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Like It Is (1998)
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by First Run Features
Sales Rank: 47770
Price: $29.95
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<I>Like It Is</I> is much like watching a train wreck--the very idea of it is repellent and yet you perversely can't avert your eyes. While its urban grittiness and sooty veneer entranced some critics who mistook its violent, netherworld neorealism for art, <I>Like It Is</I> offers little in the way of redemption, positive gay imaging, or even particularly good narrative. <p> Paul Oremland directed this venture about a young, gay Blackpool tough named Craig (Steve Bell) who bare-knuckle boxes for money. He ultimately moves to London in search of a better life and falls in with the trendy London gay club scene, meeting and falling for a handsome record producer named Matt (Ian Rose) and his wealthy boss (played by the Who's lead singer Roger Daltrey). The better life is quickly tainted by disillusion and misery, much as is the viewing experience.<p> Steve Bell is, in real life, a featherweight boxing champion in Britain and therefore brings an urgent and raw vitality to the lead, but the characters as a whole are either irritating or unsympathetic, and it's ultimately difficult to find anyone to care for, or a story worth empathizing with. <I>--Paula Nechak</I>
Viewer Reviews
This rental was an interesting evening's entertainment. Steve Bell was a featherweight amateur boxing champion when he was cast in this part and does a great job bashing in the competition's faces for the camera. As Craig, he plays a guy whose parents have died and is trying to find his way in the world. He hangs outside of clubs and looks at the men going in and out, unable to muster up the nerve to enter. He runs into Matt, a music promoter, played by Ian Rose. Rose appeared in the 2006 film "Flyboys" & does a fairly good job here as the sympathetic friend who helps Craig become comfortable with himself. What most appealed to me about the film is the tolerance of it. Christopher Hargreaves plays Craig's older brother Tony who observes his risky boxing bouts and tries to understand him, despite repeatedly berating him. After we go through the on & off romance between Craig & Matt, Christopher unexpectedly shows his younger brother great kindness and acceptance. The film ends on an upbeat note with Matt choosing love over business and Craig offering forgiveness. Enjoy!
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Like It Is (1998)
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