Thief River

In “Glen’s Homophobia Newsletter Vol. 3, No. 2,” David Sedaris’ titular scribe hilariously saw the slightest slight against him as prompted by homophobia; with the big H obscuring his vision, he hardly perceived anything else. Glen comes to mind while taking in Blessing’s earnest, well-meaning 2001 drama about country boys Gil and Ray, with three pairs of actors playing them at ages 18, 43 and 71. In short, Gil is Jack to Ray’s Ennis. The message-play’s message: Midcentury small-town, small-minded rejection of homosexuality caused lifelong frustration and unhappiness. Representing these lives’ full spectrums through a time-crossing structure has potential poignancy, but rather than unfolding as unexpectedly as real life, Gil and Ray fold up neatly into shapes the author has predesigned.

Most lines, or so it seems, pertain to homosexuality, with characters falling into one of two camps: hostile or tolerant. Harlow, the vagabond who comes upon the boys in the barn: homophobe; Ray’s grandpa, who saves them from Harlow only to tear them asunder: homophobe. Ditto for Ray’s son and Harlow’s relative, while Ray’s grandson graduates to tolerance. It isn’t that such attitudes aren’t in themselves credible, but that Blessing’s programmatic writing (Gil follows the urban path: young lover, AIDS-stricken friends; Ray sticks to the country road: wife, kid) reduces people to agendas. Dapier easefully handles the material, yet aside from John Ruhaak as the oldest Ray, the actors don’t fully convince as small-town folks, or as folks. As poor Glen never learns, even homophobes take time for other pursuits.—Novid Parsi