Movie Review - Giant Little Ones

I was reminded of HBO's Big Little Lies, not only because the titles are similar but also because that hit, HBO series dealt with the idea of a father passing along things to his child with which the child struggles or the child doing things that echo what the father did. This Canadian film by writer-director Keith Behrman has a similar concept. In the HBO series, the child or children in question are way below prepubescence, so the show is more about the mothers. Here, the child in question is a teenager, so it can be more about him.

Josh Wiggins (Max and Hellion) stars as Franky, a popular kid who is one of the best athletes on the school's swim team. He has a best friend with whom he spends a lot of his off-time, riding bikes and engaging in horseplay. He also has a girlfriend whom he likes but with whom he hasn't been able to have sex for various reasons.

Things change when Franky is accused of being gay. His friends and teammates start to treat him different. A lot of them shun him and make him an outcast. It gets to the point that he has to quit the swim team. One of the bullies that targets Franky is suspected of being a closet homosexual himself.

This was of course a plot in Glee, the FOX series nearly a decade old. In a lot of ways, this film is reminiscent of similar, independent films about teenage, queer characters. Geography Club (2013), Jongens (2015), 1:54 (2017) and Alex Strangelove (2018). It's odd because this film presents a less progressive world than the one presented in the also Canadian-set series Degrassi: The Next Generation, particularly starting in Season 11 with the characters of Miles and Tristan.

What distinguishes this film from all those aforementioned titles are two things. The first is the fatherly component and the passing along or echo effect that is put into question. The second is the inclusion of a possible transgender or at least a gender nonconforming teen into the narrative.

Kyle MacLachlan (Twin Peaks and Desperate Housewives) co-stars as Ray Winter, the father to Franky. He's divorced from Franky's mom, Carly, played by Maria Bello (A History of Violence and The Cooler). He divorced Carly after he realized he fell in love with a man. His story is akin to another Canadian film, Mulligans (2008) in which a father comes out as gay late in life. It's not as late as the elderly man in Beginners (2011). Like the father in Mulligans, Ray doesn't say his love for Carly is negated or wasn't real. He simply argues that he had other or extra feelings for a man.

The film doesn't go into details or digs into his sexual preference. The film accepts that he's now living his life as a gay man but arguably based on what he says, he's likely bisexual. The film lands on the more progressive idea of there being no labels for human sexuality and the rather generic "love is love," or "love who you love."

That generic conclusion or sheer simplicity overlooks the complexity that love and human sexuality are. What Franky's father did was less an issue of his sexual preference and more an issue of his stance on monogamy. By his logic, despite being with a man now, he could meet a woman tomorrow and dump his current boyfriend for her.

Franky does admit to having a gay sex encounter. It was oral sex that he received. That is a distinction from him giving oral sex. One is passive. The other is active. Franky suspects that because he enjoyed receiving oral sex from a boy that it makes him gay. He displays no interest in pursuing a romantic relationship with a boy otherwise. This might assume that Franky is in denial.

Yet, what this film never argues or understands is that no one would claim that if a gay man receives oral sex from a woman, it makes him straight. The reverse is also true. If a straight man receives oral sex from a man, it doesn't make him gay, especially if the man has no romantic interests in men otherwise, which Franky doesn't. At no point does anyone utter the word "bisexual." Nor does anyone consider the concept of sexual fluidity. It's outdated but no one considers the Kinsey scale either.

There's also something slightly problematic about a story essentially about homophobia that's told from the point-of-view of a straight person. Franky is arguably straight but this movie is all or mostly about saying he's the victim. Yes, there are kids who are bullied for being gay who actually aren't, but that's minimal compared to what actual gay kids experience. This movie is instead based on an outrageous lie that's at the core of this story.

Darren Mann (Chilling Adventures of Sabrina) also co-stars as Ballas, the best friend of Franky. He's a little over the top at the end as this closeted homophobe. He perhaps gives a better performance than the comparable one in Glee, but it times feels so over-the-top. He's total queer bait as this film is essentially queerbaiting.

Rated R for sexual content, language and some drug/alcohol use.
Running Time: 1 hr. and 33 mins.

In select theaters, including Washington, DC.