Strapped [DVD]

This intriguing and well-wrought film plays as an extended riff on the unvoiced question "Who do you need me to be?". A nameless, many-named young hustler, wonderfully played by Ben Bonenfant, tricks his way through the seedy labyrinth of an apartment block which both conceals and reveals an abundance of potential clients. At each encounter he subtly morphs to become the necessary object of desire.

The overt transaction is pleasure for money, though there are other forms of exchange too - fragments of lives or lies shared, moments of pain, and moments of deep tenderness, perhaps feigned, perhaps not. Are the hustler's kindnesses merely part of the service, or is he taking more than just the cash when he leaves, is there something else in it for him each time he touches a life?

Maybe the apartment-labyrinth is slightly too obvious as a metaphor for a journey into self-knowledge and the prize of intimacy, and certainly the ending feels a little weak and conventionally romantic when set against the starkly beautiful edginess of earlier passages, but please don't let these small criticisms put you off - there's plenty to savour in this unexpectedly rich tale.

As STRAPPED opens, "Alex", a charming, enigmatic hustler, is engaged in a trick with a nervous older male. They exchange stories about their backgrounds, although it immediately becomes clear that Alex's narratives are intentional creations. Having left the apartment, Alex becomes lost in the building. So begins a series of encounters with different residents of the apartment block, involving physical liaisons with a camp coke-fiend, a young married father, a butch old queen, and a sensitive writer. For each encounter, Alex adopts a new personality ("I go where my body takes me"), empathic with that of the person he happens to be with.

STRAPPED, the first feature-length film from writer/director Joseph Graham, proved to be a surprise. Far more reflective than the plot line suggests, the film confidently brushes up against fresh territories. Beautifully written, the dialogue is punchy and original, and the generally-unknown cast perform splendidly; in particular Ben Bonenfant (who has a Joseph Gordon-Levitt charisma) is superb as the hustler.

The film should appeal to a diverse audience, lending itself to appreciation on different levels - whether as standard entertainment romance, or as offering a rather more thoughtful meditation on identity and intimacy. For this reviewer, the film must lose a star for the hugely disappointing ending, which proved to be regressive and reactionary after the playful wonder of the possibilities that were earlier confronted. (Nevertheless, this should not dissuade, since the majority of viewers will undoubtedly appreciate the ending's triumphantly ascetic conventionality.)

Overall: well-acted and layered, with strong production values accompanied by a sympathetic musical score, STRAPPED is certain to appeal. Recommended.

This film strapped was awesome and Ben is so good at playing a gay hustler, he is so sexy, I would love to see him many more films in the future, he also is a good dancer, he moves really good, last thing I want to say is I love the layout of the film, the way they made it like a maze, and in the end he found himself, Adam and Gary make a cute couple.