‘Tree of Life’ isn’t sturdy

By all accounts, “The Tree of Life” had the makings of a fascinating genealogical foraging, as L.A.-based electronics engineer Hava Volterra -- the daughter of an Italian-Jewish physicist who immigrated to Israel as a young man and never looked back -- seeks to understand her late father through the family heritage he kept mum about. Traveling to Italy to visit the places he grew up with her feisty, camera-wielding octogenarian aunt, and interviewing various scholars, she discovers a storied lineage going back to the 13th century that includes prominent Medici-era bankers, a controversial Kabalistic scholar, the first Jewish prime minister of a Western country, and a noted mathematician who stood up to Mussolini’s fascism. But her narrated rush of this encyclopedic information -- accompanied by cluttery, grating animation -- is too often a blur of names and dates, as if Volterra can’t wait to get back to herself and her feelings about Dad, which becomes a mission to protect his quirk-laden lack of accomplishment (he felt he should have won a Nobel Prize) against the illustriousness of his forebears. It’s a sympathetic notion, to be sure, but it leaves one feeling you’re on the couch with Volterra, not on a roots quest.

-- Robert Abele

“The Tree of Life.” MPAA rating: Unrated. Running time: 1 hour, 16 minutes. At Laemmle Music Hall, 9036 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills, (310) 274-6869.

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A fascinating presidential race

Though there’s nothing extraordinary about the student council president race profiled in Caroline Suh’s documentary “Frontrunners,” it somehow makes for a thoroughly captivating film. Perhaps it’s the bright, decent, appealing kids seen here, or just the idyllic portrait Suh paints of student life at Manhattan’s prestigious Stuyvesant High School that gives the picture its charm. Whatever, “Frontrunners” does something high-school-set movies rarely do: It truly makes you wish you were back in 11th grade (well, at least for the 80 fast-paced minutes it takes to track four sets of running mates as they compete to head Stuyvesant’s Student Union).

The basics that drive this modest election clearly mirror those of major political races, including, not uncoincidentally, the current battle for the Oval Office. Popularity versus experience, debating prowess, the relevance of campaign platforms, public perception and a candidate’s ethnicity all factor in here as students such as the ambitious, sometimes esoteric George Zisiadis and the cheerier Hannah Freiman amusingly stake their claims to the school presidency.

Suh creates an engaging rhythm combining fly-on-the-wall observations with casual interviews with the various candidates and their classmates. A lively soundtrack by such indie rock bands as Elf Power and The M’s rounds out this enjoyable snapshot.

-- Gary Goldstein

“Frontrunners.” MPAA rating: Unrated. Running time: 1 hour, 20 minutes. At Landmark’s Nuart Theatre, 11272 Santa Monica Blvd., West Los Angeles, (310) 281-8223.

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A better film is in there somewhere

“The Elephant King” spends so much of its brief running time in either travelogue or debauchery mode that it misses most every opportunity to explore the fraternal relationship at its core. This is unfortunate since the brothers here are such an emotionally wounded odd couple that they seem ripe for dissection. Ripe, that is, if you’re Sam Shepard or Wes Anderson and not, apparently, writer-director Seth Grossman in his inauspicious feature debut (the film’s curious array of festival circuit prizes notwithstanding).

Perhaps a bit of star power, or at least less generic actors in the leads, might have given these underdeveloped siblings more credence or appeal. But as, respectively, bookish, suicidal dishwasher Oliver and his frenetic, self-destructive older brother Jake, Tate Ellington and Jonno Roberts appear to be playing at their ill-defined parts instead of inhabiting them. Or maybe they were just following direction.

The well-shot film primarily takes place in colorful northern Thailand, where Oliver travels to bring the dissolute, debt-fleeing Jake back to the U.S. at the behest of their hand-wringing mother (a perfunctory Ellen Burstyn). Oliver’s instant switch from bespectacled nerd to Thai-stick smoking, love-struck tourist is more embarrassing than convincing, as is the film’s reliance on literally elephant-heavy symbolism.

-- Gary Goldstein

“The Elephant King.” MPAA Rating: R for sexual content, drug use, language and some violence. Running time: 1 hour, 29 minutes. In English and Thai with English subtitles. At Laemmle’s Sunset 5, 8000 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, (323) 848-3500; Edwards’ Westpark 8, 3735 Alton Parkway, Irvine, (949) 622-8609.

