Shocked by the premature death of a closeted former classmate, two gay friends, Mel (Steven Lim) and Ash (Chowee Leow) are forced to reexamine the state of their own lives and ponder what the future holds. Troubled by the idea of growing old alone, the pair embarks on a quest to find love and happiness with the dream men they’re sure await them both. Writer-director Ray Yeung’s outrageous comedy also stars Gareth Rhys Davis and Neil Collie.

Cut Sleeve Boys is set in modern day London and bills itself as the first gay British Chinese movie, interesting considering this is director Ray Yeung’s second film, preceded eight years earlier by Yellow Fever, a film about a gay Chinese man living in London.

The film is well produced and flows nicely, however, in the beginning of the film the dialogue seems to be just spoken. This is sad because there are some funny lines early on that didn’t leave a mark, including a possible South Pacific reference to washing “that man right outa my hair” by Mel. As the storyline progresses, the dialogue either became more natural, or the viewer just became acclimated to it. Beyond the dialogue, the movie was very nicely produced, and the characters seemed very comfortable in their roles. Kudos to Leow and Rhys-Davies, as they seemed very natural in theirs.

This is Leow’s third acting role, but his first as a lead. He worked prior roles as a waiter in a straight television episode and film. Cut Sleeve Boys marked Lim’s fourth role, behind his work in two straight films, and in an episode of Little Brittan, a popular British television series with frequent gay themes. Rhys-Davies is a former model and had appeared in film before in the short Plastic Wolves.

For the LGBT audience, Cut Sleeve Boys provides

The movie is rated R, 86-minutes in length, spoken in English, and was released in 2006 by Rice Is Nice Productions.

Cut Sleeve Boys references food multiple times throughout its length. A like some food, the film is enjoyable, has a bitter taste. A viewer would be better suited with another film. Three out of five stars.

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