dwp-08886 Eerie, expressionistic tale of a young hustler who somehow can't leave the building where he has come to serve a client. Hallways twist and turn and dead-end, and instead of finding his way out, he keeps stumbling into one odd, desperate life after another. Yet the point of view is compassionate and curious. The young man matures and learns as he goes, an especially touching and wondrous process. The film is driven by a superb, understated performance by Ben Bonenfant, a regional theater star (with a specialty in Shakespeare) who is not often seen in films. He helps bring it all together beautifully. Director Joseph Graham (Beautiful Something) makes a powerful visual statement about the tenderness, vulnerability and need of lives that seem perverse or on the edge. Dare I say it, in the end the weirdness becomes heartwarming. A stunning achievement.

Bene Cumb Stories concerning different minorities include always some intrigues and scenes not comprehensible to "majority" audience, but if they are subject to general ideas and values, they obtain wide popularity and understanding. Here, in Strapped, the leading character becomes serene within a limited space and time, but still continuing hustling, and all this is not convincing to me. The types he meets are distinct and colorful, but the balance of their deeds and thoughts is often illogical (particularly with aging Sam, although their dialogue is the most interesting in the movie), and combining stereotypes, gay-4-pay elements and sophisticated reasoning does not always fit. True, if we had do with a student work, it would be rated high, as the idea is distinct and most of acting is good, but as for a creation by a "ready-made" filmmaker - too pretentious and fabulous. Of course, I realize that I do not belong to the target audience, but so it seems that Strapped does not deal with human values in a general manner without leaving gay elements and attitudes too visible and "constraining".

Remy_Azhary The whole man-whore/hustler theme about this film is just a backdrop to what is more important as a message put in this film. Sure, there are scenes of sexual escapades but there's also an analytical perspective to the story. This film is more of a journey of a young man as he 'hustled' through the supposedly maze-like apartment building (as he'd called it) and met with different and interesting characters throughout the movie, and of course his sexual escapades ensued.The brilliance about this film is that it's more like an anthology account of the man's journey from sexual encounter to the next and lessons in life that he gained from each one of them. Even though the story took place at a span of one night we could see the man's growing maturity and his take on life and love. And what's clever about it is that his learning phase never felt rushed.To add to that, the hustler showed that he was quite a learned person as he could read body languages and even recognize a small figurine of a griffin that I suppose not many people would know about.As hot as each of the sexual scenes was the 'sex' part served as merely the backdrop to the man's incredible journey in finding purpose to his life.All in all, I'd say this is one film critics and people should not overlook. I just wish I could see the continuation of the relationship between the young man and Gary.

Laakbaar What is it about prostitutes? Their beauty, of course. Another part of it is their easy sexuality and availability. They have no hangups. (Well, not many anyway.) Everyone wants to do it with them, so why not charge for it? Another part of it is this ridiculous fantasy about "converting" them from sex machines into cuddling lovers.I'm sure someone has written about this as a cinematic theme. It's not a gay/straight thing. It's a prostitute thing. Gays are as fascinated by prostitutes as anyone else. And of course a hustler movie is always going to have some decent eye candy and eroticism.Well, this is a particularly good example of the genre. We follow a young gay hustler (well played by Ben Bonenfant) as he meets, and has sex with, a number of people who live in a single apartment building.Our nameless hustler is disingenuous and guileless (for a hustler) but engaging and quite adorable. He is not an injured soul to be used and discarded. Fortunately he seems to lack the background traumas that drive most hustlers. He is a blank slate as he f*cks his way through the apartment building, learning and growing as he goes along. Each client is a revelation. Yes, he's doing it for the money--but there's something else going on there. He's devastatingly good at his work. Our innocent beauty may be a little lost, but he bestows each client with the sacrament needed.The director slowly reveals some of the face behind the mask, as the hustler-hero explores the various interesting aspects of this gay world. Is he trapped in the apartment building? Is it actually his home? Or is it a temporary way-stop on the journey to a conventional life? You see, he's gay, but not gay gay.In one memorable scene, when asked how old he is, he compares himself to fresh-cut flowers; that's how he feels of course. In the bloom of his youth. However, his older, wise and worldly client points to a painting depicting a beautiful St Sebastian and points out that the hustler is more like that, young in body but an age old theme, the beautiful but wounded saint. A captivating and surprisingly intelligent and moving movie. Let's hope Joseph Gordon makes more like this.So why does this film get only 6.5 on IMDb?? It's inexplicable. Don't let that dissuade you from seeing it.