VIDEO OF THE WEEK
The Delta (1997, R)
This nearly incomprehensible low-budget drama follows the romance of two unlikely lovers. Lincoln (Shayne Gray) is a white, middle-class, closeted gay teen who haunts the local cruisey spots in Memphis. When he encounters John (Thang Chan), the lower-class, mixed-race child of a Vietnamese mother and an American soldier, the two embark on an awkward affair. The film focuses on Lincoln for the first half and then abandons him altogether to follow the tragic, wholly unexpected downfall of John. Gray is OK as the owl-eyed innocent still uncertain about his own sexuality, but Chan's thick accent is as unintelligible as it is annoying, and the boys' relationship a little hard to swallow. Writer/director Ira Sachs captures the lonely, secretive lives of Southern youths quite well, especially the bored antics of Lincoln and his straight buddies. But a little coherence would have been nice, not to mention a less horrific and incongruous ending. The DVD includes filmmaker commentary.