Brotherhood

a review by Onan the Vulgarian
Best of Phoenix Alternative Video Reviewer

	Cast: Danny Roddick, Dallas Reeves, Dean Phoenix, Jan Fischer, Jorden Michaels, Justin Burkshire, Kevin Armstrong, Kurt Wilde, Sebastian Rivers, Tory Mason, Trey Casteel. Directed by Jerry Douglas for Buckshot.
	COLT Studio Group, P.O. Box 883694, San Francisco, CA 94188. Toll-free orders 800-445-COLT (in CA, 415-437-9800). Internet www.COLTstudiostore.com
	Click here to purchase.

There are some directors whose work is both so good and so infrequent, that the release of a new movie is an event to be savored. I would count among such people Lucas Kazan Kristen Bjorn and Jerry Douglas. The arrival of Douglas' newest film, Brotherhood, is bittersweet, since it coincides with the news that its leading star, Danny Roddick, is dead. As of this writing, the cause of Roddick's death has not been announced to the press.
    The action of Brotherhood takes place amongst the members of a frat house, Triple-Chi, or XXX. Douglas is no stranger to academia. His 1999 film, Dream Team, was an ugly duckling tale centered around a school baskeball team.
    In the talky Brotherhood, Chandler (Roddick) gets an anonymous poison-pen letter ordering him to resign from the fraternity within 24 hours or be outed as a "fag who makes porn movies." If that were to happen, Roddick could lose the scholarship he's counting on, that will permit him to attend grad school.
    He shows the letter to his roommate and lover, Jan Fischer, which provides viewers with an opportunity to meet the rest of the cast members. Roddick and Fischer itemize their frat brothers and evaluate each as a suspect. The funniest line of the film occurs when Fischer mentions Justin Burkshire and Kurt Wilde, who play the incestuous O'Malley brothers, saying "I heard they gave each other up for Lent."
    One more thing: it's prom night.
    By the end of the credits, Chandler has evolved a plan in which he will sexually compromise every member of the frat by the end of the evening. The success of Chandler's plan assumes that everyone will come home drunk and horny, having failed to score with his date. Since he photographs everyone's sexual dereliction on his cell phone, we know this is not a period piece, which sent up a red flag for me. Today's college students don't come home from dates drunk and horny, having failed to score sexually. Not every single guy in the frat house.
    Rock Hard's music was another sticking point. I have raved about his inventiveness and his musical intuition for two decades, but he misses the boat here. The first thing I thought of when I heard the opening theme music was the German national anthem. It's not really "Deutschland, Deutschland Über Alles" but it sounds as much like it as it sounds like a college fight song or frat song. Besides that, it's monotonous and it flattens the sexual action every time it's played.
    Roddick is naked almost every minute he's onscreen, and he's in nearly every frame. Given his intent to sexually compromise every member of the fraternity, most of whom are assumed to be straight, he has his work cut out for him.
    Fischer, as the exchange student, gets top acting kudos, managing as well to shed most of his accent. Burkshire and Wilde do a very good job as the brothers and Tory Mason gets top fucking honors — the guy is a carnal lodestone. Jorden Michaels gets points for leaving his glasses on; it gives him a geeky/sweet air. But the makeup used to hide his armband and navel tattoos looks like mud; it's caked on, it's the wrong color, and it only draws attention to itself. Since this is a contemporary tale, why not just leave the tats or, if they were not acceptable, cast another actor? Speaking of casting, several of these guys are just plain too old.
    It's not often I'm less than awestruck by a Jerry Douglas film (in fact, it's only happened once before) but Brotherhood struck too many wrong chords. The models are attractive, the sex is ingenious and sometimes sizzling, the technical details without flaw, but the story seemed forced, the casting is inaccurate and the music dragged everything down.
    The DVD has contact information, photo gallery, previews, optional commentary by Danny Roddick and Jerry Douglas.

Top