The Journey of Jared Price.
By Kevin Williams

June 2, 2001

The Journey of Jared Price begins with the title character arriving in Los Angeles by bus, smelling a lot like the turnips from the back of the truck he transferred from. Jared (Corey Spears) left behind his small town in Georgia to see what life in Southern California had to offer a wide-eyed innocent 19-year old. Attention vultures… commence circling! Needing a place to stay, Jared rents a room in a youth hostel that's furnished with bunk beds and a streetwise roommate, who needs to use their room to "work" some evenings. BMO's movie philosophy: if you're a busty coed being chased by a hungry zombie with a napkin tied around his neck, or you're running from a knife-wielding guy with a hockey fetish, you will trip over a twig and sprain your ankle; but if you're a farm-fresh teen new to the big city, you'll have a hustler for a roommate. Sometimes it's better to just except "Pop Corn Reality" than question it.

Jared gets a job as a caregiver to Mrs. Haines (Rocki Cragg,) a lonely elderly blind woman with a selfish movie executive son named Matthew (Steve Tyler.) Matthew wants someone to spend time with his mother so he won't have to. Back at the hostel, Jared meets Robert (Josh Jacobson,) a cute openly gay teen who's clearly attracted to Jared. Robert's comfort with his own sexuality leaves Jared feeling threatened and uneasy about his own. Matthew asks Jared to move in with his mother in order to care for her at night, but before Jared can finish unpacking, Matthew has him liquored up and his pants down. Matthew is so focused on seducing Jared that he doesn't give Jared a telephone message from Robert, and fails to mention Andrew (Bryan Shyne,) the lover he has waiting at home. You'll have to see the movie to learn where else Jared's journey takes him.

Other than Steve Tyler's bad to the boner sleazy portrayal of Matthew, all of the characters are quite likeable. As for the acting, the role of Mrs. Haines couldn't be better cast with Rocki Cragg as the wealthy widow that Jared cares for. Cragg brings a grace and humanity to her performance that elevates the entire film. The real stand out in this film is Josh Jacobson, who plays Robert, with such genuine sweetness and boyish charm that you can't help but smile whenever he's on screen. My biggest gripe with this movie is that Josh Jacobson isn't on screen nearly enough, making the end of the film feel rushed and left me feeling a bit cheated. I truly look forward to seeing more of Jacobson's work in the future. Corey Spears manages to be naive without making Jared seem foolish, a task the script doesn't make easy. The film's director, Dustin Lance Black, wrote this sometimes slow and often interesting plot. Despite the subject matter that could have easily taken a dark and cynical turn, Dustin keeps this film's mood romantic and hopeful.

This is a very low budget film shot on videotape in about a week and it shows in every shot. A surprising side effect of using videotape is an intensely intimate looking film that feels like a Gay after school special, with nudity. Speaking of nudity, this flick's nudity is anything but brief, and some of the nude scenes are completely gratuitous. This is a charge I don't make lightly -in one scene that takes place in the hostel, Jared awakens to find his hustler roommate masturbating by grinding against the bed, thrusting his bare butt up and down at a pace that's as heated as his pent-up passions. The first time I watched this nude scene I suspected that it was totally gratuitous. And by my third or fourth viewing I was sure of it! Overall this film tugs on your heartstrings while pulling down your zipper!

BMO pushes on The Journey of Jared Price.

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