Between Something & Nothing

"I hate being negative about films that are to some extent autobiographical - but this film is not good. Tim Swain is "Joe" who arrives at the world renowned Rhode Island School of Design and swiftly develops a pretty unfathomable relationship with a local gay hustler "Ramon" (Gil Bar-Sela) as well as a close collegiate relationship with "Jenny" (Julia Frey) with whom he tackles the variety of wacky art assignments assigned by the school. The snags are plentiful; principally, though, how did he meet the hustler and why, despite very little by way of encouragement, does he fall for him - indeed, at times he is positively cruel to the poor sod? He lives in world of drugs and booze yet seems to need anonymous casual sex in order to be "himself" - artistically, at any rate. It's not that the film is rubbish - it isn't; but with a minimal budget and characters that you really couldn't care less about, it is hard to engage on any level."