Akron

A gentle romance based on a slightly far-fetched premiss. Two young men become friends after a game of mud ball; their relationship blossoms until they go on a trip together and discover a shared tragedy in their past that tests the relationships with themselves and their families. It's a low-budget affair; decent enough performances from the two leads - Edmund Donovan and Matthew Frias - but don't expect anything too substantial. Maybe that's why it works - it is a movie about love (not necessarily gay love) without the usual drug use, effing and blinding and nudity. The "daytime" television feel is maybe what makes the film more remarkable - it's all just so ordinary as to treat same-sex attraction as routine - and that's no bad thing.