Funny, sexy, thrilling and...did I mention damn Funny?

Where the Bears  Are (2012)

d- Joe Dietl
w- Rick Copp
dp- Jeffrey Wylie

The Gay comedy genre is often rife with poorly written and directed misfires that usually, in this writer's opinion, try too hard to appeal to the uber hip, uber phoney gay stereotypes. They end up missing the point, the comedy, and the attention spans of their audience. Exceptions to this rule which come to mind are "Priscilla, Queen of the Desert" "Jeffrey", "The Sum of Us" to name a few old favorites. One to be counted among this minority is certainly to be found in "Where the Bears Are", a feature length presentation of the first season web series

Now I have to make a couple of points clear before I go on. Firstly, I must disclose that I am longtime friends with several of the cast and crew. I can only say that from the first, I have attempted to lay aside bias and look at the piece objectively. This is indeed not the first time which I've had to do this. I'll leave it to your good judgement to decide if I've succeeded. Secondly, this is a discussion and analysis of the film, and as such I will be revealing"spoilers". So, if you haven't seen the film, please by all means buy the DVD and do so first. You are so warned.

The morning after the fifth anniversary party of his 40th birthday, Nelson (Ben Zook) awakens to find himself in bed with "Hot Toddy" (Ian Parks) - the newest hunky bartender at the Eagle. Todd Stevens is also roommate to J-Cub (Julio Tello, pictured above and to the far right), a hot young member of the party who winds up dead in Nelson's bathtub, under very suspicious circumstances. Todd immediately begins acting suspicious, and for the next hour and 50 minutes we follow Nelson and his two roommates Wood (Joe Dietl) and Reggie (Rick Copp) as they try to stay ahead of the killer, the police, and a bevvy of crazy, but HOT bears, cubs, twinks and gangsters and attempt to solve the murder and exculpate themselves in the process.
The script, By Rick Copp with, I understand, contributions by Ben Zook, borrows many conventions from the sitcom, detective thriller, and screwball comedy genres and effectively freshens them and makes them work here by filtering them through the lens of the Los Angeles "Bear" scene. If you don't know what a bear is in gay parlance, go look it up.
Copp has extensive Television writing credits, having written for, among others, "The Golden Girls", and much influence of that landmark series can be seen here. For Example, the three main characters, the roommates Nelson, Wood and Reggie resemble very closely (and intentionally) the three characters of Rose, Blanche, and Dorothy. The scenes between these three click beautifully because Copp knew who he was writing for and the chemistry between those three is spot on. I don't think this series would ever have gained traction without this main strength.  

obvious chemistry -Copp, Zook and Dietl

There are only a couple of instances where the pacing slows a bit, as this was originally produced as 26 or so 5 minute stand-alone episodes. However, every time it would start to lag, it took off again in a new direction. The constant introduction of guest or cameo players kept it fresh. And lord above, what a collection of characters and performances, each one a centerpiece of the scene and all total scene stealers.

 I must here pause to talk about Ian Parks. A LOT of ink has been spilled about his obvious superior looks and body, which has generated incredible buzz on the internet for this show. That's all great, but I want to talk a little bit about his acting, which to me was much more amazing to watch. Ian is what directors call a "thinking actor" - there is a performance happening in the eyes and facial reactions of such actors which is a dimension or so beyond the normal. You can see the wheels turning behind their eyes. That's what Parks does. His seemingly effortless comic delivery, combined with a truly creepy undertone of  sketchiness make him fun to watch every time he shows up.

Ian Parks as "Hot Toddy"

   There are two sequences which stand out for me that combine some amazing writing, direction and acting. One is the scene in the LA County Coroner's house. Wood has gone there because he went to high school and to the prom with Susie Collins (Loretta Fox), who is now the Coroner. He hopes to cajole information out of her about the murder. What follows is pure comedy gold. Such well executed farce is always a joy to come across. Loretta Fox takes this role and absolutely makes it a major series highlight - she gets every comedic facet and polishes it till it sparkles. The absurdity and the awkwardness of the situation make it glide. The addition of Pete Cincinnato as her assistant coroner who strips on a dime is brilliant. Notice how well Fox and Dietl play off of each other. Dietl plays by turns dumb, coy, and awkward without a blink.

