ATV Today reviews the latest gay romantic comedy to come out on DVD; The Love Patient starring John Werskey and Benjamin Lutz.
Paul (Benjamin Lutz) can’t get over his ex Brad (John Werskey) even though they broke up a year before and Brad is now dating bisexual co-worker Ted (Jackson Palmer). Paul is determined to win back Brad having realised he’s the only one for him but Brad is quite content with new boyfriend Ted. So Paul decides to resort to desperate measures and concocts a plan with his reluctant friend Burt (Mike Pfaff) to convince everyone he has cancer.
Paul hopes that Brad will come running back to him if Paul think he’s ill with cancer. What Paul hadn’t counted on though was the arrival of his family; his mother Esther (Laura Ulsh), dad Walter (John Kilpatrick) and sister Stephanie (Madison Gray) who has her doubts over Paul’s illness. Stephanie’s doubts are soon confirmed but she finds herself unable to reveal the truth to her parents as Paul blackmails her.
However, blackmail aside Stephanie is determined to reveal the truth by either getting Paul to confess or dropping enough not so subtle hints to everyone. When Paul does confess, in one of the most unusual dinner parties ever, everyone is too stoned to pay any attention to his confession – they are too busy seducing each other.
The Love Patient is a comedy with an outrageous storyline at its heart; it dares to make light of someone pretending to have cancer just to win back a former lover. It’s perhaps a storyline you’d expect to see in a soap rather than a romantic comedy. However, the fact that The Love Patient makes light of its central premise perhaps helps it to get away with it. You may not agree with Paul’s methods but you can’t help but enjoy the film and his attempts to win back the lushous Brad. As ever the truth comes out but the film still has a happy ending.
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