Review of the Movie Tarnation (www.filmforum.com)

Last week Alice and I went to see the movie "Tarnation." David, Jan, and Sarah had seen it and liked it. It's a gay boy's artistic film tapestry of his life from the son of a crazy mother to a club, goth drag kid in abusive foster care to a nyc film artist still struggling within an enmeshed, overidentified relationship with his increasingly wacky mom. His boyfriend also figures into it all in the setting of New York City. This movie was terrific: self-centered, beautiful, painful, funny, and artistically inspiring. Its message is that everyone comes from a dysfunctional family, but some are more dysfunctional than others; psychiatry is not to be trusted; and separating from a crazy family is hard and confusing regarding it's desirability. This movie stayed with me, and I'd like to see it again!