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Sexual politics of high school

Stewart Wade’s “Tru Loved” drives home the pressures bearing upon gay high school students. It has no more style than a vintage TV movie and is not without contrivance and stereotypes. Content, bolstered by some solid performances, however, triumphs over form: The film is engaging, timely and courageous.

Tru (Najarra Townsend), a newcomer from liberal San Francisco to an upscale L.A. suburb, no sooner checks into her new high school than she realizes that the word is out that she has two mothers (Alexandra Paul, Cynda Williams). The reaction on the multiculturally diverse campus is not exactly welcoming but it improves considerably when she is pursued by Lo (Matthew Thompson), the football team’s popular quarterback.

The catch is that he is gay, deeply closeted amid incessant team homophobia fostered by its virulent coach (Vernon Wells). Since Tru and Lo genuinely like each other, she agrees to assuming the uncomfortable role of being his beard -- until she meets a straight guy (Jake Abel) who is as attracted to her as she is to him.

Not surprisingly, complications multiply rapidly, revealing the challenges gays face in attempting to integrate into mainstream society. The irony here is that race and ethnicity seem to be no issue among Tru’s classmates but that homosexuality remains a taboo to be treated with contempt and worse.

-- Kevin Thomas

“Tru Loved.” MPAA rating: R for language. Running time: 1 hour, 48 minutes. At Laemmle’s Music Hall, 9036 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills, (310) 274-6869; One Colorado, 42 Miller Alley, Pasadena, (626) 744-1224.

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An overlong roll in a pile of trash

With “The Gay Bed & Breakfast of Terror,” the title pretty much tells all. Best left for the easily pleased, it’s the old horror plot in which a remote inn proves to be a final resting place for a group of travelers.

It’s a primitive mix of campy sex and gore that first-time director Jaymes Thompson lets ramble on for an unconscionable 108 minutes -- travesty demands a fast pace. Trash can be fun but this movie is too tedious and under-inspired to be amusing.

Several lesbian and gay couples heading for a fabulous weekend bash at a desert resort wind up checking into a nearby yet isolated old hotel, run by a psychopathic religious fanatic (Mari Marks) and her repressed gay daughter (Georgia Jean). Hidden in the tower -- but not staying put -- is the owner’s monster son (Noah Naylor). The couples are none too faithful, but blood baths soon blot out sex. The film’s strongest asset is its setting, a seedy turn-of-the-last-century hotel in the middle of nowhere.

-- Kevin Thomas

“The Gay Bed & Breakfast of Terror.” MPAA rating: Unrated. Some sex, nudity, language, strong violence and bloodshed. Running time: 1 hour, 48 minutes. At the Sunset 5, 8000 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, (323) 848-3500.

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‘Noah’s Arc’ sails to the big screen

“Noah’s Arc: Jumping the Broom” takes up where the groundbreaking Logo Network series, dealing with the lives of young gay black men, left off at the end of its second season. The lively, timely film plays like a soap opera on a big screen, has its awkward and uneven moments but delivers the goods.

“Noah’s Arc” fans should be pleased but the movie can stand alone. There’s lots of broad comedy, some sex, skillful heart-tugging and some solid serious moments, and there’s always an underlying awareness of considerable homophobia these men face in their families and community.

Noah (Darryl Stephens), an L.A.-based screenwriter, and his partner Wade (Jensen Atwood) decide to marry at his family’s splendid vacation home in Martha’s Vineyard -- and take along a group of friends, which leads to the familiar boozy minefield of a weekend before the scheduled nuptials are to take place. There’s flirting, outright hanky-panky, endangered relationships and myriad revelations.

An ingratiating ensemble cast, mostly seasoned veterans of the series, handle every development, untoward and otherwise, with aplomb and conviction. Many of the characters are types, but are given dimension by Patrik-Ian Polk’s punchy dialogue and smart playing by the cast.

-- Kevin Thomas

“Noah’s Arc: Jumping the Broom.” MPAA rating: R for sexual content and language. Running time: 1 hour, 41 minutes. At the Sunset 5, 8000 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, (323) 848-3500.