Gerontophilia 2013

Jay Weissberg, Variety: Better camerawork and a lower gross-out factor than usual seem to have taken the oomph out of bad boy Bruce LaBruce, whose Gerontophilia sports a great title and a funny opening before going all limp. Read more

Ben Sachs, Chicago Reader: The cast does a good job at playing it straight; Walter Borden is surprisingly tender as the catty octogenarian who steals the young man's heart. Read more

Chris Nashawaty, Entertainment Weekly: There are the makings of a poignant Harold and Maude-style drama here, but the movie is so amateurish and eager to be shocking, it just winds up feeling creepy. Read more

David Rooney, Hollywood Reporter: This tonally uncertain romance is both surprisingly conventional and tame. Read more

Richard Brody, New Yorker: The film surfs smoothly on good vibes and lulling moods; Borden, a majestic presence, deserves sterner stuff to wrangle with. Read more

Katherine Pushkar, New York Daily News: Katie Boland is ... a force of nature as Lake's feminist ex - who gets off on reciting the names of her favorite female revolutionaries. But neither she nor Borden can mitigate this film's ultimately creepy premise. Read more

Nicolas Rapold, New York Times: Mr. Borden, an acclaimed Canadian stage actor and playwright, turns in a slyly entertaining performance. But the relationship between Lake and Melvyn feels a bit more one-sided than perhaps was intended. Read more

Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail: The film seems to be about the wrong character. Read more

Bruce Demara, Toronto Star: Gerontophilia is a simple romance and a rather sweet one if you can get your head around a handsome young man and an old duffer swooning and spooning. Read more

Abby Garnett, Village Voice: LaBruce ... [is] angling either for tragedy or an arch jab at the coldness of sexual conquest. I only wish he had let his conceit ripen long enough for us to tell. Read more