I watched "Chuck and Buck" last night for the first time.<br /><br />The DVD cover presents this film as a comedy, but I found it deeply disturbing. It was actually hard for me to make my way through it... I was constantly tempted to skip scenes or stop the movie altogether. I didn't do either.<br /><br />First, the good: the performance of Mike White, playing Buck, is truly amazing. You never catch him "acting," he has become Buck to a degree that's a bit scary. The soundtrack includes some great music. The production values are better than average and far beyond other low-budget indies.<br /><br />The problem for me was the view it takes of gay people: the "arrested development" theory, the "they never grew up" bit. I understand that Buck is a single individual and I shouldn't over-generalize in this regard. But Buck is the only gay person we meet in the film, there is no gay or lesbian character in the script that would counter Buck's immaturity, to show he's as much an oddball to the gay community as he is to the straight.<br /><br />And Buck is an extreme example. I read some of the comments on IMDb, who talk about Buck's "innocence." Innocence, my ass. Excuse my un-PC language: Buck is socially retarded to a degree that loses all charm and likability. Yes, he has the mental ability of an eight year old, and the concept has the potential to show a charming innocence. But Buck was and is an unlikeable 8-year old. I kept thinking that the screenplay would show us more about Buck so that viewers could come to care about him. All the screenplay is able to show is that he has no skills, no talent, no redeeming features. He's a one-dimensional character, striking the same note again and again, and I couldn't stand him, from beginning to end.<br /><br />So here's a well-made film that includes an stunningly good performance, but its story is about a character that I wish I had never met, and certainly one I don't want representing gay people.