 

Loretta Fox with Joe Dietl - comedy gold

super sexy and funny Pete Cincinnato as "Hairy Potter"

 Brooke Dillman plays Honey Garrett, a would-be Rachael Ray usurper shooting a demo reel for the cooking channel. 

Brooke Dillman as Honey Garrett and her god-awful blender decorating tips.

Nelson had hired her for his ill-fated birthday party as a caterer, so he attempts to get details from her about the deadly night as she's attempting to fight her own ineptness in shooting her demo film. Dillman, who has one of the best rubber faces since Carol Burnett first guest starred on the "Gary Moore Show" 50 years ago, is funny as all HELL. Her parting line which she spits out at Nelson is one of the best ever. PERFECT delivery!

Mario Diaz as Rrramone Santiago

Rick Copp as Reggie, surrounded by the hottest kidnappers on the planet

the superb Greg Whipple as the caped, argyle clad improv teacher

Mario Diaz plays the EVOL gangster/Eagle bar owner with obvious glee, as does Greg Whipple as the director of the comedy improv class. Other great performances are brought in from Tuc Watkins, Chad Sanders, and the marvelous George Sebastian as the deliciously pervy George Ridgemont, a wankerfan of Woods who stalked him the night of the party and provides clues.

George Sebastian, with Joe Dietl, Rick Copp, and Ben Zook

  The principal's performances are, as mentioned before, great to watch for the chemistry between them, but also I want to stress their individual strengths. All three actors shine in their own scenes but I must give additional props to Ben Zook as Nelson. Ben has been acting for many, many years, as well as having a successful career as a writer, so his performance is, not surprisingly, excellent. He's damn funny. Delivery...timing... and ability to add pathos. His character seems so pathetically needy for attention, recognition. Ben finds these threads and, at the right time and without hitting us over the head, brings these feelings to light. Particularly great is the final scenes in Palm Springs when it dawns on him that the killer really is - seemingly - Todd. His mixture of comedy befuddlement with dawning terror are starkly genuine. Again, the writing and direction of these scenes is so skillfull - we go from screwball comedy to genuine thriller in an instant. The scenes are played for maximum tautness, and when the REAL killer is revealed, it's done in such a way that still, seeing it several times over, still gives me chills. Scott Beauchemin, as the killer Cyril really, REALLY transforms into creepy in the climactic garage scene- he still gives me chills.

Scott Beauchemin as Cyril, the psychopath with the killer's eyes

 

There is one nit to pick with the film's structure and it's this: They break an unwritten rule of cinema in that they are not honest with a flashback scene, which presents a false narrative to put the audience off. Alfred Hitchcock did this with "Stage Fright" in 1950 whereby the opening narration, by what is later revealed as the killer, tells a story in flashback which portrays a false truth, a narrative lie. The film makers do the same here when an early flashback clearly shows Todd as the presumptive killer, albiet he's wearing a ski mask, but we are obviously seeing him. Later, the same scene is revisited in flashback, but it is now Cyril we see behind the mask. This is dishonest filmmaking, and in 1950, it cost Hitchcock a lot of money in pissed off audiences. He cites it as one of his few mistakes that he regretted later.

It's not nearly so important here, as the deceptive device is smaller, but it bothered me because it unfairly, I believe, swayed my assumptions. I had my doubts that Todd was the killer early on, because of the obviousness of it, but when I saw that the "villain" was clearly him (I use freezeframe), my empirical sense took over. Of course, I do admit to being lousy at whodunits. I thought it was Reggie till the end. So what do I know? Well, I know that I'm giving this film....wait for it.....FOUR AND A HALF MORRISES!