Lives can change in 10 seconds, and the consequences of a tragedy can ripple through generations as people coping with loss try to move on despite the gaping hole in their hearts. Brian O'Donnell and Sasha King have taken this human conundrum and set it in a gay context as two families struggle with the role of fate and past history in Akron, just released on DVD by Wolfe Video and a crowd-pleaser at last year's Frameline. While veering towards melodrama and edging close to an afterschool special, O'Donnell and King manage to avoid these pitfalls.
Benny Cruz (Matthew Frias) is a college freshman studying to be a doctor who, during a touch football game, meets fellow collegiate Christopher Gaines (Edmund Donovan) on the playing field. Sparks are ignited, numbers exchanged, and a romance begins to bloom. Their sexuality is matter-of-fact, as they are out, proud, confident, healthy, and open about their desires. Both their families are accepting. When Benny comes home he confides to his mother that he has met a special guy, to which she replies, "Is he cute?" No trauma of coming out, no ugly homophobia, no complicating religious beliefs or cultural differences, just the excitement of an incipient love. Benny lives with his parents (Andrea Burns, Joseph Melendez) and younger sister at home while Christopher resides on campus, as his parents have divorced. Benny and Christopher spend their spring break in Florida visiting Christopher's mother, Carol (Amy da Luz), a free-spirited yoga teacher. It is not a spoiler to reveal that 15 years earlier Carol accidentally ran over and killed Benny's older brother Davy in an Akron parking lot. Carol connects the dots of who Benny is, and confesses the truth to him. Can this relationship survive the traumatic news? Are Benny's parents able to absorb this unbelievable coincidence of these two meeting and falling in love?
Here we have gay characters in a story focused not on their sexuality, yet their relationship still has consequences for them and their families. The film presents a stark choice for these characters having to choose each other or their mothers, then explores avenues to exorcise these past demons. Frias and Donovan are appealing, natural, and have chemistry. Burns, as the grieving, overprotective mother, has to carry most of the emotional weight, delivering a believable performance. Da Luz is also up to the task of a woman seeking forgiveness from a calamity that has upended her life.
O'Donnell's script could be critiqued as idealistic, depicting an unconditionally approving Mexican-American family. In the 26-minute bonus featuring interviews with cast and crew, O'Donnell reveals he didn't know a single gay person growing up in Akron. Changes are afoot in the Buckeye State, as local citizens and businesses were eager to support the film. Akron could have been an overwrought soap opera, but with an intelligent script, engaging directing, true-to-life actors, and a willingness to tackle such subjects as premature death and grief with honesty, it becomes a compelling tale of healing and reconciliation.