Review: ‘Out Loud’ could be toned down
It’s shame that the first film to come out of Lebanon featuring a gay theme turns out to be such a head-scratching jumble. But that’s the fate of “Out Loud,” writer-director Samer Daboul’s well-intentioned, but ill-conceived, tale of modern friendship and love in a repressive land that has long fought against nontraditional relationships.
Daboul brings together a group of five open-minded men — three straight (Rudy Moarbes, Jad Hadid, Michel Sarkiss), two gay (Ali Rhayem, Jean Kobrosly) — and an enlightened young woman (Eliane Kerdy) who, essentially, attempt to escape society to form their own kind of free-to-be-you-and-me family. Their journey includes lots of mugging, singing, dancing, eating and, oh, yes, an impromptu group wedding. Ain’t life grand? Not so fast.
There’s trouble coming in the form of one of the gay men’s homophobic cousins, who are out to get him after catching him kissing another guy. This can’t, of course, all end well, even in Daboul’s pie-in-the-sky universe. But the sacrificial lamb here (OK, let’s call it what it is: the Jesus figure) isn’t necessarily who we expect.
The ebullient, hard working, photogenic cast simply can’t surmount the filmmaker’s kooky zeal and hippie-dippie sensibility, much less a script so crammed with grand pronouncements and florid blather that viewers may get whiplash from excessive eye-rolling.
Daboul and company, who were reportedly harassed and attacked by locals while shooting in the ultra-conservative town of Zahle, Lebanon, deserve tremendous credit for pursuing such a dicey project. If only the result was a more viable, persuasive and mature piece of work.
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“Out Loud.”
MPAA rating: None.
Running time: 1 hour, 43 minutes. In Arabic with English subtitles.
Playing: At Laemmle’s NoHo 7, North Hollywood.
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