I was surprised by how much I loved this movie. For the first 5 or 10 minutes I thought to myself, "This is going to be weird and boring", but as it unfolded I realized how cleverly it was put together. This is one of those movies you MUST watch more than once. Every "real time" scene is countered with a "circus" scene, which delves into the undercurrent of the emotions that the characters are experiencing. It uses metaphors and similes to explain what it is they are feeling and why they do what they do. Initially (in the "real time" scene), when his girlfriend says she wants to break up, Max asks the ring master "Can I stay naked?" (can I bare my real feelings?) He is told "No. Everyone must wear a costume... a mask" (present a false front for the audience, in this case his girlfriend). The message being that society dictates that one should act or react in a certain way in order to maintain the facade they want the world to see. The whole movie segues back and forth like this and in order to appreciate all the nuances and underlying messages in this film you have to see it more than once or you will miss a lot of the wisdom and innuendo it contains.
All the actors did a wonderful job moving back and forth between their real characters and their circus characters. Matt Dallas was excellent as Max and a far cry from his "Kyle XY" persona. You will be pleasantly surprised by his talent and versatility as an actor.
Excellent acting, directing and editing. All in all a great film with a unique treatment of a fairly common storyline... the breakup of one relationship and the beginning of a new relationship. But it's not your cookie cutter version. I've never seen anything like it before or since.
All the actors did a wonderful job moving back and forth between their real characters and their circus characters. Matt Dallas was excellent as Max and a far cry from his "Kyle XY" persona. You will be pleasantly surprised by his talent and versatility as an actor.
Excellent acting, directing and editing. All in all a great film with a unique treatment of a fairly common storyline... the breakup of one relationship and the beginning of a new relationship. But it's not your cookie cutter version. I've never seen anything like it before or since.