His homosexuality is first hinted at by the furtive looks he exchanges with a young man while at work. Soon he's hanging with the wealthy Thomas and his crowd, who drive about in his white convertible. Not long after, his troubles begin. If it was exclusively the author's homosexuality, that is never made clear in the film. In fact, the scattershot approach to telling this story, while sometimes effective, is often equally frustrating.
Characters appear out of nowhere and disappear.
Relationships and locations are often unclear. While his is a good performance, the alienation of the character and the disorienting filmmaking kept me at arms length emotionally. Depp is a fearless actor and comes across well, even in these showy, brief roles. Not so lucky is Sean Penn who appears in the film for 1-2 minutes as an overly made up Cuban peasant. Schnabel clearly has great admiration for his subject, but while he attempts to share the artistry and feeling of Arenas' work, his historical account of the man's life is lacking.