That is the story that needs telling in Ireland and other nations in my eyes and would be the real step forward. If you could tie that up in a good comedy script, to offset the heavy moments, that would be golden. In a semi-autobiographical film set in 1995 Ireland, 2 high school seniors date each other to ward off suspicions of being gay. Amber is confident, and plans to use her entrepreneurial savings to go to London and join the punk scene.
What to Watch
But this creates a strangely intense relationship between them that isn’t easily shrugged off when real romantic-partner candidates come into view. A romcom-like montage celebrates their platonic friendship as it blossoms. The odd couple ride bikes, read zines and take a bus to Dublin, where a drag queen dressed as Dolly Parton appears as a glowing apparition. As Amber becomes more comfortable with her queerness, the taciturn Eddie retreats inwards.
Why do Eddie and Amber feel they need to pretend to be something they are not? Discuss homophobic attitudes and what can be done to counter them. Although Dating Amber follows a familiar beat, it remains endearingly rather than tedious or repetitive.
The Best 22 Movies of 2022
The sentiment overall is well intentioned and that they protected each other and created this cloak for each other is definitely believable. The time setting and the surrounding storylines, environment and characters though we’re not and distracted. Nicely acted and written teen drama about the struggles of not only coming out in the less accepting early 1990s, but also with the weight of Catholicism bearing down on them. The film goes beyond merely having a period soundtrack of Britpop to inform us of the period, but is well presented in its clothes, attitudes and behviours, a Gaelic Grange Hill if you like.
The two lead performances are simply brilliant, with newcomer Petticrew in particular stealing the show. The sincere, sympathetic character of Eddie is also a real testament to O’Shea, whose previous work includes another Irish hit Normal People. For those that did they faced the fear of being ostracised by family and community, plus treats of being beaten up. An underdeveloped B story regarding Eddie’s parents being on the cusp of divorce that has no real impact on the A story is a minor issue, overshadowed by the sheer charm of it all and the authenticity of the two leads. Touching coming of age story as two teenagers come to terms with who they are in mid 90s Ireland. His dad Ian is a high-ranking Irish Army officer at the Curragh Camp, a base and military college, while mother Hannah looks after the home.
Amber wants to save enough money to run away from a pathetic town to London where she can open her bookshop with franchise potential. Eddie is not only struggling in the training to join the army school but also suffers from an alienated environment in the school, where everyone is hooking up with each other or is dating someone, except Eddie and Amber. Convincingly channels the angst and awkwardness that can be a part of every teenager’s struggle with their identity. Perhaps the biggest challenge, for Eddie in particular, is the internalised homophobia that can develop when the world around you enforces heteronormative ideals. David Freyne manages to indict the societal expectation of heterosexuality as a traumatizing force while also humanizing its straight victims.
The director and his cast have been eager to dismiss the notion that contemporary LGBT kids have it significantly easier than those 25 years ago, and the class of bullying here – cruel but rarely savage – is surely still commonplace. Set-in Ireland during the mid-90’s, Eddie and Amber decide to stage a relationship in order to stop everyone speculating about their sexuality. Eddie is keen to follow his Dad into the military, while Amber dreams of moving to the liberal hub of London. However, their ‘ideal’ arrangement begins to fall apart, forcing Eddie deeper into denial as Amber realizes that a perilous future awaits her best friend unless she intervenes. Two school friends decide to start a pretend straight relationship in an effort to fit in. Families can talk about the portrayal of sexuality in Dating Amber.
A brief scene when Eddie’s doleful mother is, for once, alone at home and puts on a vinyl is particularly wonderful. She looks at her husband’s framed photograph and smiles, reminding us that while the fantasy of heterosexual domesticity holds many promises, in practice, it can be an exhausting hell. ” Amber tells Eddie when he asks her where he could escape to. And as their own faux love affair begins to crumble, they can at last embrace the queerness and messy feelings for which there is no required language, no blueprints, and as such the opportunity to actually find a place that won’t kill them. Set in Ireland during the mid-’90s, ‘Dating Amber’ follows two teenagers who pretend they’re in a relationship so their classmates will stop questioning their sexuality.
This portal to that time between two Irelands is nicely done – the freedom of fanzines, internecine warfare about Blur and Oasis and more – and all the supporting characters will feel familiar in the best way possible. Kudos to Freyne for sharing out the zingers, of which there are plenty. There’s heavy stuff away from the humour, but the ratio is just right. It is always cheap to ask whether a writer’s work is autobiographical, but there’s no way round that question here.
His first right decision was casting an endearing lead duo. O’Shea and Petticrew as Eddie and Amber make for a commanding pair, doing great by themselves and wonderfully together. There is something quite magical in watching these two play off each other.
Very well written and had my heart clenching, I cried a few times not going to lie. A great little movie about the very scary coming of age experience and process of finding oneself. It has everything from the awkward educational sex video at school, the inevitable crush on a teacher, as well as inappropriate hand jobs in a movie theatre. Unable to face coming out in such a hostile environment quite yet, Eddie and Amber decide to be one another’s beards, faking a romantic relationship to keep the other kids and their parents off their backs. Of course, this plan encounters many a road bump along the way. With so many amazing coming of age love stories about straight couples coming out on Netflix these days I sometimes feel sad that I don’t get to see myself represented in those cute movies, especially as a wlw.
What listeners say about EP 386: Stop Dating People with Problems You Can’t Solve with Amber
The parents, no ogres in their children’s lives, are played by actors who know they are in this not just to make a statement but to have fun. Barry Ward who plays Eddie’s very masculine father has an unforgettable meltdown sequence. Eddie (Fion O’Shea) is gay and not admitting it, Amber is more comfortable with her lesbianism.
While contestants were nude most of the time, the show does not show contestants’ genitals. The first season featured a new pair of contestants in each episode. There was a format change for the remaining seasons, where there were two main contestants, a male and a female, whom new contestants would join each episode to date them, in a format similar to shows such as The Bachelor. The third season, hosted by Rocsi Diaz and filmed in Bora Bora, premiered on June 29, 2016 and concluded on September 14, 2016.
However, for Eddie, who is supposed to be training to join the army just like his dad once he passes his cadet training, the thought of coming out is panic-inducing. Eventually, he https://datingwebreviews.com/twoo-review/ turns on Amber publicly, calling her a “dyke” after they performatively split up. It’s a sundering that’s both fake (because they were never a “real” couple) and devastating .