Three Day Weekend
Reel Affirmations 2008
Review by Tim Plant
Rating: 
(2 out of 5)
Saturday, 10/18/2008, 7:00 PM
Feature presentation, $10 at Lincoln Theatre
I’M SORRY, BUT you can’t make a movie about a bunch of gay men getting away for a long weekend and not expect it to be compared to Love! Valour! Compassion! Adding a five-minute conversation into the script to explain away the comparison doesn’t solve the issue, either. A point for the self-awareness, but it’s still not enough to win.
Written and directed by Rob Williams, 3-Day Weekend is the story of four men who always go to the same cabin on long weekends. To spice it up one trip, they all invite four friends to join them. Let the gay drama (and stereotyping) begin. There’s an open relationship couple, a bear and a twink couple, a yoga guru, a shy nerd, a hustler and a superfluous cute friend. Pretty much every possible combination of screwing occurs over the course of the three days, and every political hot topic broached and espoused upon. Every day on this trip might as well be Sunday given the amount of preaching that Williams works into the dialogue. Gay cinema, assumption of HIV status, legal rights for couples… it’s a wonder the entire film’s budget wasn’t spent on soapboxes.
At its core, the film tries to get at the heart of gay men, specifically what do gay men want out of life. The dichotomy between the under 30 and over 30 guys on the trip is stark, so naturally age and self-acceptance are major issues that keep rearing their heads. But for every tender moment that ekes out, another trite one comes along to spoil it.
A predictable script, poor performances, and jumpy editing make the whole weekend a bumpy ride. 3-Day Weekend was aiming for Love! Valour! Compassion! status, could have settled for Broken Hearts Club quality, but ends up being a bad trip from which you just can’t wait to get home.
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