All Over Me Movie Review

All Over Me opened to mostly favorable reviews because of its sympathetic treatment of gay themes, and its fine cast, even though it's much clunkier than producer Dolly Hall's 1995 breakthrough release, The Incredibly True Adventures of Two Girls in Love.(Hall also produced High Art in 1998, which drew the best notices of Ally Sheedy's career.) This one's about best friends Claude (To Die For's Alison Folland) and Ellen (Tara Subkoff). They're no longer as close now that Ellen's going out with stoner Mark (Cole Hauser), and Claude turns to the gay Jesse (Wilson Cruz) for friendship. Claude dreams about being in a band with Ellen and gay musician Luke (Pat Briggs) and also pays her first trip to a lesbian bar and meets a singer named Lucy (Leisha Hailey). Oh, and Claude also works in a pizza parlor and doesn't get along with her mother (Ann Dowd). It plays no more gracefully than it reads and mortality is tossed into the mix because it was in the script, I guess. Alison Folland et al are very good indeed, which helps a lot. I'm still waiting for a real, live Wilson Cruz feature: Is anybody listening?

1996 (R) 90m/C Alison Folland, Tara Subkoff, Cole Hauser, Wilson Cruz, Leisha Hailey, Pat Briggs, Ann Dowd; D: Alex Sichel; W: Sylvia Sichel; C: Joe DeSalvo; M: Miki Navazio. Nominations: Independent Spirit Awards ‘98: Best Actress (Folland). VHS