Editorial Review:

Product Description:
From director Spencer Schilly (Summer Thunder), The Houseboy is fearlessly raw yet surprisingly tender. Aimless and barely in his twenties, disarmingly cute Ricky is content to play boy toy to a pair of hot thirty-something lovers. That is until he overhears them whisper about a new toy for Christmas. Crushed and totally alone while his couple vacations, Ricky binges on internet hookups, random tricks, and hardcore drugs. Unable to kill the pain, Ricky contemplates the end. But a chance meeting with Blake, a sweetheart college kid with a thousand watt smile, makes Ricky wonder if there s something to live for after all.

For the price, this is a good movie. It's not perfect, but it does tell a message, and, the guy is cute.

Average Rating:

Rating: - Not Bad
For the price, this is a good movie. It's not perfect, but it does tell a message, and, the guy is cute.

Rating: - Mistake
Don't be misled by the cover. The two guys disappear within five minutes of the opening credits leaving the boy in the center to his own devices and mainly to face imaginary monsters of his own making.
There is no conflict to speak of. The main hero apparently believes that his more adult friends (who left for Christmas to spend it with the family of one of them) intend to replace him with a younger specimen of the same breed and plans to commit a spectacular suicide so that his companions could know what harm they made.
Unfortunately, the whole story (hardly credible from the very beginning) is played rather badly so instead of a story we get a sequence of scenes in which our hero tries to drown his pain in mindless sex. At least there is sex but be forewarned - the adjective mindless was fully intended. And it applies to more than just sex.
In case you refused to listen to this (or any other) review, and then fell asleep or switched the video off halfway through the movie (warning: spoiler follows!) there is a happy ending. But I swear - by the time it comes, you will hardly care.

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Rating: - Small Boy in the Big City
This script is far less about the relationships between the three people pictured on the cover art and far more about a young gay man's personal struggle with the realities of being raised in a Southern fundamentalist setting and the challenges of familial non-acceptance. The title of this film could just as easily have been "The Boy" and probably would have been more accurately titled, "The Depressed, Suicidal-Tendencies Boy." The acting quality is varied and the story is generally familiar creating a product that fails to really surprise or inspire. Like many movies, this one pleases more if you don't go in with too many or too high of expectations. The most redeeming quality of this movie is the accurate portrayal of one-night-stands and recreational drug use not leading to a long-term solution of emotional fulfillment or self-love. I probably would have liked it more if I had known in advance that the movie's central story is really about just the houseboy and not very much about the relationship between him and the two men with whom he lives.

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Rating: - A must-miss
One star for a potentially great idea turned into the lamest movie imaginable. The issue of young people committing suicide is unfortunately a growing problem. So the story of a lonely, depressed 21-year-old gay man -- (well, in this case a 21-year old gay boy) could have been very worthwhile.

The dialogue and acting are just dreadful. And, I could be wrong, but it should be possible for a movie to show someone being bored (and depressed) without the movie itself being boring (and depressing.)

Ricky, the main character, is in love with his former college professor Simon, and is having a 3-way affair with Simon and his lover of 10 years. Simon and "husband" go off to visit the folks for Christmas, leaving Ricky to house-sit and take care of the various animals for a week. Ricky picks up anyone and everyone, acting like a needy, pathetic shnook. It's actually embarrassing to watch him go about his business. He announces to anyone who'll listen that he's planning on offing himself on Christmas and letting his hosts find his dead body when they come home. Supposedly what drives him over the edge is the fact that Simon's lover is tired of Ricky [gee, I wonder why] and wants a new "houseboy." The various characters' reactions to Ricky's pleas for attention are somewhat interesting -- for the most part they don't believe him -- but like everything else in the movie, not done very well.

It's hard to have any sympathy for a character who is so selfish, thoughtless and just plain stupid. Lucky for him, a sweet black guy, the gay son of a lesbian couple, shows up and they all live happily ever after and hopefully don't plague us with any more terrible movies. I had to fast forward through several sections of this one; otherwise it would have been impossible to sit through.

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Rating: - Nick May Is Amazing!
This coming of age story is magnificently told through the life of Rick (Nick May). The varied residents of Astoria, NY were all the more real as seen through the eyes of young, vulenrable Rick. This is a must see film for all. Bravo Nick!

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