Fun Down There

Stigliano takes the grainy docu-drama angle in following the fortunes of Buddy (Waite) a young gay man from upstate New York who leaves home for the Big Apple. He soon finds himself involved with a group of typical urban bohemians, with whose help he loses his virginity, makes friends, and gets a job. It's all shot with dispassionate detatchment, by means of fixed camera angles that record party small talk and sexual acts without comment or sensationalism. Occasionally the home movie mood is annoying: one feels the cast are allowed to do their party pieces a little too much (they're just not interesting enough to hold attention). But in general it's an engaging piece, with a central performance by Waite that radiates a convincing innocence and an electric sexuality.