Welcome to Screen Gems, our weekend dive into queer and queer-adjacent titles of the past that deserve a watch or a rewatch.
The Odd Couple: Handsome Devil
Writer/director John Butler made a splash with this 2016 comedy about a pair of mismatched roommates at an Irish boarding school. Fionn O’Shea plays Ned, an effete, musical, nerdish student ostracized by his classmates for being gay. When his new roommate–the handsome, boorish rugby player Conor (Nicholas Galitzine) arrives–it seems like their dorm room could erupt into a war zone. Instead, the two form an unlikely friendship, bringing out the best qualities in both. They also begin to notice a certain sexual tension around one another.
Handsome Devils plays like a gayer, 21st-century Odd Couple as Conor and Ned first want to kill one another…only to realize how much they need each other instead. Galitzine and O’Shea both give endearing performances, though the standout is Andrew Scott as the school’s tough but cheeky music teacher. Like all of Butler’s work, Handsome Devil examines unlikely friendships, issues of homophobia and masculinity. And like all of Butler’s work, it finds tender humor in unsuspected places. We offer it up as some weekend viewing now, on the eve of the back-to-school rush.
Neoprene
Moe Dunford is the rugby coach in this. Two words: YUM MEEE!
Cam
It also has openly gay actor Andrew Scott from “Pride” and “Fleabag”.
Good film.
rand503
He also played Moriarty in the latest Sherlock Holmes series.
jdr11201
Great film,
😛
will186
I didn’t see much, if any sexual tension there. I don’t even think Ned was actually gay, or at least it was left purposefully ambiguous. It just seemed like a genuine friendship. That’s what made it interesting to me, it wasn’t about two closeted people hooking up, and about gay friendship (even if only one of them was actually gay).
john.k
You are right. I met the director at a festival launch and he confirmed to me that Ned’s sexuality is left ambiguous. Another interesting fact. I commented that the rugby scenes were the most realistic I had seen on film. He told me that he used Leinster under-19 players for those scenes. He said they were hanging around waiting for the choreographer of those scenes but didn’t know who that was. They were both gobsmacked and delighted when it turned out to be Brian O’Driscoll (whose wife plays Ned’s mother). For those unfamiliar with rugby Brian O’Driscoll was probably Ireland’s greatest player. Nicholas Galitzine had played rugby so he was well able to play his role.