I really enjoyed this film; saw it twice in two days. It takes place in a mideastern war zone and concerns a search by a young civilian man for his missing military boyfriend. In the search he encounters various familiar characters just off the news page. A US government agent provokes and uses the young man for both propoganda and to stir up trouble with the locals. A tour guide with whom he forms a strong bond helps him find his friend. An official of the country seeks to make use of the situation for both personal and bureaucratic gain. Another undercover agent from another agency stalks the others to find out secrets and, if possible, to commit a terrorist act....maybe. This makes the pot boil considerably and requires some close watching to keep track. I was more than happy to watch it again to absorb all the pieces and they do, indeed, fit into a rather complex puzzle. There is plenty of scenic grandeur with desert locations and an old roman ruin, a coluseum, where crucial action between the principals occurs, The symbolism of gladiators is not lost but heightened by the careful photography from the seats and side corridors of the ruins. Man, the more I write this, the more I appreciate the work that went into it. The young man who is searching is very good looking and clean cut which emphasizes his relative purity and innocence in facing a bunch of dishonest and evil characters. I am a gay man and found the depiction of gay characters to be way more than acceptable, even heroic. Thank you. I get that the distribution of this film has a checkered history and right here on this site it refers to a French subtitled version. I saw this on Dekko where it sits happily with many other fine gay features. *** A new viewing...knowing the plot did not detract. Some of this film is on the "handheld" side but it adds to the flavor of danger and suspicion of the plot. The hero is hot. There is no other way to describe him. A lot of shirtless time always a plus.

This is the second movie from Everett Lewis that I have seen, and it shall be the last. I am actually angry that I bothered watching as much as I did (it wasn't long before I started to fast-forward).

Lewis apparently casts his oeuvre based on looks, with a special affinity for well-toned torsos, and little-to-no regard for acting ability. The cast is comprised of amateurs down the line, and only worsened by the contribution by Dale Dymkoski whose forced accent (southern?) is so disgusting that it is impossible to watch any scene in which he appears.

Was there a screenplay? Or was it pasted together from war stories found on the internet? There is not one second in this mess that feels true to life, or makes any logical sense. Guess what: all the Arabic character are closeted gays! How convenient.

I could apply many of these comments to the other Lewis movie which I suffered through, "Lucky Bastard." This man is a charlatan and why he gets praise as some kind of LGBTQ+ ground-breaker is beyond my comprehension.

I have a large collection of New Queer Cinema (about 100 titles) from around the world, and perhaps four or five are from America, which remains light-years behind even Hungary and Israel. If you are looking for a true auteur in this genre, look no farther than Marco Berger, the incredibly talented Argentine director. Or does the prospect of subtitles scare you away?

It was so drawn out with little to no action.

It was technically a bad film too the lighting was poor, the lines were crass, really the only good thing was the fact that the main character was shirtless for most of the film...

If you need a film to send you to sleep go for it otherwise move on...