A STORMY NIGHT starts with a very familiar formula as a handsome gay man gets stranded by a monster storm overnight in New York City, and ends up crashing with a nice but needy man. David Moragas is the hunky stranger from Spain, and he is terrific and understated, and will make you want to move to Spain immediately. The only thing we know about him is that he is on the way to a screening a film he has made – is it porn, or is a a depiction of his last failed relationship? – and what seems like non-erotic bits of that film are woven into the narrative.
This formula works like gangbusters both characters are equally fascinating - think DEATH TRAP or TRUE WEST - but in this case Alan (Jacob Perkins) is whiny and weak, pompous and pathetic. He talks about his ‘monogamous’ relationship but has already kissed Marcos without consent, nearly masturbated while watching him sleep, and gotten him into bed when the power goes out. Tristan, Alan's the boyfriend stops by for a moment to pick up a tie, but Alan gets rid of him as soon as he can, so as to get back to Marcos.
Sometimes characters are so out of balance that you think – oh, the person who is so wrong for the part must be the writer or director. But in this case, the writer/director is Moragas, and why he did not see that this film was way out of balance is a mystery to me. With Perkins very tall and lanky, and Moragus a sexy fireplug, neither actors nor characters seem to mesh.
Long discussions about privilege do nothing to advance the plot, as Alan’s behavior is in opposition to his desires.
You just wish like an old fashioned gay film they would just get it on already.