Main cast: Lee Rumohr (Troy), Matt Austin (Merrick), Sahrah Kanter (Stacey), Matthew Finlason (Fowler), Nathalie Toriel (Donna), Stefan Brogren (Donald), Christina Sicoli (Demi), and Anne Tager Page (The Fortune Teller)
Director: David Paul Scott

What Does a Male Bisexual Have in Common with Cleopatra?
Denied was written and directed by David Paul Scott in Canada, which should have all the red flags and the bells and whistles warning you of impending indie film mega-doom right there.

You would be correct in assuming this means the written part or the directed part suffered considerably in the making of this little feature. To be honest I’ll have to say it was the direction although I have a few concerns with the writing also.

The Story
Troy and Merrick are high school buddies and roommates. Troy was your typical high school football-playing, cheerleader-dating, campus jock and Merrick was the disc jockey, the artistic, druggy, partying, slacker with all the friends he could want.

We first meet these two at a party they are throwing at their basement apartment obviously a couple of years after graduation. Troy seems to be hanging out and not much impressed with Merrick’s assorted juvenile druggy friends and hangers-on or Merrick’s drunken skanky bitch of an ex-girlfriend of seven years, Stacy. Every now and then though we catch Troy watching Merrick with a particularly unsettling sad yet angst ridden expression. Get used to it because he’ll have this look most of the movie like some Botox accident.

The party comes to a close, Stacy passes out and we catch the two guys laying around on the living room couch.

Here unfortunately is where we find this movies most damaging problem. The audio is all screwed up like we are hearing this thing underwater.

So, I turn up the volume and barely catch Merrick repeatedly mumbling, I mean, asking Troy for a back-rub. Not just any back-rub mind you but “one of those special back-rubs”. Troy eventually concedes and during the back-rub slowly pulls up Merrick’s shirt and leans down to kiss his buddies back, only to have Merrick jump off the couch and run to his bedroom where his girlfriend is passed out.

Troy sits there looking hurt and then uncomfortable when we next hear Merrick getting it on noisily with his girlfriend in the bedroom. Here we see one of several repetitive shots in this movie of Troy lying around looking miserable. Eventually we will see what seems like everyone in this film lying around looking miserable, it’s Canada ya know.

Various confusing and pretty much useless scenes pass, Troy discussing Merrick with Stacy, Troy and Merrick walk together in a park, Troy goes driving around at night going nowhere in particular, Troy sadly watches Merrick partying with his friends.

Then suddenly we get some action! Troy and Merrick have yet another party and Merrick’s new jail bait girlfriend seduces the sad, yet ambivalent Troy. Boy oh boy, Merrick throws a fit. Merrick runs out and next thing we know he shacks up with Stacy. Troy lays around in his bed and looks even more miserable, again, to prove the point.

Merrick gets over it finally and comes back to the apartment and now, folks, the big makeup scene.

Troy comes into Merrick’s room and they have sex, and afterward Troy attempts to kiss Merrick. Merrick gets all ooky about it and leaves the room.

Troy corners Merrick in the living room and we find out that these guys have been messing around for years like this, but tonight Troy tells Merrick he wants more. He is gay and he wants Merrick to admit they are in a relationship and he wants to kiss because, dang it, they do everything else.

Merrick will have none of it. He states explicitly to Troy he’s bisexual and “a hole is a hole”, and it’s great they are being honest because now he knows he is hurting his good friend Troy (because Troy is gay). So, being the big man he is, he will not allow them to have sex anymore. What a guy!

Denied lurches on and we have more depressing shots of sad Troy and the dead end place he lives and the dead end job he has.

We get some dialog from one of Troy’s ex-cheerleader girlfriends that tells us he has come out to his friends and is moving on to Toronto. Yeah progress!

Merrick finds out Troy is moving and meets up with Troy at the apartment, obviously making a play to keep Troy around by seducing him, and yes, even kissing him. Stacy walks in on them just before the big moment and announces she’s pregnant and all hell breaks loose.

Finally the end is in sight and we have a last desperate attempt by Merrick to hump Troy. Troy grows some backbone and basically tells him where to go and there’s the final confession from Merrick he wanted sex with Troy even in high school, and Troy basically pins the tail on him by saying “What I’m leaving, Stacy’s pregnant, so suddenly you are gay for me?” Bravo!

“Christ! I Was So Drunk Last Night.”
This DVD is an audio nightmare. I swear I hear people peeing, toilets flushing, and water running in scenes where no bathroom is in sight. The whole film sounded like it was recorded underwater in a fucking locker room and then the music soundtrack that sounds like a sonar beacon going nuts.

Did the director actually watch this shit before allowing it to be copied to DVD? I had to fight tooth and nail to understand even the lines of dialog I should have been able to lip read, so I can only hope to hell if I caught everything being said.

Then there’s the editing and the cuts to black screen and the pointless filler visuals that went nowhere… Oh God what a mess!

David Paul Scott had with Denied a fascinating idea that perfectly illustrates the whole tawdry Jerry Springer 25-percent versus 75-percent findings of The Northwestern bisexual study in a way that is perfectly understandable to most people, gay or straight. It points out the human element, the emotional immaturity, the obvious denial that goes on and couches these findings in the motivations and real life twists that I find reasonably accurate to my own experiences growing up.

Sure, none of this puts bisexuality in a positive light and that’s maybe because this movie is all about screwing people and being screwed over. Just like Troy knowingly used the cheerleader to validate his masculinity in high school. Just like Merrick knowingly used Troy for quick convenient sex.

Then at last, Troy finally figures out that no matter how great sex is with any bisexual, openly admitted or not, he will always be just some emotionally retarded jerk’s pathetic piece on the side. Oooooh, did I just say that? Did I let out a little personal experience? Hmmmm, maybe someone will get the warning. You can downplay all this and call it growing up or the process of finding yourself, but it’s real and it’s true and it sucks balls. I’m sure it’s fun to have all types of sex and all but… when you play dress up with other peoples love lives, let me give you a small clue, you oh so sophisticated and open minded bisexual you: they might not appreciate the joke when it’s over.

The only thing I found a bit fake story wise was Troy’s sudden growth, without the movie showing us how things worked between them before. I’m sure there was more than enough drunken nights and awkward moments to have filled up this movies dead spots and black screens and honestly fleshed out our understanding of the dynamics at work more than the dreary ever repeating visuals we ended up with. Hello director, we got the idea already and you need to work on it.

Now if someone would take all these half decent story ideas presented and make a movie around them worthy of honest discussion or maybe even emotionally charged controversy. Well, I hope someone will one day. Not too many people talk about it, much like Troy and Merrick refused to do so for years, and no one else has ever made a movie about it… I mean, a watchable movie that you can follow at least.