← Back to Reviews
in
BIG EDEN
Directed by Thomas Bezucha
Released in 2000
Starring Arye Gross as Henry Hart, Eric Schweig as Pike Dexter, Louise Fletcher as Grace Cornwell, Tim DeKay as Dean Stewart, George Coe as Sam Hart and Nan Martin as The Widow Thayer
This film is amazing -- in both good and bad ways. It's a gay movie and it's both one of the best gay movies I've ever seen and one of the worst. It's the story of a socially awkward, closeted homosexual Native American man named Pike who develops a silent, strange crush on a guy who looks like a cross between Kevin Spacey and Pee Wee Herman. This man, whose name is Henry, has come to Montana to be with his grandfather, who has had a stroke. Pike works in the general store. He's a tall, silent Indian type, who happens to be gay. The Widow Thayer, who is this old woman played by Nan Martin -- she was Freddy Krueger's mother, the nun in Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors. Wickedly funny character, this Widow Thayer woman. One of the best things about the movie. Anyway, she starts cooking meals for Henry and his grandpa, but the meals are terrible and Pike the socially awkward Native American doesn't approve of them. In love with Henry, he decides to start learning how to cook gourmet meals, and he does so and passes them off to Henry and his grandpa, pretending they're actually the Widow Thayer's food.
TWO HOURS GO BY. And this is why the movie's bad -- two hours go by and barely anything really happens in those two hours. Two hours go by, full of Fourth of July fireworks and picnics and Thanksgiving dinners and sing-a-longs... every kind of convoluted get-together scene fills this movie. I'm not really bored, though... although, I paused the movie BEFORE THE LAST FIVE MINUTES PLAYED just to play a quick game of Checkers on my phone -- I needed a Checkers fix.
There's a stupid sub-plot (main plot?) about an old friend Henry had growing up. We learn early on that Henry had a "thing" with this friend... and apparently it took years of therapy to get over him... so says his really wacky assistant from back in New York (I think it was New York?), where Henry came from (Henry's a professional artist/painter there). Anyway... so Henry had a thing with this guy... it's NEVER really explained what all happened... but the guy got MARRIED... and had TWO KIDS... but now he's DIVORCED... and hitting on Henry... kissing him... and then backing off saying, "No! No! I can't do this." They share a couple of moments like this together, all while a deadly-looking, silent, tall Indian stares at them from afar when he catches them, murder on his mind.
There's also sort of a sub-plot about Henry's own closeted homosexuality -- he's told nobody back home about himself. Louise Fletcher's character knows. She's a friend of Henry's... how and where they met, don't ask. NOTHING gets explained in this movie. Even the mystery of why Pike the Native American likes Henry at all... a complete mystery. He just does! Anyway, so Henry comes back home as a closeted homosexual. The Widow Thayer (Freddy Krueger's mother) performs espionage, driving to Henry's place with single ladies riding along -- she's the busybody matchmaker type. She eventually realizes he's gay -- so she throws him a party (she calls it a "chess meeting") and invites all sorts of men he could meet. I have NO IDEA if they were all gay because I don't know how she'd know that many gay guys out in the middle of nowhere Montana where they live. Maybe some of them were straight and he'd just have to guess or find out later? Hope one of them was at least gay? One of them was a preacher.
So back to Pike and Henry -- so, Henry's lady assistant, the wacky one, from New York (I think it was) comes to visit at the end of the movie. She's eating tart... and she provides the first clue to Henry that the food isn't actually being prepared by the Widow Thayer. How does she know? Why, she simply exclaims, "THERE IS NO WAY A WOMAN MADE THIS FOOD!" Well, that solves the mystery -- the Widow Thayer couldn't have made the spectacular food -- only a man could have done so!
At the end of the movie -- I'm sorry for spoiling everything -- Henry decides he needs to go back to New York (or, you know, wherever). He leaves Pike behind, even though their relationship hasn't really grown except for one dinner date they had. Pike paces around where he lives, in his bathroom, after witnesses Henry drive away in a truck (his high school loverboy was also with him, taking him to the airport). It looks like Pike is contemplating suicide (this is the part where I decided to pause and play Checkers). BUT THEN! Pike gets a rush of adrenaline -- he's inspired -- HE FLEES HIS PLACE and drives straight to the Montana airport!
He goes after him -- but oh no! The plane is already taking off! They won't stop the plane for him! Even though he ran right through the metal detector.
He drives back home in his truck, his world ending. BUT! GASP! Henry's truck is outside! He goes inside the general store and there sits a large group of old cowboys -- AND THEN! Henry appears! Smiling! He decided to come back! Cut to a dance scene at night with Pike and Henry in each other's arms, at least. They passionately kiss.
Okay, so, after that scene, I really liked the movie a lot more. It wasn't THAT BAD before... but I mean... two hours went by and hardly any character development. I DID NOT LIKE HENRY. But I loved the Pike character. I had seen the person who played Pike before -- Eric Schweig -- in the 2002 Native American movie, Skins, which was a favorite movie of the MISSING MoFo moderator, Caitlyn, who happened to be Native American. I actually saw this Skins movie in a theater -- I won't forget it because the film broke (it literally burned and ripped apart) during a funeral scene, during a closeup of a Native American man's corpse. It was spooky. Luckily, they were able to fix the film and continue playing it -- but NO REFUND! So, anyway, Pike made the movie, even though he was mostly a silent and threatening looking gay Indian. But I mean, how many gay movies are there with silent and threatening looking gay Indians? Not many, I imagine.
