G.B.F.

Plot synopsis:
Tanner Daniels (Michael J. Willett) and Brent Van Camp (Paul Iacono) are two closeted teenage high school students. Their school, North Gateway High in suburban New Jersey, is dominated by three feuding cliques respectively led by the three most popular girls in school: Fawcett Brooks (Sasha Pieterse), Caprice Winters (Xosha Roquemore), and 'Shley Osgood (Andrea Bowen). Brent hatches a plan to out himself at prom, which will make him the most popular boy at school since the latest trend in teen girl magazines is a G.B.F. – a gay best friend.
Meanwhile, Soledad Braunstein (Joanna "JoJo" Levesque) is told by teacher Ms. Hoegel (Natasha Lyonne) that their Gay-Straight Alliance cannot exist if there is not a gay student in the club. Fawcett helps Soledad track down any potential gay students in the school by downloading a hook-up app for gay men. Brent previously persuaded Tanner to download the app on his phone and Soledad and her friends track Tanner down, forcing him to come out in front of the whole school. This attracts the attention of Fawcett, 'Shley, and Caprice, who all believe having a G.B.F. will secure their bid for prom queen.
Angry, Tanner confronts Brent for not also coming out and harshly outs Brent in front of his overbearing mother Mrs. van Camp (Megan Mullally) as revenge. Tanner quickly regrets it but Brent is no longer speaking to him and he reluctantly agrees to be friends with Fawcett, Caprice, and 'Shley, as the three girls protect him from homophobic bullying led by Fawcett's ex-boyfriend Hamilton (Brock Harris). However, the girls express their disappointment that Tanner is not like the stereotypical gay men they have seen on TV and make him over to their liking. Brent is annoyed at all the attention Tanner is getting, especially since Tanner has become nominated for Prom King. Likewise, 'Shley's conservative best friend McKenzie Pryce (Evanna Lynch) tries to persuade 'Shley that homosexuality is sinful.
At a party, Caprice sets Tanner up with Christian, a gay friend of hers, who is willing to be his prom date, but McKenzie refuses to allow Tanner to buy a couple's prom ticket, insisting they are only for male and female couples. Tanner agrees to join Soledad's GSA since she is the only one willing to help him fight the school policy and chastizes Fawcett, 'Shley, and Caprice for only caring about him when it benefits them. Chagrined, Fawcett also joins the GSA, but Ms. Hoegel quickly sees that Tanner is being used by the girls as a prize. Fawcett offers to hold an alternate prom, which pleases Tanner but enrages Caprice, who is annoyed that Tanner is endorsing Fawcett. Brent, believing that he is Tanner's prom date, is disappointed to learn that Tanner is going with Christian. He teams up with Caprice who plans on being queen of the school endorsed prom and offers to let him be her king. Meanwhile, Tanner and Brent's old friend group, Sophie (Molly Tarlov), and Glenn (Derek Mio), confront them and reveals how they are being used as tools, and Tanner asks Fawcett if this is true. Fawcett admits that she was but she now does consider him her real friend. She also tells Tanner she created the second prom to win since most of the school dislikes her. Tanner agrees to help her win prom queen after hearing this.
Meanwhile, Brent manages the publicity department for the school-sanctioned prom, and uses explicitly anti-gay posters. The principal cancels the school prom due to the ensuing public backlash and supports the alternate prom. Tanner and Fawcett win prom king and queen and Tanner makes a speech at the dance, saying that he is tired of being seen as an object or a symbol and apologizes to his true friends for dumping them. Tanner dances with Brent and they make up, although they decide to stay friends instead of being romantically involved and risk a friendship that is already sturdy in its own right.

Tags: queer

Review:
Since I have always been a huge fan of PLL I decided to watch it.I must say, i never thought i'd like this movie.
Since i never watch a gay movie before, i really don't know what to expect.
I literally loved every character in the movie even the mean bee and drama queen.
Plus, i love what it stands for.Gay or not, this is definitely a movie everyone will enjoy..
This film is about a gay guy who got outed in high school.
The story is hilarious right from the start, with the hottest girls wanting to have a gay best friend for various reasons.
Tanner enjoys the new found attention, and he instantly becomes the coolest guy in high school.
Watching the girls battle it out for the gay best friend title is so funny, the battle is so full on, with loads of attitude.
G.B.F. is a great comedy, a tender best-friends love story and a wild and wacky take on high school popularity, peer pressure and what it takes to "find yourself" in today's media saturated world for teenage gay boys and their female friends.
