Written by H. Clent Bowers for THE ARTISTS FORUM MAGAZINE
Edited by Amos White V for THE ARTISTS FORUM, INC
Photos: Any Day Now (Music Box Films)
REVIEWER RATING:
5 out of 5 stars
Director: Travis Fine
Writers: Travis Fine, George Arthur Bloom
Stars: Alan Cumming, Garret Dillahunt, and Isaac Leyva
Trailer: imdb.com/video/imdb/vi246851353
ANY DAY NOW (USA, 2012)
LOS ANGELES, CA (November 29, 2012) It is no wonder Alan Cumming has said that this is his favorite film to date. From the moment Any Day Now starts, what you see and hear grabs your heart. You are at once transported to that vulnerable place all of us have experienced at some point in our lives. That place where it feels like you’re alone in the midst of all the world’s chaos, walking the streets alone, looking up at the lights or stars and holding tight to your dreams to keep you company.
It is the late 1970’s in downtown ‘anywhere’ USA where we find young 15 year-old Marco (Isaac Leyva) wandering through the city streets at night looking for what he eventually describes as a “happy ending.” He carries and hugs tight to his chest an unkept, stringy haired, blond doll. He does have a home; a run-down studio apartment that he shares with his mother — a single parent and cocaine addict who turns tricks to maintain her habit, pay the rent, and buy Marco donuts, his primary breakfast food.
In the same building lives a tough-as-nails homosexual, Rudy (Alan Cumming), who performs as lead drag queen nightly at a local gay club. When home, Rudy tries to get the mother of Marco to turn down her music and to take better care of her son. One evening, a handsome male customer, Paul (Garret Dillahunt), a lawyer, seemingly straight, recently divorced, and a bit shy, comes to the bar and sees the Drag show. He and Rudy hit it off, start dating, and eventually fall for each other. One night, Rudy returns home and finds Marco home alone due to his mother being arrested and decides to take the boy in. When trying to get legal custody of young Marco, the facts of Rudy’s and Paul’s “disgraceful” lifestyle all but denies a hearing.
Any Day Now is, in this case, a phrase to comfort those people who must wait in turn to be understood or accepted in a world where black and white guidelines of social ethics do not allow the conversation of humanely addressing the full spectrum of our evolving beingness. This film reminds us how far we have come as a society since the days of Stonewall, civil rights, and women’s rights. But It also reminds us of just how slowly. Any Day Now puts a mirror to our faces and ask us why it takes so long for understanding and progressive movement to occur in the world.
All of the supporting cast in this film are superlative. They create an ensemble that builds the house our three protagonists live in. Together they reflect the glass wall that the misunderstood must confront. Alan Cumming is masterful and revealing as Rudy, Garrett Dillahunt is romantically compassionate as the bisexual lover, and Isaac Leyva is beautifully clear and heartbreaking as Marco. Joey Newman‘s score captures you with the first note and is intimately moving throughout. The direction and writing of Travis Fine and George Arthur Bloom is not only timely and disturbing, it is also beautiful while hauntingly thought provoking.
For more information about Any Day Now, visit: imdb.com/video/imdb/vi246851353
