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Billy's Hollywood Screen Kiss (1998) More at IMDbPro »

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58 comments in total

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11 out of 14 people found the following comment useful :-
Kissing Billy Collier, 13 May 2006

Author: jotix100 from New York

This film was a rare treat in that it presents its subject matter with dignity and fun. The comedy, directed by Tommy O'Haver never goes for cheap shots. The story of this somewhat naive photographer trying to make it in Los Angeles, under another writer/director would have gone for the 'on your face' attitude, rather than give it the romantic tone Tommy O'Haver imparted on the movie.

The performances are good. Sean Hayes, who has gone to bigger and better things, is fine as Billy, the photographer. Brad Rowe, as Gabriel, the object of Billy's love, is fine also. Best of all is Meredith Scott Lynn, a fine actress, who is the best asset of this movie. Her Georgina serves to tie all the different plots, and in doing so, she contributes to make the film better. Paul Bartel, Holly Woodlawn and the rest, do a fine job.

Tommy O'Haver made a charming movie about people that are so normal they could be straight for all we know.

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8 out of 9 people found the following comment useful :-
Sweet-natured comedy hits all the right grace notes, 27 April 2005

Author: Libretio

"Billy's Hollywood Screen Kiss"

Aspect ratio: 2.39:1 (Panavision)

Sound format: Dolby Stereo

An LA photographer (Sean Hayes) falls madly in lust with an aspiring model (Brad Rowe) who's been hired to pose in a series of pictures inspired by old-time Hollywood movies. But Hayes receives mixed signals from the object of his desire - is he gay, or isn't he? - which leads to complications of the heart...

Described as a 'trifle' by writer-director Tommy O'Haver (ELLA ENCHANTED), this unassuming confection asks little more of its audience than to enjoy the scenery (both geographical and human!) and to pine along with its luckless protagonist as he pursues the hunk of his dreams. Those familiar with Hayes' outrageous turn in TV's "Will & Grace" may be disappointed by his restraint as a bland, scatterbrained idealist who learns the hard way that the course of true love never ran smoothly, especially in LA. Spiced with dream sequences that recreate moments from Hollywood's 'golden age' (most impressively, an Astaire-Rogers dance routine between Hayes and Rowe to the strains of Petula Clark, with drag queens on backing vocals!), the film pays affectionate tribute to the movies of a bygone era, movies which inspire the leading character on his never-ending quest for perfect happiness. Watch out for the magical scene in which Hayes and Rowe share a bed for purely platonic reasons, only to end up touching each other by 'accident'...

Also starring Meredith Scott Lynn (STANDING ON FISHES), Richard Ganoung (PARTING GLANCES), Paul Bartel (EATING RAOUL), Carmine D. Giovinazzo (IN ENEMY HANDS), and Warhol 'superstar' Holly Woodlawn (WOMEN IN REVOLT) as a musical attraction at the gayest party in town! Beautiful widescreen cinematography by Mark Mervis (HELLBENT).

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8 out of 9 people found the following comment useful :-
A Very Touching Movie, 17 October 2000

Author: Steven Prasetya (prasetya.steven@mailcity.com) from matthew

This movie starts as a comedy, but somewhere along the way, it becomes a touching drama. The story about Billy who is often rejected by his love interests will give you a very different view of homosexuals, whom often portrayed as a group of people who have sex a lot and always change partners. This movie will show you that that is not the case. It's worth the money.

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6 out of 6 people found the following comment useful :-
A Love Story..., 16 June 2003
Author: Blooeyz2001 from Florida

If you watch this movie expecting Sean Hayes to play a Jack McFarland ("Will & Grace") type character, you'll be disappointed. His portrayal of Billy is low-key & pensive. He's adorable (instead of obnoxious & swishy) with a little boy twinkle in his eyes. Billy is a photographer from Indiana who has relocated to Los Angeles. He comes across a waiter/bass player (Brad Rowe as Gabriel, a character I'm not too crazy about) working in a coffee shop, who becomes his model & the object of his affection. Supposedly, Gabriel is straight & has a "girlfriend" in San Francisco. The sexual tension between these two can be cut with a knife (it's nerve wracking.) I especially like the scenes where Billy opens up to Gabriel about his life & experiences. Telling him the types of things you'd only share with someone you truly feel connected to. Is Gabriel gay?? Will they get together??... (The film has great sets, & beautiful colors. There are also hideous drag queens on hand. The one who lip syncs Petula Clark tunes is horrendous looking & it's amusing hearing/seeing Pet Clark's voice come out of that face!)

