Reviews (27) 
A Powerful Piece
"An endearing and sincere drama that chronicles the ten-year life of a gay relationship. Back in 1978, everything seemed possible for several young men. For Philip and Guy, there was the thrill and exhilaration of first love. For their friends Devon, Jerry and Todd, life was still an open book with so many pages yet to be filled. But ten years later, all are gone except for Philip who is left alone, wondering what the hell happened. He tries to make sense of the joys and the sorrows as well as to chart a new direction for the future. Writer/director Natale's feature film debut depicts the lives of five friends in conflict with themselves and each other yet ultimately, the insightful tale is about love and survival. The title is drawn from events around the sale of a shirt which brought each of them together. "A totally refreshing and romantic (even sexy) drama, true to the crises many have endured without being pedantic, mature without losing its vitality. A powerful piece about the force that tear people apart and ultimately keeps them together." Outfest
get a new shirt
I gave GREEN PLAID SHIRT three stars for the following reasons; the audio was very poor;( I purchased the DVD version ) turning the treble all the way up on the tone control on my television helped ( there is an apologia before the film begins, perhaps this is what they refer to ); and the film failed to move or inspire me. The acting was good, no problem there, it was one of those movies that goes on and on and on.
The story centers around two people Phillip (Gregory Phelan) and Guy (Kevin Spirtas) who meet at a garage sale in 1978 when Phillip buys a Green Plaid shirt lays it down on a table for a moment to pay for it and Guy picks it up to try it on; of course Phillip informs Guy He had just paid for it and wants it back. Later Phillip is with one of his best friends Jerry at a [same sex] bar and Guy happenes to run into philip there and stops over to say Hello; Phillip asks Guy to join them and next thing you Phillip have become lovers and have moved into together. Two other of Phillips friends Jerry and Deven play a supportive role of the bitchie-stuck up friends who are not impressed with Plillips new lover. Guy developes AIDS ( refered to in the film as the " Gay Disease"), along with Jerry then Devon. Phillip finds his world is collapsing around him. Guy has then "cheated" on Phillip and moved out of the new house they have bought together with his new lover ( Tony ). ...
The film flashes from present to past to present ect.
There are no hardcore [physical] scenes but some body nudity. In my opnion there are better [same sex] films to purchase; ...
Good intentions, but....
A friend recommended this film so I started to view it but had to stop after 30 minutes. I usually give films more of a chance but the sound quality of the DVD was so poor that I was either straining to hear what was being said or turning the volume down. (I tried it on a second DVD player with the same results.) The two main actors (Gregory Phelan and Victor Spirtas) were not too bad, but the script -- what I was able to make out of it -- left little to be desired. A bit too confusing and not conversational and realistic. The supporting characters were too clichéd and made the one scene of the introduction dinner difficult to sit through. The film's creators seemed to have made this film with good intentions: showing the effects of AIDS on the gay community by focusing on one relationship in particular. But, the script and the sound problems make it difficult to watch.
A movie that grew on me
I have a new CD player and wanted to test it out with some of the gay flicks that I missed over the last couple of years. As noted by other reviewers, the sound stunk and their were numerous technical glitches.
On the other hand, for some reason I really connected with what was going on with the lead character. To be so in love with another man, and then see it fall apart. I was glad to see that things did not work out where they lived happily ever after like in most gay flicks. I watched it again with the directors comments on and was quite amazed to hear how they had put this movie together on a shoe string budget. I am impressed how they put together such a great movie on such a small budget.
Toss the shirt
Long gone are the days when we should go see a gay film simply because it is gay. with the amount of different movies lately with gay plots or subplots I've come to expect a few things. The first being a script, the second being well....a script. Seriously this film seemed to be under the impression that just putting somebody up there who has lost their lover is enough to keep us tearful and involved for the 17 hours this movie seemed to last. The fact that the sound quality was so bad I had to rewind several times to try and catch important passages was a minor annoyance compared to the complete lack of interest I was able to maintain. It is sad to say that a movie supposed to be sad and about a very serious subject had my friends and I laughing at our foolishness for renting this.
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