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Doctor13 wrote on 11/24/2011:

While the subject matter is often found to be controversial, the movie treats cancer very respectfully. It's the motivation of Paul, the man who's faking it, that is what's worth discussing. But that brings me to Benjamin Lutz, the actor playing Paul. I adored him in BITE MARKS, but here, he shows his versatility by playing a completely different character, and like his vampire film, he knocks it out of the park. This man is in line for some great things.

The rest of the cast is good, too. John Werskey, also in BITE MARKS, is totally believable in his role as the straight man (no pun intended) to the other, wackier characters, but it is with him the film's conflict really rests. As Paul's ex-boyfriend, will he leave his new partner to go back to his ex?

Director Michael Simon handles the entire film very well, making it all believable and interesting.

Worth watching.

Toantom wrote on 11/07/2011:

I was privileged to screen this movie while it was making the festival circuit. As with all festival movies, I watched it with no expectations - I go in expecting nothing, watching them with an open mind to see what I see.

What I found in The Love Patient was a movie that was clearly filmed with a low budget, but a great deal of heart and considerable considerable effort on the part of the cast and crew.

Was this a Hollywood blockbuster? No, of course not. Was it a multi-camera, special effects extravaganza, nope. Was it a well acted, well written and well directed movie that gets its point across - absolutely.

I have been an aficionado of independent gay movies. I frequently scour the Netflix movie list for anything even remotely gay, so I can screen them and check them out. In that pursuit I have seen some horribly awful movies in the written by/directed by/starring category. This movie is not one of them.

Was this movie Latter Days, 24 Days of Christmas or other such gems? No, it wasn't. Was it an enjoyable, humorous romp of the typical romcom variety? Yes it was.

What is honestly reminded me of was an episode of Three's Company or I Love Lucy. Character gets a crazy idea to win back the love of his life. Whacky plan is implemented. Craziness ensues, including crazier family, misunderstandings and miscommunication, brushes with illegality, moral ambiguities, then ultimately the right decision is made.

Adding to the whole package is an extremely attractive cast led by Benjamin Lutz, John Wersky, Jackson Palmer and the lovely Madison Gray.

As mentioned earlier, obviously budgets were limited so clearly sets were improvised and re-used. The careful viewer can see that the same sets where re-used for different scenes - but who cares? The "moral" of the story comes across easily, and the acting is - IMHO - superb. It's clear that well made movies do NOT take multi-million dollar budgets.

My hat goes off to write/director Michael Simon. He clearly had a vision for this movie, he gave his heart and soul to it and he made it happen. It is a whacky romantic comedy that may not be for everyone, but despite some of the (clearly disgruntled) reviews on IMDB this is a good movie that deserves to be seen. Judge this movie on its merits, not on other peoples' biased reviews (who probably are deeply involved in competing movies from the festival circuit).

Watch the movie, enjoy it, and make your own decision from there. I'll bet you will enjoy it and have fun.

Amos Lassen wrote on 08/30/2011:

I can’t think of too many films that I love from the moment I begin watching but I must say that Michael Simon’s “The Love Patient” had me from the moment it began. Everything about it is very professional and the actors are beautiful to look at. Romantic comedy can be a very tricky genre since the film industry has been so filled with them. Finding something new cannot be too easy and balancing romance with comedy can be somewhat hard to do. Michael Simon does it and does it with style. How often does one watch a film with a smile on his face all the way through? I was very lucky that no one dropped in because I grinned all the way through the film.

The story is simple. Paul (Benjamin Lutz) is an advertising executive who lost his boyfriend, Brad (John Werskey who is very easy on the eyes) when he dumped him and Paul has never gotten over this. Brad moved on and is dating Ted (Jackson Palmer) and he understands that what was is over. Paul, on the other hand, cannot get over the loss of Brad and it is even more difficult in that they work at the same place. Paul comes up with a scheme to get Brad back– he stages his own cancer diagnosis and he thinks that Brad will come back to him out of sympathy. But then Paul’s whole mispoocha (family—mother, father and sister) move into his house so they will be there to nurse him through his chemo treatments. Stephanie, Paul’s very rich sister, suspects something is not kosher and the fun begins. The scene with the family eating dinner on a Friday evening won me over totally. Mother Esther lights the Sabbath candles and Paul says, “Enough with the Judaism”. I laughed uncontrollably but there is something very serious here– how we turn to religion when we need something… like a cure for cancer.

I love, love, love this movie and the mixture of grief (from cancer), love, laughs and fun is absolutely wonderful. The characters are outrageous but believable. The acting is fine with just the right amount of kitsch; the cinematography is beautiful and Simon’s direction is excellent. The film premieres at Philadelphia’s QFest this summer so if you are around, make sure you see it or you will have to wait for a DVD release and as far as I know there is no information on that. Werskey and Lutz are also in another film on the festival circuit this summer, “Bite Marks” which I also recently reviewed. The two films are totally different in every aspect and we are very lucky when we get a GOOD gay romantic comedy as they are few and far between. So I ask myself, what happens when you put good looking men together with a literate plot, excellent direction and fine acting? You get a hit and that is exactly what “The Love Patient” is.