Seasoned director Darren Stein (Jawbreaker) enthusiastically serves up candy colored images, laugh a minute chatter and a whole lot of heart with this dizzying satire of three-dimensional high school characters who are so hyper-aware of the cultural stereotypes they embody, that they turn your expectations continually on their ear.
Willett as Tanner, a newly out of the closet gay guy who "Doesn't act like the gays on Bravo," according to the school's three most popular girls, who quickly give him a stylish queer makeover to make Tanner their idea of a proper new "Gay Best Friend." All this leads up to the prom in the classic teen comedy tradition, and its all silly and fun, but the heart and soul of B.B.F belongs to Paul Iacono, who plays Tanner's flamboyant best friend Brent who happens to be gay and more "femme." Iacono's crack comic timing still allows for emotional depth of his character's soul to come forward.
A hilarious high school hybrid charms the pants off the viewer in this Darren Stein comedy....
A new film for the generation of Mean Girl lovers, Darren Stein's G.B.F. is a hilarious and down right touching motion picture.
When the three main clicks in the school try to use Tanner as an accessory as the "Gay Best Friend" to be crowned Prom Queen, things get very interesting.
Writer George Northy embraces the high school dilemma and fuses it with a touch of drama that gives the film massive heart.
How can you not love that?Paul Iacono: Much like our Lacey Chabert character, the talented actor plays the flamboyant and hilarious Brent Van Camp in the same manner of brilliance that Sean Hayes portrayed his role of "Jack" on NBC's hit- show "Will & Grace." Taking the opportunities to engage his character with his impressive zeal and candor, Iacono shows promise to lend himself to more dynamic roles if he chooses.
Speaking of "Will & Grace," Megan Mullaly is terrific as Ms. Van Camp, a brief but tender-hearted performance.Gay Mormons and Presumed Homosexuality: Director Darren Stein and George Northy ride the line of stereotypes and presumed character behavior but there's respect and a sense of urgency to entertain the audience and create an experience that still feels unique.
I tire quickly when a high school comedy pops onto the scene with stupid adults and know-it-all kids who look too mature for the roles.
Director Darren Stein is very judicious in his nods to similar films -- Clueless, Mean Girls, Heathers, Carrie, and nearly every John Hughes film.RESTRAINT is what makes this film so enjoyable: Megan Mullally manages to escape the curse of Will & Grace alumni and is able to NOT rehash Karen walker, but create a new character.
Michael J Willett wasn't so bad either, playing the awkward and shy gay guy really well and making me fall for his character very easily!This film will make you smile and certainly put you in a good mood.
So grab some popcorn, invite your friends around, hit the lights, sit back and enjoy a night in with this hilarious movie :)Fans of Mean Girls, Easy A, She's The Man, Clueless etc will enjoy.PS: It's a 9 instead of a 10 simply because I felt Mrs Van Camp was underused.
When unassuming Tanner is outted, he finds himself cast as the hottest new teen-girl accessory: The Gay Best Friend.
This movie was hilarious and what I really liked about it was the amazing supporting cast, Taylor Frey as "Topher" had the best scenes in the movie, he was great.G.B.F. has a mostly unknown cast, but there were some famous young actresses such as: Sasha Pieterse (Pretty Little Liars), Molly Tarlov (Awkward) and the actress/singer Joanna "JoJo" Levesque (RV, Aquamarine).
They were quite likable, and I'll be honest, I saw this film mainly because I am a huge fan of Joanna's work, and she was good in this movie.
Three extremely popular high school girls realize that in order to be at the top of their game they need a G.B.F.--a Gay Best Friend.
In some instances I felt like the foul language was overused to a point where it was a little distracting and took away from the overall movie b/c I don't feel like everyone talks like that.
For the people who gave this movie a good review, that reference might be a little too high-brow for you.
The entire subject of the movie is how the popular girls need a gay best friend, which just doesn't sound appropriate.
While this is probably the most notable aspect of this movie, it's still utter tripe.This film is very very similar in style to that of Heathers, a fantastic dark comedy that only gets better with age.
I could go on and on, but I have a social life I have to get to unlike the people who actually like this movie.If you wanted to take my advice, skip this one.
If you have any friend who is ether gay of Mormon, don't tell them about this movie.
If you want a hilarious comedy that handles homosexual themes well, then watch Love, Simon.
