Men Next Door, The

By: Robert O'Neill
In-House Review - Sep 12 2012

Prolific gay writer/director/producer Rob Williams is back with a romantic comedy that follows a very unusual love triangle.

Doug (Eric Dean) is having a pretty crummy 40th birthday at the start of The Men Next Door. A quiet dinner party is ruined when all of his friends bail on him at the last minute. He is understandably bummed at first, but his mood takes an upward turn when Colton (Benjamin Lutz), a very attractive 30-year-old neighbor, turns up on his doorstep with mail that was delivered to the wrong address.

Colton and Doug hit it off right away. It doesn't take long before they're rolling around in post-anal bliss. Before he met Colton, Doug had already been seeing Jacob (Michael Nicklin), a handsome and kind 50-year-old father of two who came out later in life. Jacob, however, had stated that he wasn't looking for a serious commitment, so Doug doesn't think that with Colton will present much of a problem... yet.

While having dinner at Colton's house, Doug is shocked to discover that Jacob lives there as well - and that the two are actually father and son. After a little initial deception, the truth is revealed and the trio's cards are laid on the table. Doug likes Jacob and Colton equally and both men return the same affection. Doug decides to continue seeing both of them, but there is only so long that a father and son can keep with the same guy before they all end up on, as Doug's best friend Evelyn puts it, "a really bad daytime talk show."

The Men Next Door is consistently unpredictable, and despite a concept worthy of a Greek tragedy, it's filled with humor and heart. Rob Williams also packs the film with incredibly funny supporting actors. As members of Doug's catty, but generally supportive group of friends, Heidi Rhodes, Christopher Schram and Mark Cirillo (the supremely cute star of The Seminarian who generously offers some delicious frontal nudity) all shine with tension-cutting comedic relief.

By: Kevin Matthews

Film by film Rob Williams has gotten better and better but I still didn't see this one coming. After the brilliance that was MAKE THE YULETIDE GAY I didn't think he had anywhere else to go-- but boy, did this film prove me wrong!

It has been a long time since a movie made me laugh so hard I cried.

And the cast? I don't know where he found Michael Nicklin,I've never seen him before, but the man is AMAZING! I found myself rooting for him all the way! Eric Dean and Bemjamin Lutz are gorgeous and the predicament they find themselves in is hilarious and heart-wrenching at the same time.

In my humble opinion-- BEST ROB WILLIAMS FILM YET!

By: Amos Lassen

I have been a fan of Rob Williams since his first film, "Long Term Companion" and let me just say that he keeps getting better and better. He explores our lives as gay men and then puts it all up on the screen. This time he goes in a bit of a different direction.Doug (Eric Dean) is a hunky pilates instructor who is facing his fortieth birthday alone. His friends are busy doing other things and he is somewhat upset. He is so upset in fact that when someone knocks on his door, he thinks that the cute guy is a stripper that his brother sent to wish him a happy birthday. Dean treats him a stripper but in just a few minutes, the two guys are going at it.

Dean quickly develops a crush on him but he is also dating an older man, (Michael Nicklin) and he likes him as well. It just so happens that the young guy and the mature male are father and son. Now you may think that I have just written a spoiler but as you watch the movie, you will quickly see that there are more surprises to come. I will say that you are in for a real treat with this film and that Doug will eventually have to make a choice between the two and they are quite competitive.

What is really interesting here is that we meet an "older" gay man and are aware of his needs as well. It is not just that this is a mature gay man but he is one who discovered his sexuality later in life and is comfortable with himself. Williams wrote the screenplay and directed the film which is full of laughs. If we really think about the situation that Eric faces, we would probably agree that it is a bit ridiculous but Williams makes it ring true. We begin to believe that this really happened and even more interesting is that we want all three to come out on top even when we know that someone won't.

A word about the acting which is uniformly excellent but not to mention Eric Dean as Doug would just not be right. This is his film and he proves that as we watch.