charming movie, annoying gay stereotypes

Rating: 7/10 (27 December 2009)

Basically this is a really charming fantasy tale, well acted and directed and with a handsome cast. What annoyed me were Robert De Niro's scenes. Actually a friend recommended this movie to me because there is a gay pirate in it, so I was really curious about this character, and I wonder, why does a family audience - which is I guess what this movie is intended for - need to get the same tired old gay stereotypes hammered into their brains? Of course De Niro's scenes were funny, and it was funny to see De Niro acting such a part, but still I think the writers wasted such splendid opportunity to create something off-beat and intelligent, because *of course* the gay pirate captain has to be queeny and likes to cross-dress. The writers should just have left it at the nice hints that something is going on between the captain and the Skinny Pirate. But what was the allusion at the end that something is going on between the captain and snotty Humphrey about? This was really bizarre. The writers obviously couldn't handle this topic.