“Me Him Her”
I wrote before that to have a
gay best friend is an inordinate privilege not enjoyed by nearly enough people
in the world. It is not to be discounted, however, that it is also an ennobling
responsibility and that crucial requirements are made of the affection,
loyalty, and resourcefulness of those on whom this is bestowed. Best friends
bear a significant duty to one another and it is during times of challenges –
such as the flurry of crises that break out when one comes face to face with his
sexual orientation – that their fellowship is tested and, if it succeeds,
fortified.
Dustin Milligan plays Cory, a
blithe young drifter in denim shorts and with a week-old beard whom we first
meet in the stall of a public bathroom, in the directorial debut of the young
Hollywood local Max Landis, cheerily named Me
Him Her. Cory is the best friend of Brendan (Luke Bracey), a
straight-acting Hollywood superstar who finally (months after leaving college)
figures out that he’s gay, and even then it’s only because he’s kissed a boy
and liked it. Brendan, duly bewildered at his discovery and thoroughly puzzled
as to what to do next, both personally and professionally, enlists his homie’s
help and flies him to Los Angeles for support and guidance.
No sooner has Cory landed and
piped out his first squeal of excitement, however, than he earns a cautionary
behest from Brendan never to let himself wander or cut loose in Los Angeles. “L.A.
is like a giant jigsaw puzzle someone forgot to assemble,” Brendan informs him;
“the pieces are laid out all over the floor.” To
venture into the gaps, he insists, is to place yourself in the way of
significant risk. What kind of risk – physical, psychological, financial,
existential, sexual – Brendan neglects to say; it seems he isn’t so sure
himself. All he can tell us is that “things get weird”.