Shared Rooms

I've read all the user reviews here. I don't understand the negative ones. This is one of the best gay-themed movies I've seen. I think the script was imaginative. There's a lot of "synchronicities" between characters, interesting twists and turns. It's well-acted. The actors are nice to look at. There's full-frontal nudity. It has a great ending. I mean, what's not to like?!

Shared Rooms (2016)

Is a no angst gay rom-com written and directed by Rob Williams who brought us 'Make the Yuletide Gay'

This is another "Holigay" film that's intended to be light entertainment and it succeeds on that level. The story involves 4 gay couples with their stories told in an intertwining manner only to have them all close the loop; Couple 1 are an accountant and a screenwriter who open the film lamenting (over a Christmas dinner?) to couple 4 about the way that their social circle is shrinking as their gay friends are getting married and switching from partying to parenting. Of course couple 4 reveals that they are in the surrogacy process and expecting a baby themselves soon.

Couple 2 involves two men who are meeting on Christmas day for the first time thanks to a "manhunter" (Grindr/Tindr?) date. They discover that not only do they have sexual chemistry but quite a few other things in common as well.

Couple 3 involves two roommates who've shared digs for over a year with one traveling extensively. The traveler returns unexpectedly to find that his flatmate has turned his bedroom into a gay B&B and his room is actually rented out. Of course the two end up sharing the other bedroom and both discover... While couple 4's story isn't really developed, we actually get a fifth couple when the teen aged nephew of one of the guys in couple 1 gets thrown out of his own home and comes to lodge with his Guncle.

The stories all come together at a "Steve Not Eve" New Year's party.

The acting is genuinely not bad, the actors are good looking if not strikingly handsome, the production values are adequate, and whilst there are unlikely plot developments, there are few of the cringe-worthy moments that kept me from ever really enjoying the director's earlier 'Make the Yuletide Gay'

At only 75 minutes this film requires little time, and since it's streaming free with Amazon Prime, little investment. This is not an epiphany generating film with tremendous amounts of fiber and food for thought of the greater issues, but it is a candy cane of a movie. Light and sweet and perfect for the holidays.

Movies are supposed to be a wholesome diversion. For me, this was just that. It was on the pleasant side. I needed that.

Story 1: a gay couple without a child.

Story 2: a gay man has company over.

Story 3: a roommate needs a place to sleep.

That is less revealing than the Hulu description.

I can aspire to all three stories. There is humor in the movie.

Sure, I can put my movie reviewer credentials on, but I will not. I hope to meet nice men like the ones in this movie and that is the meaning this movie gives to my heart.

This seems to be funded by indiegogo, as the imdb page lists all the supporters. We meet singles and couples in various stages of hooking up, couple-dom, family-hood, at the holidays. Some male nudity. Some fun conversations, catty remarks. Several timely references which will probably be obsolete in a few years. But it's mostly fun to watch. It chugs right along. Then there is one really, odd, rare revalation made about an hour in; and immediately after that, a coincidence, where the odds against that happening are just crazy sky high. Everything (too much!) happens in the last fifteen minutes, and it's weird and rushed. Written and directed by rob williams. It's a fun premise, but there's just too many weird things going on to buy in, and the ending is just crazy rushed. Did they run out of money?

This is from director Rob Williams who brought us 'Make the Yuletide gay' – which I quite enjoyed on the superficial level that it was designed to be. 'Shared Room's similarly a bit one dimensional in the scenes it sets up an the depth of those that inhabit said scenes. There are three related stories of gay men and the sex they have during the festive season according to the blurb.

That is correct but is mis represents the lack of depth that happens here. There is one character who actually does really well and that is probably because his role has some space to grow and that is the long lost nephew of Cal's that turns up after being thrown out. Some of the themes could have been expanded and more could have been made of the 'awkward' moments that were often that so contrived.

What would have saved this is a dose of good acting and/or a better script, and in places both do come together, but it is so rare, this is like an ebb and flow of 'interesting' and as such so does the viewers fervour to watch more. Not a disaster but not one you will ever rave about either.