I Think I Do

Bob (Alexis Arquette) and Brendan (Christian Maelen) are best friends and room mates among a group of college friends in Washington. Bob is in love with Brendan, which is glaringly obvious from the start, so it’s strange that none of their friends seem to realise until they are told. The film begins on Halloween, skips along to Christmas and then to Valentine’s Day. On this occasion Bob and Brendan start fighting and Brendan hits Bob, while their embarassed friends look on.

These early scenes are somewhat sketchy and have a low-budget feel which doesn’t bode well. But do stick with it, because this turns into a very funny and feelgood film.

The action moves to “a few years later” when friend Carol (Lauren Vélez) is about to get married to friend Matt (Jamie Harrold) and the old college pals are coming back together for the wedding. Now Bob is with daytime soap actor Sterling (Tuc Watkins), who wants to make their relationship “more permanent”, and Bob accepts. But when Brendan arrives the tables are turned, for he has realised that he was in love with Bob all along. Can he win him back?

The script is full of implausible coincidences of the “I’ve lost my room key” and “There’s only one bed” variety, and the characters are quite broadly drawn. But this is forgiveable because the film is packed with funny moments and there’s a lot going on. Some scenes are laugh out loud funny, like Bob’s impromptu use of a neck brace to hide evidence, and then there’s the subtle way that Bob has control over Sterling, since he is the writer of his sitcom.

Alexis makes Bob an endearing character and Brendan is suitably dishy. All the friends have their own relationship problems, including Sarah (Marianne Hagan), who somehow doesn’t seem to have noticed that Brendan is gay.

There’s a nice cameo from veteran Marni Nixon as Carol’s aunt Alice. Her comments on “you young people” and “Back in my day…” force an exasperated Brendan to remark “Back in your day Sterling would have been engaged to Doris Day.”

It will come as no surprise that everyone has their own happy ending, and Bob and Brendan’s, though not at all original, is very sweet. A smart and entertaining film.