Do I recommend this movie? I mean, I don't know. Make up your own damn mind. See it if it sounds good to you.
overall
Directed by Thomas Bezucha
Released in 2000
Starring Arye Gross as Henry Hart, Eric Schweig as Pike Dexter, Louise Fletcher as Grace Cornwell, Tim DeKay as Dean Stewart, George Coe as Sam Hart and Nan Martin as The Widow Thayer
This film is amazing -- in both good and bad ways. It's a gay movie and it's both one of the best gay movies I've ever seen and one of the worst. It's the story of a socially awkward, closeted homosexual Native American man named Pike who develops a silent, strange crush on a guy who looks like a cross between Kevin Spacey and Pee Wee Herman. This man, whose name is Henry, has come to Montana to be with his grandfather, who has had a stroke. Pike works in the general store. He's a tall, silent Indian type, who happens to be gay. The Widow Thayer, who is this old woman played by Nan Martin -- she was Freddy Krueger's mother, the nun in Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors. Wickedly funny character, this Widow Thayer woman. One of the best things about the movie. Anyway, she starts cooking meals for Henry and his grandpa, but the meals are terrible and Pike the socially awkward Native American doesn't approve of them. In love with Henry, he decides to start learning how to cook gourmet meals, and he does so and passes them off to Henry and his grandpa, pretending they're actually the Widow Thayer's food.
TWO HOURS GO BY. And this is why the movie's bad -- two hours go by and barely anything really happens in those two hours. Two hours go by, full of Fourth of July fireworks and picnics and Thanksgiving dinners and sing-a-longs... every kind of convoluted get-together scene fills this movie. I'm not really bored, though... although, I paused the movie BEFORE THE LAST FIVE MINUTES PLAYED just to play a quick game of Checkers on my phone -- I needed a Checkers fix.
There's a stupid sub-plot (main plot?) about an old friend Henry had growing up. We learn early on that Henry had a "thing" with this friend... and apparently it took years of therapy to get over him... so says his really wacky assistant from back in New York (I think it was New York?), where Henry came from (Henry's a professional artist/painter there). Anyway... so Henry had a thing with this guy... it's NEVER really explained what all happened... but the guy got MARRIED... and had TWO KIDS... but now he's DIVORCED... and hitting on Henry... kissing him... and then backing off saying, "No! No! I can't do this." They share a couple of moments like this together, all while a deadly-looking, silent, tall Indian stares at them from afar when he catches them, murder on his mind.
There's also sort of a sub-plot about Henry's own closeted homosexuality -- he's told nobody back home about himself. Louise Fletcher's character knows. She's a friend of Henry's... how and where they met, don't ask. NOTHING gets explained in this movie. Even the mystery of why Pike the Native American likes Henry at all... a complete mystery. He just does! Anyway, so Henry comes back home as a closeted homosexual. The Widow Thayer (Freddy Krueger's mother) performs espionage, driving to Henry's place with single ladies riding along -- she's the busybody matchmaker type. She eventually realizes he's gay -- so she throws him a party (she calls it a "chess meeting") and invites all sorts of men he could meet. I have NO IDEA if they were all gay because I don't know how she'd know that many gay guys out in the middle of nowhere Montana where they live. Maybe some of them were straight and he'd just have to guess or find out later? Hope one of them was at least gay? One of them was a preacher.
So back to Pike and Henry -- so, Henry's lady assistant, the wacky one, from New York (I think it was) comes to visit at the end of the movie. She's eating tart... and she provides the first clue to Henry that the food isn't actually being prepared by the Widow Thayer. How does she know? Why, she simply exclaims, "THERE IS NO WAY A WOMAN MADE THIS FOOD!" Well, that solves the mystery -- the Widow Thayer couldn't have made the spectacular food -- only a man could have done so!
At the end of the movie -- I'm sorry for spoiling everything -- Henry decides he needs to go back to New York (or, you know, wherever). He leaves Pike behind, even though their relationship hasn't really grown except for one dinner date they had. Pike paces around where he lives, in his bathroom, after witnesses Henry drive away in a truck (his high school loverboy was also with him, taking him to the airport). It looks like Pike is contemplating suicide (this is the part where I decided to pause and play Checkers). BUT THEN! Pike gets a rush of adrenaline -- he's inspired -- HE FLEES HIS PLACE and drives straight to the Montana airport!
He goes after him -- but oh no! The plane is already taking off! They won't stop the plane for him! Even though he ran right through the metal detector.
He drives back home in his truck, his world ending. BUT! GASP! Henry's truck is outside! He goes inside the general store and there sits a large group of old cowboys -- AND THEN! Henry appears! Smiling! He decided to come back! Cut to a dance scene at night with Pike and Henry in each other's arms, at least. They passionately kiss.
Okay, so, after that scene, I really liked the movie a lot more. It wasn't THAT BAD before... but I mean... two hours went by and hardly any character development. I DID NOT LIKE HENRY. But I loved the Pike character. I had seen the person who played Pike before -- Eric Schweig -- in the 2002 Native American movie, Skins, which was a favorite movie of the MISSING MoFo moderator, Caitlyn, who happened to be Native American. I actually saw this Skins movie in a theater -- I won't forget it because the film broke (it literally burned and ripped apart) during a funeral scene, during a closeup of a Native American man's corpse. It was spooky. Luckily, they were able to fix the film and continue playing it -- but NO REFUND! So, anyway, Pike made the movie, even though he was mostly a silent and threatening looking gay Indian. But I mean, how many gay movies are there with silent and threatening looking gay Indians? Not many, I imagine.
Do I recommend this movie? I mean, I don't know. Make up your own damn mind. See it if it sounds good to you.
overall