Leather

By: Raymond Murray
In-House Review - Aug 05 2013

Producer-director Patrick McGuinn's (Sun Kissed, Eulogy for a Vampire) latest film is this tender, sexy and unconventional romance.

Upon news of the death of his estranged father, blond twenty-something Andrew (Andrew Glaszek), with his boyfriend Kyle in tow, travels from New York City to a cottage in the remote wooded area of the Catskill Mountains - where his father lived and where Andrew was raised.

There he meets the bearded Birch (Chris Graham), Andrew's childhood friend who had lived with Andrew's father in a simple 19th-century style. Meeting Birch proves to be unsettling as he seems to be the son his father always wanted ? someone he could fish and hunt with, someone who could work with one's hands.

As they spend time together, dynamics begin to shift and Andrew's initial distrust of Birch morphs into physical interest and empathy - while young Kyle (a hilariously animated Jeremy Neal in a scene-stealing role as the pouty, queeny boyfriend) becomes increasingly threatened.

Leather is a fascinating, decisively unusual character study of three men, devoid of distractions, as they navigate an unsettling world of resentment, anger, emotions and rising sexuality.

By: borby

By: Amos Lassen

"Leather" is a look at gay life that we rarely get to see. Well it does deal with homosexuality; it is more about the dynamics of emotional pain and family dynamics. Andrew is a successful and ambitious gay male who lives in New York City who goes to a country house to see where his estranged father was when he died. While there, Andrew and an old friend from his childhood, Birch, get together. Birch had been Andrew's father's caretaker. For some reason they cannot seem to find the old friendship that they had once shared but they do discover that they are attracted to each other. Kyle, who is Andrew's boyfriend, adds to the situation---he is young and immature and trying to find himself but has been relying on Andrew to help learn who he is. The trio of men confronts many of the issues that all of us face as well as the repressed feelings that they have had to lie with. Add to that rural life and what we get is the story of Birch who has taken care of Walter, Andrew's father. There was friendship between Water and Birch that was based on the concepts of country living-carpentry, fishing, hunting and craftwork which in this case was leather.
When Andrew comes home with Kyle in tow, Birch captivates them both. At first Andrew and Kyle mocked him but they soon understand that he is a kind person who only is interested in what is right especially when dealing with Walter's estate which will indirectly influence their lives.
The film is slowly paced and intimate. We get an interesting look at rural life when we meet a trapper who is sending his friend to a better place and we see him make butter from beaver milk. Andrew's story runs parallel to that. We immediately see the difference between rural life (Birch) and city life (Andrew and Kyle). Likewise we see the difference between butch Birch and few Andrew (and Kyle). I do not want to say anymore about the plot because there twists and turns but I did enjoy the film with beautiful cinematography and good acting.