SYNOPSICS
An Affirmative Act (2010) is a English movie. A.J. Mattioli has directed this movie. Charles Durning,Costas Mandylor,Robert Clohessy,Eric Etebari are the starring of this movie. It was released in 2010. An Affirmative Act (2010) is considered one of the best Crime,Drama,Mystery,Romance movie in India and around the world.
A slice of life of a young, professional married couple with their darling baby turns a sharp, dark corner when the pair are arrested and charged with several counts of fraud. The reason: Terry and Samantha Succi aren't the man and woman that they purported to be... Terry and Samantha married under false pretenses, ignoring state law that discriminates against homosexual partners and prohibits them from receiving the same rights and benefits as their straight counterparts. Now the Governor, in an effort to protect his politically necessary anti-gay marriage bill, secretly arranges for a quick slap-on-the wrist plea offer that will ensure both a guilty plea and a fast end to the case. Terry and Samantha, though, decide to fight the fight and enlist the unlikely representation of self-absorbed, but respected attorney John DeMine. What ensues is a massive media covered courtroom battle, with equally divided views...and equally plotted acts of legal - and illegal - warfare. After a ...
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An Affirmative Act (2010) Reviews
A question; with humor and curiosity.
Altho it has an unexpected twist at the end that changes the motivations of the characters in a way that may or may not be believable, this movie has a heart of gold for the issue it addresses; Gay marriage. The characters range from very serious and emotional, like the two main characters Terry and Samantha Succi (Played by Candice Holdorf and Elissa Goldstein respectively) to quite comical and very out of the range of plausibility. The plot begins quite dangerously real, and eventually steps outside of probability to a very idealistic reality with such humor and tenderness that one can't help but cheer for such an improbable ending. While the movie may not have proceeded in a very conventional way; the question IS a very real one, and so it heartens the soul in preparation to ask the question again, louder, and see what the very real answer might be.
Not your ordinary inspirational movie about people overcoming discrimination
In New Jersey, Terry and Samantha and their young son Mario look like an ordinary family. I knew this was a movie about a lesbian couple but Terry had five o'clock shadow, so he must be a man and the lesbians come along later, right? But he does have a really high voice. Samantha is a law professor and really smart. We see how good she is with her class. We are told Terry is an architect but don't see Terry at work. The way the couple talk when they are out walking the baby, they indicate they have a reason to think people don't accept them. Neighbor John is a lawyer but doesn't seem that nice. But his hot wife Christy is friendly and the couple invite them over. Then one day cops show up and arrest the couple for deception. Terry pretended to be a man so the couple could marry and adopt. The governor appears to be terminally ill. He wants the couple to plead guilty because he doesn't want to attract national attention. At first, Rollie is the couple's lawyer. But they want John and he finally agrees. Samantha shows she really knows the law (of course she does, but she doesn't have books with her) as the couple learn what they have to do. They are told to plead guilty, which will get them seven years. Now who would do that? But finally, they get a deal involving no jail time and a small fine, and not even probation. Samantha agrees. After all, they did lie; charges could be dropped or a jury could find that because they couldn't legally marry, they had to lie in order to do what they wanted. Okay, done! 40 minutes (including commercials) into a 2-hour movie. Something else has to happen, right? Of course it does. When they make their court appearance, Lori Belmont is the prosecutor, and she is also handling the case of Dixie Backus. More about him later. Judge Nicholas Frier is the judge in both cases as well. Lori is overly enthusiastic about making sure the women get punished. And I think we all know what will happen. But this isn't some warm and fuzzy inspirational Lifetime movie. There are threats, protests, and a very violent video starring Charles Durning as a man in a white suit. Where he is THE man in the white suit that people are afraid of, we don't know. To say the governor is not pleased is an understatement. Meanwhile, among those protesting this attack on our values is Backus, who appears to be a rich man who gets what he wants, who has a swastika and a Confederate battle flag in his office. Both Lori and John go overboard, taking actions in court that result in objections from the other side. Meanwhile, it turns out Christy has a brain. She investigates for her husband, and this results in a truly funny scene where she wears too much makeup and shows off her other ... assets. I mention the humor because sometimes the music suggests humor when I didn't see any. But there are occasional laughs. There is plenty of controversy to be uncovered, and one more funny character who seems to be gay, but I don't know his name. And things get really crazy before the end. You won't see this coming, because I don't know that any other movie like this has ended this way. But it is a satisfying ending. Charles Durning gives his usual fine performance, and Costas Mandylor is quite good as his partner in the video. We're never quite sure what's going on, but I think the video is supposed to be promoting family values and opposing what the women are trying to promote. Eric Etebari and Rachael Robbins both give really good performances as the lawyer and investigator who are married to each other. And so does Ed Kershen as the judge. I don't know who any of these people are, but they all do a good job. I was also impressed by Charles Grady as the detective. And Elissa Goldstein does a great job as the prettier of the two women who are married. She is really likable. I can't say the same for Candice Holdorf, who was trying to be the man, but she has her good moments, mostly later. She does emotional and passionate really well. Is it worth seeing? It's certainly different, and while it's no masterpiece, this movie has a cause to promote and does that, even if it is heavy on the antiquated extremist values.
Surprising comic twists make for an entertaining film
I thought this was going to be a melodramatic, TV movie of the week look at the issue of gay marriage. But while that's where it started,it takes some unexpected turns with poison sandwiches, flamboyant assassins, and mysterious villains who may actually be heroes. The sudden twists in tone - from heartfelt moral arguments to bizarre Nazi shakedowns - keep you always guessing as to where this unique film is going. It's anchored by two strong performances from Candice Holdorf and Elissa Goldstein, as Terry and Samantha Succi the two lovers who aren't the man and woman that they claim to be. Holdorf finds a smoldering ambiguity in Terri - how much of her protest becomes a part of who she is? If you live in a lie long enough, does it eventually become the truth? Against these dramatic questions, we have a delightfully cartoonish Governor, a comically cocky attorney John DeMine and his seemingly vapid wife, whose crusade ends up being equal parts heartfelt and hilarious. A truly unusual and engaging film...and just who is the Man in White?
Fable for Gay Rights
As someone who has been in the middle of the intersection between religion and politics my entire life, I found everything except the judge deciding to set up his own extra-judicial court believable. I have seen shenanigans very similar to this movie being enacted in the real world. I even looked to see if this was a real case, which it wasn't. I was involved in fighting one of the early Defense of Marriage Act bills and saw a conservative governor trade killing the bill for passing another bill that provided financial value to one of his cronies. However the movie was a melodrama and could have had a more subtle portrayal of the issues involved without losing its message. The acting was mediocre and the characters lacked subtlety. The denouement could have been revealed earlier in the film and made the defendants seem more committed to their cause. I would have liked to have seen them working together more. After all, they were a married couple. The lawyers seemed simultaneously impotent and omnipotent. There have been enough real world legal battles over this issue, that a bit of research could have created more tension than the movie had. Altogether, the movie was not a serious attempt to treat a serious subject seriously.