“The 10 Year Plan” — A Queer Film Review
Whenever I want to watch a cute rom-com film, “The 10 Year Plan” is one of my regular choices! Given that this time of year is when everyone from Hallmark to Netflix are pushing out Rom-Com’s due to a specific commercial “holiday” [Valentine’s Day], a review of this film is quite fitting. A true Rom-Com requires three key things: 1 — Person A; 2 — Person B; Shenanigan that’s keeping the two lovers apart. All with a dash of comedy, of course! Not only does “The 10 Year Plan” meet this simple criteria but like many other Rom-Com’s, there’s a certain character and cheesiness factor that screams out: “Rom-Com!” Let’s dive into the analysis.
The Synopsis of “The 10 Year Plan”, 10 Years Later…
Person A is Myles (Jack Turner). A very attractive gay man who’s a hopeless romantic searching for Mr. Right. Except… he’s goes a bit overboard in his search, as we witness right off the bat. Myles is on a romantic date at a nice restaurant. Myles is talking about how you just know when you’ve met the perfect guy, giving a speech that you can only expect is a build up to a wedding proposal. Myles raises the champagne flute and proposes a toast: “Here’s to relationships” His date counters back, “Here’s to first dates” — before using the classic slip away to the bathroom, before skipping out of the restaurant and ditching. Ouch!
Person B is Brody (Michael Adam Hamilton). An equally attractive hunk himself, we first met Brody amidst a hookup. Right as things reach an explosive climax, Brody’s phone rings and despite being rather preoccupied, he answers. It’s Myles calling his best friend, Brody, to boast about the wonderful guy he just met — and who just ditched him while they’re on the phone. Being the great friend he is, Brody tells Myles he’ll be right over and leaves, telling his hookup he doesn’t need to shower because he barely broke a sweat. Ouch!
And of course, the Shenanigan is simple. To help alleviate Myles’ fear that he will never find Mr Right, Brody promises that in 10 years if they are both still single, then they will be the perfect couple. He even has Brody, the aspiring attorney, draw up a simple contract on the restaurant napkin to sign sealing the deal. After all, even though they’re best friends, they are clearly searching for opposite things — they’ll never end up together! Lastly, because all Rom-com’s leads need to have a sidekick best friend, “The 10 Year Plan” is no exception. Myles has his friend and legal coworker Diane (Teri Reeves) — who is great at spouting off witty comedic one-liners. To balance things out, Brody’s sidekick is his cop partner, Richard (Moronai Kanekoa) — a definitely straight male who puts up with Brody’s antics. And because everything has to wrap up nicely, fate puts the two of
Skip ahead 9 years, 10 months, and 29 days later…
We get to watch the same scenario repeat itself. Myles has prepared a romantic home-cooked meal for the guy he’s been seeing for the past month, except that guy wants hit the breaks. Brody, now a cop, is chatting with his work partner while arranging to have another of his frequent hookups. After Myles is left yet again, Brody comes to the rescue as the best friend providing support. Only this time, Brody has a plan: find a guy for Myles while pushing him out of his romantic bubble. Naturally, this includes a visit to the sex store for porn, dildos, and more followed by a visit to the local gay bar to ogle the go-go boys! While the guys Brody tries to set Myles up with appear decent, we’re treated to a montage of Myles ruining any chances of success with these guys by his attempts to get to know the guys — ie “the standard Google, Facebook, LinkedIn search”… one guy even dares to use the “sister stepped on a rusty nail” excuse to bail! Myles agrees to one final date before becoming a gay spinster — but only if Brody is along to watch. The tables get turned on both of them and before long, they both ditch their dates!
Finally, Brody sets up a Grindr account for Myles. After getting a message from Hunter (Adam Bucci), Myles decides to try Brody’s method of hooking up to find a compatible guy and, while there’s some initial awkwardness about intent and a comedic reverse scenario where Myles calls Brody midhookup, it actually works! Except Myles doesn’t show up for work so Diane calls Brody, causing Brody to worry and go searching for Myles with Richard — until Myles walks into work late doing the “walk of shame!” As our two friends smooth things over, Diane suddenly takes a keen interest in Richard and the equipment he is packing! (Because it’s not a comedy until even our sidekicks hook up, right?)
