GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE February 27, 2009

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www.GayPeoplesChronicle.com

Happily ever after?

Film gives a hilarious ending to ‘Noah's Arc' TV series

by Anthony Glassman

In the antebellum South, slaves were not allowed to marry-much like LGBT people in most of the country today.

In place of the "traditional" wedding ceremony with a clergyman and

Brandon (Gary LeRoi Gray), one of Chance's students and his trick of the week.

Unfortunately for Brandon, not only is his 19-year-old perfection not enough for Ricky's notoriously wan-

First of all, who wears the clothing that Noah is seen in? Really, out in public? Other than on a New York Fashion Week runway, none of his outfits would be seen on a living human being in everyday life.

ever

Chance, Eddie, Noah, Wade, Brandon and Ricky look to the future in Noah's Arc: Jumping the Broom, now available on DVD.

legal paperwork, those kept in servitude created their own ceremonies, perhaps less formal but certainly no less meaningful.

The nuptials would often end with the now-joined couple jumping over a broom, although researchers are not quite sure from where that tradition stems. In some parts of Africa, a broom would be waved over the newlyweds and their parents.

Regardless of its origins, the tradition's resurgence in the last few decades is undeniable; so much so that Noah and Wade are doing it.

Noah's Arc: Jumping the Broom is the film finale of the Logo television series. The independent movie had a theatrical release last fall, but the distributors and theaters in Ohio didn't bother running it here.

Now it's out on DVD, so everybody can see how it all ends . . . for now, at least.

Noah (Darryl Stephens) and his macho boyfriend Wade (Jensen Atwood) are off to Wade's family summer home in the wilds of Massachusetts, where same-sex marriage is legal.

Joining the couple are most of their closest friends the irrepressible Alex (Rodney Chester), who has taken the job of wedding planner upon himself: college professor Chance (Doug Spearman) and his partner Eddie (Jonathan Julian), and super-slut Ricky (Christian Vincent), who brought along

dering eyes, he also seems to be the most sensible person in the house that weekend.

Alex is popping caffeine pills like Tic Tacs, his boyfriend Trey (Gregory Kieth) is only available via webcam, Eddie and Chance's relationship seems to be unraveling like a cheap K-Mart sweater and Noah and Wade are as much oil and water as ever.

Add into the equation the now-successful screenwriter Noah's studio boss Brandy (Jennia Fredrique) and the closet-case rapper starring in Noah's movie, Baby Gat (Jason Steed), and William Butler Yeats' lines from "The Second Coming" are truer than ever"Things fall apart, the center cannot hold."

It doesn't help that Baby Gat has the hots for Noah, Brandon wants into Chance's pants. Alex's rampaging bitchiness to Trey may torpedo their decade-long relationship and Ricky's overactive libido is hiding a deeper hurt.

Factor in the ultimate faux pasNoah outing Wade to his mother-and that broom may never be overleapt.

As fans of the series might expect, the film is a fun, funny romp. Everyone gets to hit their marks, do their schtick, and it's a fitting wrap to the show, assuming they don't do any other movies.

It does, of course, have its faults, as did the original program.

Rodney Chester is also a weak point, but only slightly. With a background in dancing and choreography, he is the least able actor of the bunch, although with such a fun cast, that bar is set pretty high. The worst here is far better than the best in many other queer indie films.

The other big problem is the proselytizing. Every fifteen minutes or so, someone makes some Significant Social Point, whether it's about the tradition of jumping the broom, safe sex or whether to come out to one's parents. It's heavy-handed and seems out of place, as if Keenen Ivory Wayans would suddently start popping up shouting "Message!" as he did in Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood.

Now, if one wanted to be really petty, one could point out that the film was also missing a lot of nudity. On the Logo network, which bleeps out profanity, a great deal of naked ass is out of the question. However, in an R-rated theatrical release, there is no reason whatsoever to not show each and every actor's tuchus at least once. As it was, there was pretty much only one sculpted set of glutes on display in the entire film.

Patrik-Ian Polk did, however, put together an enjoyable film and a fitting (presumed) end to Noah's story. One shouldn't be surprised, however, to discover more tales of this ensemble in the future.