It is refreshing to discover a little film that deals with important issues and respects those issues to the point of avoiding cliché and parody. I DO was written, produced and stars the very talented (and handsome and hunky) David W. Ross who has composed a story that deals with the now newsworthy attention on Proposition 8, the Defense Of Marriage Act (DOMA), immigration issues, and the spectrum of the gay community, and from these poignant issues he delivers a touching, humorous, tart, and ultimately deeply moving film.
Jack Edwards (David W. Ross) was born in England but came to America to study Photography and is successful in his art but lacks a significant other: we get the message that he has transient affairs with men who disappoint him. We meet Jack in a restaurant where he is joining his brother Peter (Grant Bowler) and his wife Mya (Alicia Witt) to hear that Mya is expecting. The happy trio leaves the restaurant and in hailing a cab, Jack drops his wallet and when Peter attempts to find it Peter is killed by an oncoming car. Devastated, Jack assumes Peter's role with Mya and when her daughter Tara (Jessica Tyler Brown) is born, Uncle Jack helps Mya raise her (Mya is in Nursing School and needs supportive assistance). The relationship is warm and each of the three enjoys each other's presence - young Tara is utterly accepting of Uncle Jack's being gay - a fine lesson for all adults...
Jack is notified that his Visa is expiring and he must return to England unless he can find a way to attain a Green Card. A very fine councilor, Gloria (Patricia Belcher) is strict and warns Jack that unless he finds a way to stay he will be deported. The idea of getting married as a means of obtaining a Green Card is raised and Jack's close friend, the lesbian Ali Federman (Jamie-Lynn Sigler) has just been dumped by her lover Christina (Ashleigh Sumner), and agrees to marry Jack to support his staying in the US. Meanwhile Jack, who usually has one night stands with such hunks as young Craig (Mike C. Manning), meets an architect from Spain, Mano Alfaro (Maurice Compte) and the two share many traits and philosophies as well as a powerful physical attraction and they become a couple. Feeling abandoned by her soul mate, Ali decides to ask for a divorce and this creates a real crisis that must be solved. But in the end the need for real love and for family and for meaning brings this beautiful story to a meaningful end.
The cast is exceptionally fine - without exception (little Jessica Tyler Brown at times steals the show but that is due to the brilliant lines Ross has given her) - and the cameo role by Mickey Cottrell as Sam, Jack's mentor in Photography and dear friend, is particularly meaningful to the story. But one of the most important aspects of the film is the very positive light that it sheds on equality of people - gay and straight - and how that honest depiction of people of all sexual persuasions can and do live bonded by the importance of the family of man. Highly recommended.
Grady Harp