Now Myles is off happily dating Stone, while Brody is missing his best friend. Diane and Richard are doing quite well — and running out of pepper spray! But as these things go, things have to get mucked up. While Myles is expecting Hunter over for dinner, Brody hooks up with Stone — who’s hookup name is Hunter. Yup, it’s the same guy! Suddenly, not only is Myles boyfriend-less and now it’s Brody’s fault. Richard convinces Brody to fess up, which results in having a martini thrown in his face and Myles hating him. Myles, now convinced that he needs a fresh new start away from everything — and from Brody — he takes a job across country. Except Richard is supposed to tell Brody about the going away party… Richard merely mentions it’s a party for Myle’s promotion because he’s trying to cheer up his partner.
Things look pretty grim until Richard ironically and bluntly points out to Brody that it’s completely unreasonable for two people who cared about each other as much as the two of them do would ever be in a relationship. That there’s no way they would both overlook something that is so obvious for years. We skip ahead to Myle’s wedding, focusing solely on Myles on the altar and Brody sitting in the audience keeping silent. But when the celebrant says you may kiss your groom, the camera pans over to the groom — it’s Brody! Cue the classic “dream sequence realisation” — now Brody must stop Myles from leaving. Does he miss his chance or does he succeed? For that answer, you’ll need to watch the film!
Ok… it IS a Rom-Com, so I’m pretty sure you know how it ends — romantic, cute, with a dash of that little something that makes you feel happy afterwards. However, knowing the end result doesn’t diminish the comedic humour en route — and there are some good ones!
The Bad
Many recommend that you give bad advice before giving good advice — to help soften the blow. Thankfully, there’s not that many issues with “The 10 Year Plan!” There are only two things that knocked my rating of this film down: the plot/script and the casting — and neither are really that bad.
The plot is standard, no doubt about that. It fits the mould of a Rom-Com perfectly — which means that it also doesn’t stand out from all the other Rom-Coms in the world. And while there are many great comedic one-liners in “The 10 Year Plan”, the script is equally fitting of a Rom-Com; it’s not an award-winning script. [Yes, I am aware that one of the film’s 10 award wins was for Best Screenwriting!] It lost half a point with me though, because the only key difference from other Rom-Coms is that it featured a gay male couple as the two leads.
The other reason I had to knock of half a point was because of the acting & casting. Don’t get me wrong, both Jack Turner and Michael Adam Hamilton are great. But they’re also both a gay man’s wet dream — shirtless as often as possible, six pack abs, and all. And a handful of critics noted the same flaw with “The 10 Year Plan”. However, is this such a bad thing? Not per say because they are attractive to watch, however it would give the film an extra notch above all the other Rom-Coms if our actors weren’t walking gods.
The Good
Now for the good bits! Overall, this film is top-notch. There is a high level of cinematography evidenced by “The 10 Year Plan.” Writer/Director J.C. Calciano weaves together a story, both with the plot and with the camera, that is captivating and always moving. The editing is spot on — something critical with comedies especially. The comedy does not feel forced, but rolls out smoothly with a quick lash occasionally. Our actors, while stereotypical, successfully bring their characters to life on screen. Unless I got ultra critical, I cannot find any more flaws with the film.
And of course, there’s the last aspect of my rating scale — I love this film! As I noted at the start, “The 10 Year Plan” is a film that I will often watch when I need something cute and whimsical, or uplifting. I feel good after watching this film. Plus, it’s one I can put on if I’m working on other things and want something to listen to/casually watch — I do not have to worry about missing a key part.
“The 10 Year Plan” is a cute Rom-Com that will having you laughing from the comedy, but still leaves you with a smile and feelings of happiness at the end. Grab yourself a copy and enjoy!
Queer Relevance of “The 10 Year Plan”
Two gay male leads, gay bars, Grindr, hookups — “The 10 Year Plan” is definitely Queer! However, this film attempts to go a bit deeper than the usual rom-com humour and the appealing visual display of attractive leads. We get a bit of a glimpse into the loneliness, romantic woes, and other issues that are often overlooked in the search for “Mr Perfect.”
Plot & Script: 0.5 / 1.0
Casting & Acting: 0.5 / 1.0
Directing & Editing: 1.0 / 1.0
Cinematography: 1.0 / 1.0
My Opinion: 1.0 / 1.0
My Overall Rating = 4.0 / 5.0
Originally published on HERE. If you enjoyed this queer film review, you can find many more over at QueerFilmReviews.com!