Can
a gay and a straight man work side by side productively and
even help each other in amorous pursuits? In Hit and
Runway, directed by Christopher Livingston, an aspiring
girlchasing Italian-American screenwriter, Alex Andero (played
by Michael Parducci) is enrolled in a course to learn how
to write films; his cousin Norman Rizzoli (played by Bill
Cohen) likes his idea for a script, but Alex just does not
know how to write. Because his father has died and his mother
is getting on in years, his older brother Frank (played by
John Fiore) requires his services as a dishwasher for the
family restaurant and discounts his writing ability. Frank
also needs the services of a waiter, so he hires Joey (played
by Kerr Smith), who is gay. One day Elliot Springer (played
by Peter Jacobson), a talented screenwriter who is gay and
Jewish (and resembles Woody Allen), spots Joey as a waiter
at the restaurant. Wanting to cruise Joey, Elliot goes into
the restaurant to ask him to consider playing a part in his
latest screenplay, "Chicken of the Sea," which he leaves with
Joey, who has no interest. One day the play falls on the floor,
Alex picks it up, sees the name and telephone of the author,
and he decides to seek help from Elliot to learn screenwriting
skills. After learning each other’s idiosyncrasies, the odd
couple teams up, and they ultimately present their product
to a film producer as well suited for Jagger Stevens (played
by Hoyt Richards), a macho megastar. Secretly, Alex sends
Elliot’s screenplay, too, but puts his own name down as the
author. When the partners meet the producer, he suggests radical
changes and demands a rewrite in a week or two, but Elliot
persuades Alex to reject the offer. Jagger, however, is excited
by "Chicken of the Sea," admits that he is gay by kissing
Alex, who then admits his indiscretion. Next, Hollywood accepts
Elliot’s script to the tune of $100,000, and "Hit and Runway"
becomes a smash movie in due course. The plot, however, is
more complicated, as we are treated to courtship problems
as well. Middle-aged Elliot, for example, wants to have sex
with cute twentysomething Joey, and he only agrees to cowrite
with Alex in order to get closer to Joey. Alex, knowing that
screenwriting will never begin until Elliot scores with Joey,
encourages him to be more self-confident, sets up a date between
the two, and Joey astonishingly admits that he is fascinated
with Jewish culture. The two begin an affair, but at a Jewish
celebration, Joey meets Elliot’s rabbi, and soon Joey and
the rabbi are carrying on while Alex and Elliot are intensively
involved in screenwriting. After Elliot meets Jagger, the
two become lovers. Girlchasing Alex spurns a fellow screenwriting
student, Gwen (played by Judy Prescott), because she wears
glasses, preferring attractive Lana (played by Teresa DePriest).
However, during the screenwriting Elliot tries to develop
a bespectacled female part into an important character who
takes off her glasses at a critical moment and attracts the
desire of the male lead, thus giving Alex the idea that he
should pursue Gwen’s inner beauty rather than Lana’s shallow
exterior beauty. Thus, the story takes place at two levels.
But there is a third level of dialog -- the humor. Many clever
lines punctuate the film, keeping filmviewers chuckling and
smiling throughout. The best line is an early Rodney Dangerfieldish
remark by Elliot, who says that he once bought a dildo, only
to have it become soft. The second best line is Elliot’s response
to a complaint that the busily decorated wall of his apartment
should be more neutral -- "What should I do, hang a map of
Switzerland?" Amid the campy jocularity and rather syrupy
happy ending, the deeper meaning of Hit and Runway, cowritten
seemingly autobiographically by Jaffe Cohen and Christopher
Livingston, is that gays and straights have a lot to learn
from each other if they would just drop the fears and the
pretenses, the ridiculous rivalry between sexual Montagues
and Capulets, and just become friends. MH
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