This movie has a few isolated good moments, but it's mostly an unfunny and painfully predictable comedy about gay teen angst.It will appeal mainly to very young people who are very much like the characters in it - silly, bitchy, superficial and not overburdened with intelligence - or to older people and others who wish they WERE like those characters (I assume its writer and director are in that group).It does NOT have the more universal appeal of a genuinely great movie like Clueless, to which some reviewers have compared it.
And it definitely is NOT one of the best gay movies ever made.So if you're an insecure gay teen and wish more than anything that you were popular, or if you find such characters appealing, you may love this movie; but if you're older and have wider interests you'll probably be as bored by it as I was.
So, how easy is it to watch a movie when you know the key actors have a reputation for stealing the works of others?
Right.So to make it short and sweet: I reject this movie because of Samantha Kern, a person - won't use the word actor to describe this bitch - who makes (up) her living by slapping terms like 'actress' and 'producer' next to her name.
So, you could definitely call it a very extreme film: the good scenes are fantastic and the not so good scenes are like something out of a bad parody.The movie practically proclaims itself as a "Gay Mean Girls" and it's a well deserved title.
Manny's Movie Musings: "G.B.F." stands for Gay Best Friend.
Willett plays a gay, High School student who is still in the closet; his life is turned upside down when he is accidentally outed, and his celebrity status in school quickly rises when the top 3 "it" girls vies for his attention so that each one can claim him as a GBF (purely to increase the cool status of the girls).
My most memorable, movie moment is the scene when a character played by Andrea Bowen is talking about sex acts using acronyms: for example, "hj," "bj," and "rj." If you don't know what they are, you're too young for me to explain them!Mannysmemorablemoviemoments.
I was first drawn to the movie G.B.F when I watched the trailer on youtube, it was a new, innovative high school comedy about a gay best friend, the comedic plot was what initially drew me, as I believe movies about or affiliated with LGBT are essential, especially today.
Now you can say all you want about 'high school' comedies, I agree it's an easy concept an 11 year old could of came up with but Mean Girls and Clueless are apart from the rest.
Fortunately there were some really great performances especially from Sasha Pieterse as Fawcett, she was surprisingly likable given her character and her performance was believable as she may be one of the few who can actually act in this film.
Now the lead Tanner Daniels played by Micheal J Willet, when I started watching his character he was ultimately likable, from the very beginning, although as the movie dragged on I found him aggravating and annoying.
This movie being a comedy was funny in parts but some of the acting was unnecessarily over the top and annoying.
Leaving high school not so long ago, I understand that not that much has changed, we do not speak Instant Messenger and although sometimes it can be funny, this time, the overuse of abbreviations let the movie down entirely.Also there is a scene where Brent and his friend are supposed to stare at the others parading down the hallway, he even says a line but the others are not even down the hallway yet!
I do really appreciate this concept, three, high school, prom queen front runners battling it out to win Tanners friendship, as he is the only out gay guy at there School.
It angers me because this could of been a fantastic movie, I understand the writers idea, although someone went massively wrong in the making of this film.
As a smart, funny, and timely piece on how the "Gay Best Friend" accessory that many young girls aspire to attain is problematic, "G.B.F." keeps everyone laughing and engaged while provoking thoughts and conversations usually only heard in Gay- Straight Alliances.
Not a moment is wasted in this film and you'll never be bored!The best part of the film though is it's various messages that hone in on many issues not yet touched upon in any previous high school film due to G.B.F.'s gay male protagonist.
This film was everything I wanted it to be and whenever it comes out in the future, I will aspire to own it in my own movie collection.
Furthermore, I have a strong feeling that this movie will not just be big within the hearts of LGBT Film Festivals and Lovers of Quality Gay Films such as myself, but will soon be associated with the Great-So-Called-Straight High School Films such as Clueless, Heathers, Easy A, and of course Mean Girls, which is referenced numerous time within G.B.F..This movie is for everyone and is an answer to the cries of people like me (that is the eye- rolling bunch mentioned earlier).
A under the radar popular cast: including actors from Faking It, Harry Potter, Pretty Little Liars, Orange is the New Black, Parks and Recreation.The one liners in this movie!
"Carbs make gay people sparkle?" "this is our high school's LGB....
How at high schools some guys bully the gay guy and some girls stand up for them.
I feel like there should've been more couple-y moments between Brent and Tanner.
I kinda wish they did get together if they didn't.Acting of Brent and Tanner's Sophie Hawking's friend - I kinda felt like she was forcing out her lines in her scenes.
