stop watching after an hour!
Then how can you review it? Yes it was made on a budget, and yes it's not the greatest movie ever - but it has a wit behind it which makes up for that! Bad in places the whole is the total of the sum parts and really it adds up! And remember it was'nt full of highly paid pro actors - give it some credit! -
Most recent members' review
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2 out of 2 people found this review helpful
Like it is, but not all of it
In the vast sub genre of sexual initiation this film offers one of the fastest and hardest models. It's directed with some finesse, rather a contrast to the often blunt script. What begins with a mix of empathy and grim realism as Craig, a gay bare knuckle fighter, 'comes out' transforms into a tender romance in fantasy island: "a boat carefully built for us to do it in" (to quote the DVD extra commentary).
The fighter's lover, record producer Matt, also has around a girl signing, Paula; but it's the dynamism of record company boss Kelvin that lights up a rather sagging centre after the sex scenes and between the two brief, but gory, fights. Roger Daltrey's Kelvin is such a likeable roue while Dani Behr's petulant Paula offers no counter attraction.
Steve Bell who plays Craig, a real boxer with no previous acting experience, is unassumingly and refreshingly straightforward and yet also has a touch of grace that explains Matt's growing fondness for him. Ian Rose's Matt is appropriately more sophisticated and cunning. Yet by the end of the film both seem to have acquired elements of each other's character.
Given this, one earlier title for the film, 'Deep in you', seems more suitable because it's about trusting the development of a relationship. It shows the 'normality', attractions and dangers of the gay scene with some reference to the broader environment but also uses artistic licence to smooth over the coming out process and resolve conflict. -
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An honest portrait of homosexual love set in England. The story concerns a bare-knuckle fighter and a record producer who fall in love despite their incredibly opposite backgrounds. Daltrey makes a ... -