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Amos Lassen wrote on 03/31/2011:

From the blurb on the jewel case cover of the DVD of “Partners”, one might think that this is a movie that makes fun of gay men but I was pleasantly surprised as I watched the movie that this was not the case at all.
The storyline is quite simple. An enterprising lawyer, acting on a report that a female colleague is about to be promoted to partner status, plays up the established rumor that he is gay in order to better his chances at beating the competition.
What I really found interesting in the film is that it shows how far we have come. A couple of years ago I do not think that a major studio like Lion’s Gate” would have considered releasing a film about a straight man who pretends to be gay to get a promotion.
Dave is straight and has a gay roommate who is also his best friend. When Dave decides to “come out”, he is completely accepted by his co-workers and his family. He does not feel the need to “act gay” and he has no trouble telling people that he is “gay”.
Because the tables are turned at his prestigious law firm where a case of sexual discrimination is to be assigned, Dave (Jay Harrington) and Katherine (Julie Bowen) who were once lovers, go against each other to get the case. The assignment will almost surely guarantee a partnership in the law firm. There is a young pretty girl, however, who is part of the case, Lucy. Lucy has eyes for Dave but thinks he is gay and she feels that this will help her father’s company if there is a gay lawyer on the case. Dave decides to play gay and wins the assignment and this angers Katherine who knows he is straight.
What ensues is a cat and mouse game between Dave and Katherine and the fact that Dave and Lucy share a common interest in each other makes for a funny story.
“Partners” is a standard romantic comedy with good acting and nice eye candy and some very funny moments. It is upbeat and polished but there is no bite and this is where it suffers. Everything is a bit too sweet. It is all fairly predictable but that does not stop it from being light fun. “La Cage Aux Folles” it is not but it is not bad either.

isoron (ronsimkins@comcast.net) wrote on 02/16/2006:

I agree with the previous reviewer. This is no "Will and Grace". Maybe because I have been out so long - I really thought that the movie was well-thought-out. The "official" reviewer was full of shit. There were no real stereotypes in this movie. I loved the "we're not Gay" roommates and they were sort of cute too. I think it is certainly worth renting. I felt good at the end of the movie. Plus it was full of hot guys - hey, we can all be al little shallow!

Ken Huber - Swarthmore wrote on 02/02/2006:

For some strange reason the above review is very negative. They seem to be criticizing if for not being the gay sex farce they wanted it to be. Because of that I resisted renting it for a long time, but broke down, and I'm glad that I did. This is about a str8 lawyer who gets put on a very lucrative employment discrimination case (a guy says he was fired because his office found out he was gay) defending the firm which fired him. He finds out that he was assigned the case because someone thought he himself was gay. He isn't, but his best friend, an architect, with whom he lives, is. He is competing with a female lawyer in the law firm for one spot that is opening up to be made partner in the firm. She is a nasty ball breaker. He has to take the case to make a good impression on the firm. She wants to sabotage him. So he asks his gay best friend to help him act gay. And he even "comes out" as gay at the office to promote that notion. The female attorney is now pissed, because he has slept with her and she thinks she knows he isn't gay. It is a very witty film, very perceptive I think. And not only do we get to see all the misunderstandings that crop up, and all the humor in the situation, we also get involved with office politics and the drama of it all. The acting is excellent. Highly recommended.