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5 out of 5 people found the following comment useful :-
Lightweight, but charming, 10 August 1998
Author: bilahn from Minneapolis

Considered in the context of an initial effort by a young director, I thought this was a very nice film. As a gay man, I found the characters all very believable and recognizable, and the protagonist Billy utterly charming. All in all, skillful, original and sweet. Don't go in expecting a deep cinematic experience, but accept it for what it is and I don't think you will be disappointed. However, those who are not gay or who cannot empathize with the gay experience, will probably not be moved, notwithstanding the director's attempt to show the universal character of human love and experience.

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4 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
FABULOUS!!!, 16 January 1999

Author: anonymous

I am a straight guy and I LOVED this movie. My friend told me to rent it and watch it without reading the summary, so I did. I never would have seen this movie otherwise, but I am so glad that I did. It was educational for me as well as entertaining. I definitely recommend seeing this movie to anyone who is deciding whether or not to see it. It was GREAT!!!

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5 out of 6 people found the following comment useful :-
A carnival of Angelean queer decadence., 26 May 2001

Author: budmassey (cyberbarrister@gmail.com) from Indianapolis, IN

This is another one of those "discovered by accident while channel surfing" movies that I am always grateful to have found. Before the movie was over, I was online buying the DVD. O'Haver must have summoned all his Indy Film clout to muster the likes of Paul Ganoung, Meredith Scott Lynn and the fabulous Paul Bartel to lend their talents both on and off the camera, but the coup of coups was casting Sean Hayes.

Hayes is superb as Billy, a struggling gay photographer yearning for love. He falls for Gabriel (Brad Rowe) who may or may not be gay. The rest of the film dances around the inevitable question and let's just say that things have a way of working out for the best, albeit differently from what we often expect.

Actor, writer, director and absolute gay icon Paul Bartel, who unfortunately passed away a couple of years after Screen Kiss, is deliciously unctuous as a would be mentor. Brad Rowe is passable, if a little lightweight, and benefits immeasurably from his co-star. Sean Hayes, even before the runaway success of Will and Grace, demonstrates the comedic genius that steals almost every scene. Spliced throughout the movie are several numbers by Mr. Dan, a notable drag artist and promoter from L.A., and as Petula Clark he helps generate the sheer joy of watching this movie.

If you remember Lou Reed's classic "Take a Walk on the Wild Side" you may enjoy watching Holly Woodlawn ("Holly came from Miami F-L-A" - yes THAT Holly) as the party hostess.

The DVD commentary is worthwhile, and offers an inside view of the resourcefulness it takes to make a good indie film. It does not detract from the importance of BHSK that it is not an original film. O'Haver had been toying with the basic story idea since his earlier Catalina, but in BHSK the story is more fully developed and humorous. Touching, moving, gentle and risqué, an uplifting and life-affirming message wrapped in a carnival of Angelean queer decadence.

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2 out of 2 people found the following comment useful :-
Sean Hayes carries this gay trifle through to a disappointing ending..., 22 October 2006

Author: Neil Doyle from U.S.A.

Aptly described by its producer as a trifle, this is a cheerful little romantic comedy about a gay photographer (SEAN HAYES) who fantasizes about what it would be like to connect with a gay hunk (BRAD ROWE) who seems to be leading him on in a homo-erotic relationship that Rowe prefers to keep platonic. The bedroom scene is the best acted, best scripted, best directed moment in the whole film, done with rare sensitivity and acting skill by both. It culminates in nothing, which is what one feels by the time the movie has come to its disappointing finale. Nothing really new has opened up food for thought.

