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Harry and Max
Directed by Christopher Münch
Starring Bryce Johnson, Cole Williams, Michelle Phillips
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These days it's hard to find a film that will take your breath away, or make you so anxious that you feel physically and emotionally uncomfortable. Sure, you may flinch at some "shock scene" in Hide and Seek or Skeleton Key, but that isn't anxiety-- just nervous reaction.

There are few films-- Michael White's Chuck and Buck, Francois Ozon's Criminal Lovers-- that hit us on an emotional level that is truly unnerving. Christopher Münch's Harry and Max is a great, great movie that will leave you anxious and apprehensive but emotionally satisfied. (It was released last year but received very few theatrical engagements and is now out on video from TLA.)

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On a superficial level, the film looks to be a semi-softcore pornographic tease. At 74 minutes, its plot is simple and direct. Harry and Max are brothers. Harry (Bryce Johnson) is a 24-year-old boy-band idol who is getting quickly past his prime. Like an aging Justin Timberlake, he is getting fat, is drunk too often, and always unhappy. Max (Cole Williams), at 16, is just starting a career-- propelled by his obnoxious stage-mother (Michelle Phillips, of the "Mamas and the Papas")-- as a sexy boy band star. Harry is mostly straight, Max is gay, and both brothers are fully aware of how deeply dysfunctional is their family. They are also aware of how intense their own relationship is with one another and how they can be their own salvation-- as well as implements of mutual destruction.While the trailer and the jacket copy on the DVD are coy about the fact, there's no need to be-- Harry and Max are in love with one another and have an on-again off-again physical relationship. But what's amazing about the film-- which contains no overt sexual activity, just kissing and physical intimacy-- is that it's not the brothers having sex, per se, that makes us uncomfortable, but rather the intensity and complexity of their relationship. Their relationship-- and they do talk about becoming lovers-- is unnerving because their being brothers is not so much the problem as is their fucked-up amalgamation of longing, envy, jealousy, lust, and sheer need for emotional comfort. Beautifully photographed and acted, Harry and Max is probably the most intelligent, provocative, loving, confusing, and moving films-- gay or straight-- to come out in years.

Author Profile:  Michael Bronski
	Michael Bronski is the author of Culture Clash: The Making of Gay Sensibility and The Pleasure Principle: Sex, Backlash, and the Struggle for Gay Freedom. He writes frequently on sex, books, movies, and culture, and lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
	Email:	mabronski@aol.com