To impress his boyfriend's father, dwarf sized camp queen, Rusty, must butch it up, on a hiking trip. Rusty goes in the guise of being a potential business partner. Rusty seems to have strayed right out of Le Cage Aux Follies however, so whenever dad turns his back, Rusty minces about like a raving sissy. Father is apparently too thick to spot the tell tale signs (he sure ain't got no gaydar whatsoever).
Rusty is under the impression that mimicking a "straight dude" requires, bellowing loudly and throwing a few expletives in, for good measure. Dad listens and smiles amiably and seems to take a shine to Rusty. But to me, the viewer, it's like nails on chalkboard, a very bad drag king act. Not sure how it's meant to come across, but it's kind of comical though.
As the two men spend more time, Rusty subjects Dad (in law) to a -woe is me, I'm a poor orphan- sob story over camp fire and beers, trying to pull the heartstrings. All the while there are numerous close ups of Rusty's jittery countenance, trying hard to appear as a real Budweiser-swilling-all-American-male, but the inner "gaylord" is obviously raring to leap out.
Meanwhile dad's got some identity issues of his own, as he proclaims all men are "hairy ugly ape things that nobody wants around." Rusty is not best pleased that Dad (in law) is pinning that label on him too (pretty accurate, though, if you ask me), but he lets it slide.
Everything seems to go smoothly, until at some stage Rusty makes a very drastic and extremely embarrassing move. I won't be letting the cat out of the bag, you'll have to see for yourself. It will make watching the film worth your while.
The movie starts off fast paced and comical, and becomes a bit slower and more sentimental and serious later. At times the middle American drudgery is overkill, and I'm gagging for something a bit more queer. But there are enough plot twists to help the story afloat and interesting. There is also beautiful imagery of the great American outdoors to go with it.
