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      Hard Pill

      2005 1h 34m Drama List
      Reviews 54% 250+ Ratings Audience Score Tim (Jonathan Slavin) is a gay man whose life lacks fulfillment. His sexual encounters -- often with a married, bisexual man, Don (Mike Begovich) -- are few and without commitment. When fun-loving Joey (Scotch Ellis Loring) takes him out on the town, Tim only feels awkward. Out of frustration, he volunteers to test a pill that will make him straight. It works, but he remains emotionally distant from his lovers, and his old friends feel betrayed, causing Tim to reevaluate his decision. Read More Read Less

      Audience Reviews

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      Audience Member Timely subject matter is played too low-key for its own good. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 02/27/23 Full Review Audience Member Provocative and engrossing, with a great cast and filmmaking that transcend the low budget. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/27/23 Full Review Audience Member interesting concept and great acting, especially in the scene where tom broke down while arguing with joey. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/19/23 Full Review Audience Member Being that this is an indie film, my expectations going into it were low. What a pleasant surprise! Extremely well-written and acted. The dialogue and the interaction between the people felt like real life. All of the characters were fleshed out wonderfully, and demonstrated that there is always much more to a person than meets the eye. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/17/23 Full Review Audience Member The topic alone drew me to this movie since I knew basically none of the actors save one. For that I must say, I was pleasantly surprised at how a subject matter which might otherwise have been slapsticked to death was handled with believable tenderness and drew on a strong emotional bond to the main character which at times was strong enough to draw tears. What surprised me most is how straight (pardon the pun) this subject was dealt with; instead of the comedic romp it might very easily have been made into, the film took the longer, more difficult but in the end rewarding road of dealing with its base premise seriously and managed to carry the picture in this way to the very end. It is a minimalistic film, with very little action and indeed at times even less said, but what IS said makes sense, is believable and speaks to us neither pedantically or lightly. The cinematography is a bit touch and go at points and will not be to every man's liking, but it's all part of the ride and it gets us there probably a lot better than most flashy, high-toned Hollywood productions would. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/25/23 Full Review Audience Member A very interesting concept, hampered slightly by (mostly) mediocre writing. It would be easy to write this off as simply a "gay film", which is what it is on the surface. But for those who care to do a little thinking...It poses some really deep and thought provoking questions that are applicable to all people regardless of sexual orientation. It does a great job of making you think about relationships (not just sexual ones) in general and how easy it is to allow feelings of comfort and familiarity to overshadow what we actually want , need and deserve... healthy, happy and productive relationships with the people in our lives. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/21/23 Full Review Read all reviews Post a rating

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      Critics Reviews

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      Don Willmott Filmcritic.com There's a lot to discuss here, and the script makes many great points but always within the context of the story. Rated: 3.5/5 Jul 6, 2006 Full Review David Cornelius eFilmCritic.com Hard Pill supplies the kind of intelligent, thoughtful, personal, effective speculative fiction that doesn't come around nearly enough these days. Rated: 4/5 Jun 15, 2006 Full Review Read all reviews

      Movie Info

      Synopsis Tim (Jonathan Slavin) is a gay man whose life lacks fulfillment. His sexual encounters -- often with a married, bisexual man, Don (Mike Begovich) -- are few and without commitment. When fun-loving Joey (Scotch Ellis Loring) takes him out on the town, Tim only feels awkward. Out of frustration, he volunteers to test a pill that will make him straight. It works, but he remains emotionally distant from his lovers, and his old friends feel betrayed, causing Tim to reevaluate his decision.
      Director
      John Baumgartner
      Producer
      Irene Turner, John E. Ferraro, Patrick Baca
      Screenwriter
      John Baumgartner
      Production Co
      The Stoebner/Baumgartner Company
      Genre
      Drama
      Original Language
      English
      Release Date (DVD)
      May 23, 2006
      Runtime
      1h 34m