Mini Review Number 1 - Shortbus

Shortbus

John Cameron Mitchells second film after the amazing 'Headwig and the Angry Inch' follows in the same footsteps.
This is a film about finding connections. In this films world, however, a big part of connection is sexual connection. The sex displayed here is real, but Shortbus is not porn, in fact the sex displayed is sometimes indifferent, funny, sad and desperate. The sex is about love and relationships and the joy one finds in truly connecting with someone else, or the frustration in not finding that connection.
The connection is sought out at Shortbus, a club/orgy room/performance space where the intellectual, sexual and curious of New York congregate so that they can be.
The brilliance of this film is highlighted by the performances, especially Sook-Yin Lee (who plays a sex therapist who has never had an orgasm) and Paul Dawson (a depressed former hustler with an over adoring boyfriend). Both equally funny and quietly devastating in very physically and emotionally brave roles. The true star of the film, however, is New York itself, this wonderful eutopia where you can truly be yourself.