When Gray deals with her sexuality, it comes off like a dated after-school special in the body of a blonde bombshell. I can't decide if I just insulted or complimented Gray Matters, but at least I have the sense to stop talking about this film.
Gray Matters (2007)
Runtime: 1 hr 36 mins
Synopsis: Gray (Heather Graham) and Sam (Thomas Cavanagh) are inseparable. They live together, take ballroom dancing classes, and jog in the park together. They'd make a very attractive couple were it not for the fact that they're brother and sister. In a bright and beautiful version of Manhattan,... Gray (Heather Graham) and Sam (Thomas Cavanagh) are inseparable. They live together, take ballroom dancing classes, and jog in the park together. They'd make a very attractive couple were it not for the fact that they're brother and sister. In a bright and beautiful version of Manhattan, where every day appears to be kissed with spring sunshine, Gray keeps herself busy hanging with Sam, working for an advertising agency, and attending kooky sessions with her flaky therapist, Sydney (Sissy Spacek). All is well, until brother Sam up and falls in love with the gorgeous zoologist, Charlie (Bridget Moynahan). Gray is happy for him, but panicked about how it will affect their relationship--particularly after Sam announces that he and Charlie are getting married. Gray does her best to cope and be supportive, but things take an unexpected turn when she suddenly finds herself sharing a drunken, passionate kiss with Charlie the night before the wedding. The next day, Charlie doesn't even recall their embrace. But the kiss has opened up a whole new world for Gray... GRAY MATTERS is an ultra-light look at homosexuality and the challenges of coming out late in life. Graham's cutely neurotic Gray comes off as a sort of lesbian Lucille Ball--silly, and without much substance. However, it is perhaps a positive sign for the gay rights movement that they now even have their own powder-puff rom-coms--the kind that seem ready-made for teen slumber parties. Alan Cumming and Molly Shannon lend a bit of comedic spark with their turns as Gray's supportive, outspoken pals. [More]
Genre: Comedies
Starring: Heather Graham, Tom Cavanagh, Bridget Moynahan, Sissy Spacek, Alan Cumming
DVD Info
Release:
Jul 6, 2008
DVD Features:
- Keep Case
- Dual Side
Audio:
- Dolby Digital 5.1 - English
- Subtitles - English, Spanish - Optional
- Subtitles - English - Closed Captioned
Additional Release Material:
- Behind the Scenes
Reviews
While the light and whimsical comic timing of the leads carry the film far, even they cannot blind us to Gray Matters' many shortcomings.
Graham carries this for a while, but Kramer spends entirely too much time weakly satirizing Graham's job at an advertising agency, where Molly Shannon's a kvetching coworker.
In its genre writer-director Sue Kramer's film sets a new record for bright shining peepers and dimply smirks. It's enough to kill Buster Keaton's entire family.
Despite being bogged down by several distracting, extended dance numbers, this zany farce has just enough momentum and surprises along the way to hold one's interest for the duration. But it'll help immeasurably if you're a devotee of daytime soap operas.
Decked out in its fondness for old Hollywood films and American songbook standards, Gray Matters borrows the wallpaper from a Nancy Meyers movie to decorate its empty room.
Gray Matters feels dated: Gray's self-identity confusion is less "adorable" than annoying, and both she and Charlie appear exceptionally clueless about what's going on.
Much too eager to please rather than dealing with the messier issues around sexual identity.
I can’t recommend it for gay audiences, the presumed target demographic, because they are likely to find it innocuous at best and downright insulting at worst.
The writing isn't sharp enough for the film to work as comedy, nor are the characters real enough for the audience to connect emotionally.
First-time director Sue Kramer allows [Graham] to mug her way through every scene. You find yourself constantly wanting to cry out: 'Heather, please, a little less!'
All the characters feel superficial, a sensation heightened by a roster of too-cute secondary characters.
[Heather Graham's] never looked better, despite the unflattering digital video format, which makes it all the more tragic that she's not appearing in better material.
There is, one has to assume, a pretty good old-fashioned screwball comedy in all this, but director-writer Sue Kramer seems to have grown up watching Rhoda so Graham, usually a capable actress, has not a word of actual dialogue, only gag lines.
Nearly every scene of this movie rings hollow, mainly because we can never really believe that what we're seeing up on the screen could truly happen.
Is New York City populated only by talky, insufferable singles who obsess over their trivial romantic entanglements?
It's so awful that it enters that weird realm in which it becomes actively annoying. The moviegoer sits there, hoping the characters will be tortured and die horrible deaths.
Related Forums
by: jackson1959 6/22/07
Pictures
Videos
Watch Now >>
News
posted by Tim Ryan February 22, 2007
This week at the movies, we've got wacky cops ("Reno 911!: Miami"), numerological tension ("The...


Top Critic