TOUCH OF PINK
Directed & Written by: Ian Iqbal Rashid.
Produced by: Julia Sereny, Jennifer Kawaja & Martin Pope.
Director of Photography: David A. Makin.
Edited by: Susan Maggi.
Music by: Andrew Lockington.
Released by: Sony Pictures Classics.
Country of Origin: Canada/UK. 92 min. Rated: R.
With: Jimi Mistry, Kyle MacLachlan, Kristen Holden-Ried & Suleka Mathew.

Alim (Jimi Mistry) has had it hard. When he was just an infant, death robbed him of his father. Grief and despondency soon overtook his mother, who left Alim in the care of relatives. As Touch of Pink opens, Alim is an adult working in the movie business, and who lives day-to-day according to advice of movie star Cary Grant (Kyle MacLachlan), an imaginary friend he latched onto while in the throes of childhood trauma. Now, Alim stands to loose his mother again, this time to homophobia.

Sympathy may be due to Alim, but his character quickly becomes irksome and hard to understand. After all, he has Giles (Kristen Holden-Ried), a charming, handsome and attentive lover. So why is Alim so whiny? An immigrant of Pakistani descent, Alim's materially successful too: he has a good job and a flat in high-priced London he doesn't just rent, but owns. So why can't he have fun? When Giles' sister throws a surprise anniversary party for Alim and Giles, Alim's response is, "I wish I'd known." And what is it Giles sees in a man who can't wipe that pout off his face? (Mistry, it must be said, is true to Alim's character as it is written.)

The arrival of Alim's mother (Suleka Mathew) makes Alim somewhat easier to understand. She's materialistic, constrained by her family's inflexible adherence to tradition and has a wicked wit to boot. Her transformation, as she gradually warms to Giles and Alim, as well as Mathew's solid performance make Touch of Pink fun to watch. It's only after the film - with its attractive cast, bright palate, witty repartee and nostalgic soundtrack - is over that we realize we've just seen an extended episode of Frasier or Will & Grace, complete with a moral lesson for both straights and gays. Better than Friends, but far too pat for a feature-length film.

Steven Cordova is contributing editor to Film-Forward.com and a poet, whose chapbook, Slow Dissolve, is available from Momotombo Press
June 24, 2004