Ice Blues: A Donald Strachey Mystery

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Audience Member Chad Allen is a gay detective who is able to get the bad guys and be macho man. The music is very good. The plot moves along and demonstrates an originality in that the two gay men kiss and hug and are very loving. Other than being gay they lead ordinary lives except for the murder here of a lawyer trying to give away three million dollars. There is a child porn video gang involved. Also a cop is emotionallly involved with a woman who killed her husband. Never a dull moment. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/02/23 Full Review Audience Member I love the Donald Strachey mysteries!! This one is the fourth in the series and once more delight us with a great combination of drama, mystery, supspence, comedy relief, and good soundtrack! If you like the "who done it" mysteries then you will enjoy watching detective Donald Strachey with his partner Timothy solve another intriguing murder case! Highly recommended!!! Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/13/23 Full Review Audience Member Hunky Chad Allen returns for the fourth (and final) time in a Don Strachey story. The best part of the movie is the joy of seeing the couple being affectionate and romantic with each other in a macho mystery/modern noir. As before, the movie has some good humor, mostly involving Donaldâ(TM)s put-upon assistant Kenny (Nelson Wong). Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/15/23 Full Review Audience Member Richard Stevenson's novels about Private Investigator, Donald Strachey, have been described as eye opening and ground breaking. They have launched a film series and there are even talks of a television series, but what makes these different than any other detective stories, Donald Strachey is gay. The whole point of the series is to show that despite his sexuality, Strachey is just the same as every other cop turned private investigator, he has the same problems, works the same cases, faces the same dangers, there is absolutely no difference. The first film in the series, Third Man Out, didn't capture that. The film series aired on the LGBTQ movie channel, Here!, and was so far over the top and full of gay everything, that I thought the series would die right there. Fortunately, they gave the series another shot, corrected the mistakes, and the second time around, filmmakers got it right. Ice Blues is much closer to Stevenson's novels and characters than the original film was. It starts when Strachey's long time partner, Tim Callahan (Sebastian Spence) receives a large campaign contribute from an anonymous man, who is murdered right in front of him. The police come to investigate, but find no proof, not even a body, so he hires his partner, Donald Strachey (Chad Allen), who doesn't know what to think. That all changes the next morning, when the body turns up, in the couples drive way, with a note attached to it. Chad Allen was so much better in this film than in the first. In the first movie he was a gay private investigator, in this film, he's a private investigator who happens to be gay. It's a part of the story but not the main focus of everything. Ice Blues is centered on the case itself, which is what a film should be focused on. The mystery was solid, the twist in the end was terrific, I would have liked to seen some more action and better casting, but overall a very solid film, especially for one that was made for TV. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/17/23 Full Review Audience Member Surprisingly neat. Probably the best one in the series. Rated 2.5/5 Stars •  Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 02/04/23 Full Review Audience Member The Donald Strachey films get better and better. In ICE BLUES - the fourth in the series - the performers have really relaxed into their roles and the film noir storytelling is top-drawer. The tribute to the genre mixed with the modern twist (a detective who just happens to be gay and happily partnered) seems effortless here - whereas in other hands I couldn't imagine the premise working. The lighting makes the most daring and successful contribution with lots of shadows and film noir angles giving the film its classy but raw 1940's feel. Chad Allen is steadfast as usual as Strachey. If never surprising in his portrayal, he anchors the film smartly. As usual, there's some stellar support - this time in the person of Sherry Miller (who played the supportive Mom on TV's "Queer as Folk"). Her quiet intensity is always worth watching. Like most detective yarns, the film starts to twist a few times too many in the third reel, but keep with it and it resolves in a satisfying - and maybe even surprising - way. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/06/23 Full Review Read all reviews

Ice Blues: A Donald Strachey Mystery

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