By turns, sad, wistful, funny, irreverent, with a cast full of what we call misfits (and rather shallow ones at that), it fails to do anything more than pass the time as the kind of interesting little gay trifle that gains sympathy for Sean Hayes' character. At the same time one can't help being irritated by his hopelessly romantic character molded by the tacky romantic films he grew up on. Makes its point by having strains from Max Steiner's "Now, Voyager" as part of the background score.

Certainly not for everyone, but amusing enough to please fans of SEAN HAYES who will no doubt like seeing him in a more restrained role than the gay man he played on "Will and Grace". He does well in the part. BRAD ROWE is a bit stiff as his fair-haired dreamboy (and would-be lover), lacking the ability to create any sympathy at all for his character by the film's end. He's really too bland to care about.

Darkly handsome JASON-SHANE SCOTT as Brad might have been a better choice for Rowe's key role since he shows considerable more dramatic ability in a minor part as well as the model looks required.

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2 out of 2 people found the following comment useful :-
Journey to the Territory of Unrequited Affection, 3 May 1999

Author: Wesly Moore (weslymoore@aol.com) from Pasadena, CA

One of the very few movies I saw twice this year, and not just because newcomer Brad Rowe is so terribly easy on the eyes. Whether you're gay or straight (although, I suspect, particularly if you're a gay man), you're bound to see yourself on the screen more than once. Billy (Sean P. Hayes) rushes headlong to a place where we've all gone before, a place where angels fear to tread: the Territory of Unrequited Affection. We've all been there; we've all done it. The desire and need for emotional as well as physical intimacy is a great and terrible thing, and Billy's struggle is one we can identify with while still seeing the humor inherent in our own all-too-human endeavors. Bright, cheerful cinematography makes the most of the distinctly L.A. locations (West Hollywood, Catalina Island). Gentle, tender, funny, for the most part honest, and not a diatribe--which meant that I could recommend it to my straight friends, too.

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3 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
Sweet, touching and very funny., 21 February 2002
Author: Devyalento Latchford Deschanel from London, England

You could say it's all about Sean Hayes. That man is both talented and damn fine, so any film with him headlining is worth watching. But this film is about so much more than that, for it's actually one of the sweetest films I've seen in a long while. It also happens to be one of the saddest, but that easy blend of comedy and drama is one of it's better qualities, and any film willing to call itself a "comedy-drama" should view this film and take notes.

The film basically centres on Billy (Hayes), a photographer who just happens to be a hopeless romantic. One day he stumbles across Gabriel (the equally cute Brad Rowe) and he's instantly smitten. However, Gabriel is seemingly straight, yet that doesn't stop Billy from dreaming of the perfect relationship with him. So, to stay close, Billy offers him a job as a model for a new shoot he's working on, but Gabriel falls into the modelling world big time, and also finds himself in a compromising situation with Billy one night. Gabriel travels to Catalina for a shoot, but Billy can't let go, and follows him, with sarcastic best friend George in tow, to tell Gabriel his true feelings. But, of course, things don't exactly go to plan.

One of the main reasons I loved this film was because it was realistic. Even though Billy is a true romantic, what he wishes doesn't necessarily come true and things don't always go to plan. It presents a person's hopes and dreams and shows that just because you want them that bad, you won't always get them. Instead, it shows you that you can get things that are equally as good but just not expected. The film is also full of nice little touches, such as Billy's dream sequences (so cute!), the drag queens and their little musical excursions, and Billy's rather heart-breaking story of how his mother realised he was gay. The supporting cast, especially Meredith Scott Lynn and Richard Ganoung, are fantastic, but this is definitely Sean Hayes' film. This man deserves to be a superstar. Billy's Hollywood Screen Kiss is without a doubt an excellent film, one that provokes many emotions whilst watching it. Enjoyment is the one that comes out on top.

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