I felt if they had just left it at "Christian" I wouldn't have been offended.The storyline was a bit weird at times - I feel like there were things they could have explained or dwelt on a little more.The opening scene went on FOREVERRRRRR.Overall: Great movie to watch, normalises gay culture for teens, terrible representation of some stereotypes, one liners to die for, and great outfits.
This and The Geography Club prove that such films can be cute and sweet without being lame, dreary and crude like the second Another Gay Movie.
The under appreciated film Date and Switch is a much better queer high school comedy.
In a modern high school that isn't disconnected from the rest of the world no one seems to know any gay people and the concept of the gay best friend is new and novel.The two gay characters are closeted and apparently fearful of coming out though you can tell they're TV/movie gay (which means cute, fit, flamboyant, and prone to be dramatic) from about two blocks away.
The extra gay of the two knows about hook up apps and has Internet access but apparently has never seen Broke Back Mountain and is freaked out by the sex scene in the movie.A major plot element of G.B.F. are the high schools three coolest girls, a trio of frienemies who everyone admires.
But the characters aren't clever or interesting and their type has been done much better many times before.The film looks good and it's well acted, with the lead character being the exception mainly due to being poorly cast.
Willett) and best friend Brent (Paul Iacono) are both closeted teens.
Brent, however, plans to come out, if just to because he wants to be the gay best friend to the school's social queens.
Which, you'd think, would end up being Brent, but thanks the Gay/ Straight Alliance president, Soledad (JoJo) who seemingly is in the club solely to find a gay best friend, Tanner accidentally gets outed.
For, you see, Brent installs a Grindr like app on Tanner's phone so they can find other gay guys in the area.
But when those of the GSA use the app to find themselves a gay boy, partly for Soledad's wishes for a gay best friend, as well as to have an actual gay member in the GSA, they end up finding, and outing, Tanner.Unfortunately for Soledad though, the three queens quickly go to snatch Tanner up and try to deal with the fact he isn't their ideal gay guy.
And, sadly, I think the premise is where the praise ends.CriticismIf just because the idea of the film, on paper, is pretty much the best part of the movie.
Which isn't to say the actors are bad in their roles, but just as much as the movie makes a Glee joke, you can kind of see this film as a musical-less Glee.
It just feels like an indie movie done so that each actor could have another acting credit and keep their name out there.Overall: Skip ItI would say this is a "TV Viewing" type movie, but when you compare it to other LGBTQ media which isn't focused on the drama of being homosexual, you can see why comedies aren't often done.
In fact, it is probably a bit offensive and not just when it comes to the topic of being gay, but its attack on Mormons, and then with it incorporating the stereotypical sassy Black girl who gets hardly any character development.
Drama, just a notch of love and not your typical high school film.
To my surprise it did have a hint of ridiculousness but an overall feel good touch and lots of stereotypical drama, while keeping it real at the same time.
It's definitely not like your typical high school teen comedy!.
This movie isn't like where you see the guy and girl fallen in love and be elected to Prom King and Queen.
Tanner actually didn't need those girls to prove he's their gay best friend.
She was like this crazy homophobic girl who was pretty angry at the gay community.
I say she didn't want this role but like all actors, they just gotta play the part!
I enjoy light comedies and gay indie films, but lower my expectations a little when it comes to teen comedies, so I was absolutely delighted that the screenwriter, director, and cast hit this out of the park.
The story pretty much, school's three popular girls seek out the latest must have accessory, a GBF, gay best friend.
Tanner is outted as gay, and the three girls go head to head for his attention.This is actually a really really good film.
The mean girl influences are apparent.All in all a really good fun film, the trailers did not make it look worth watching, ignore them.
You'll be able to cross off the teen movie plot developments as they arrive with clunking regularity: Tanner's former friends are disappointed in him; the school's most popular girl is actually insecure and simply wants a friend; at the end there's a big speech about being true to oneself and everyone claps.
Not usually seen in teen movies, but in countless other genres, is the entirely predictable 'we already know' reaction of Tanner's parents when he comes out to them.The characters are also from the teen movie checklist (the prom queen, the jock, the cynical girl, the less-attractive-than-the-cute-lead best friend).
One of the film's most telling (possibly unintentionally) moments is when a white girl tells the film's sole main black character how she's always wanted an 'SBF' - Sassy Black Friend.But perhaps that's the point: this is a bog-standard teen movie, but with a gay boy as the lead character instead of being one of the main character's hangers-on.