A Reunion *** (2014, Michael Lovan, Josh Watson) – Classic Movie Review 12,424

A Reunion (2014, Josh Watson, Michael Lovan).

Michael Lovan and Josh Watson star in the amusing and affecting 2014 gay-themed drama film A Reunion as two estranged friends who meet up again to drive across the country for their college reunion in Chicago.

Michael Lovan and Josh Watson star in director Hernando Bansuelo’s amusing and affecting 2014 gay-themed drama film A Reunion as two estranged intimate friends who meet up again after many years to travel across the country by car to attend their 10-year college reunion in Chicago. Taking the scenic route, they confront their emotional issues and complicated past and present situations on their road trip from Los Angeles.

They are taking the ‘lucky horseshoe’ route, across Death Valley to Las Vegas, and along Route 66 through Arizona, New Mexico, Texas and Missouri. Thanks to the wayward and flaky Michael, a visit to their married and pregnant college friend Lisa (Maria Monge) goes sour, and a stopover to see Michael’s brother (Joe Fingerhut), his Japanese wife (Michiyo Fingerhut) and their children uncovers a major secret of Michael’s, hurting and infuriating Josh. Oh, will they ever get to Los Angeles?

Hernando Bansuelo wrote the low-budget, semi-improvised film with his leads Michael Lovan and Josh Watson, who play characters also named Michael and Josh, oddly enough. The script makes interesting work of exploring male friendship, intimacy and a search for identity against a quirky and attractive background of the all-American landscape.

The slow-burning but atmospheric travelogue takes its time to ingratiate but gets there. Michael Lovan and Josh Watson take their time to appeal, too, but after a while they do. You can’t wait to find the outcome of their story.

Close friends at college, they lost touch when Michael just took off to Japan suddenly and Josh settled in Los Angeles. Are they going to get together again, or not? That outcome seems really unlikely. Are they going to get to the reunion in Chicago together? With their erratic behaviour, that outcome seems really unlikely too. And, when it comes, the outcome is the bittersweet open-ended one you kind of always imagined it would be, frustrating though it is. The two men are sadder, maybe, but definitely a bit wiser, yes. They have confronted the past, enjoyed the present, and are ready to move on.

The script is chatty, maybe a bit too chatty for its own good, but the chatter is mostly good. You get to know the two guys real well. Major assets to the film are cinematographer Aaron Torres’s visual style with the eye-catching locations, and the energetic indie pop of Roddy Bottum and his band Imperial Teen.

But ultimately it all comes down to Michael Lovan and Josh Watson. The stiff, uptight character of Josh is the less interesting and most difficult to play, but Watson plays him well, credibly and thoughtfully. The Michael character is quite annoying but he is also very lively and charismatic, giving Lovan a chance he grabs to showboat.

© Derek Winnert 2023 – Classic Movie Review 12,424

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