Lawrence Ferber | Cruise Control / 2001

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by Douglas Meserli

 

Lawrence Ferber (screenwriter and director) Cruise Control / 2001 [6 minutes]

 

In 2000 Lawrence Ferber wrote and directed a rather charming film, Birthday Time, about a young gay boy who simply couldn’t wait any longer for his birthday so that he might have legal sex with other gay men. And by the end of that decade he had written a script for another fairly popular feature gay film, Bear City, directed by Douglas Langway.

     But the film in between them, Cruise Control (2001), I have to report, is hardly worth discussing; one might describe it as a rather embarrassing one-liner.

     Gary and Mark (David Drake and Kelvin Walker), neither of them great-lookers, are out at their local bar, Flapjax, both of them in “cruising mode,” one on the hefty side ready to go home with nearly anyone who’s willing while his scrawny and nerdy looking friend intends to be somewhat more selective.

      Both spot a new man with a nearly perfect body, his workout breasts clearly defined by his tight T-shirt, a good-sized box, and a nice, friendly, if a bit ordinary face. He catches their eyes, and they go for him.

      Unfortunately, this would-be prize, Josh (Scott Wooledge), has a strange habit. As he grows sexually interested in others his mouth suddenly shifts into contorted positions turning him into a figure straight out of the distorted mirror images of an amusement park. They are startled and stunned by the sudden transformation and immediately turn away with disgust.

      Soon after, another boy (Jay Corcoran) spots Josh at the urinal in the bathroom, checking him out. He too is attracted but when he looks up to see Josh’s response he’s terrified as well by the man’s contortions.

      Josh simply cannot figure out what’s happening, why people seem at first attracted and them pull away at the last moment. He looks long and hard at himself in the mirror and can’t spot the obvious flaw since he apparently is not “turned on” by his own image.

      After a rather meaningless encounter with two drag queens who have gossiping in a nearby stall, equally horrified by his sudden distortions—are we supposed to believe he’s trying to come on to these two as well?—flutter off in horror.

      Back at the bar, Josh, by this time quite dejected, encounters yet another cruiser (Linas G. Vytuvis) who looks over Josh’s body, noting the well-developed pectorals and the outline of his cock and balls, looks up at the now distorted face, and then scans once more the man’s well-developed breasts and penis. He pulls Josh toward him, puts a bag over his head, and leads him off, actualizing the cliché about men endowed with gifts other than their facial beauty.

      If you’re up for an extended one-liner that isn’t truly funny in the first place, this is your movie; otherwise, I’d put the screensaver to use before viewing.

 

Los Angeles, May 9, 2022

Reprinted from World Cinema Review (May 2022).