Reviews


A Shortbus is a small yellow bus used to transport special children while in the movie Shortbus is the name of a sex club. This sexual romp is a lok into the lives of some New Yorkers – their frisky sex lives, their frustrations and their view of the world. Written directed and produced by the John Cameron Mitchell of “Hedwig and the Angry Inch” this film peeps into the lives of James- played by Paul Dawson – who is in a committed gay relationship, his therapist Sofie and her troubled marriage to Rob - Sook-Yin Lee and Paul Barker - and the dominatrix Severin – played with panache by Lindsey Beamish.

The movie blends in the sexual encounters into the everyday lives of its main characters with ease unlike in other films. Add to this a dose of the director’s political views and you have a sexual carnival peppered with views on world affairs and things intrinsically American.

Shortbus gives an overview of the urges that drive daily life only in a slightly dramatized backdrop. As the characters search for their personal utopia within and outside the sex-club – one sees the pathos in the comedy and the comedy in daily tragedies one faces in life. Overall a film about how maybe free love and sex is the key to personal utopia .


Language: English
Cast: Sook-Yin Lee (Sofia), Paul Dawson (James), Lindsay Beamish (Severin), P J DeBoy (Jamie), Raphael Barker (Rob) and Peter Stickles (Caleb)
Producer: Howard Gertler, Tim Perell and John Cameron Mitchell
Director: John Cameron Mitchell
Writing credits: John Cameron Mitchell
Edited by: Brian A. Kates
Music: Yo La Tengo;
Director of Photography: Frank G. DeMarco
Release Date: October 4, 2006 (Manhattan)
Production House: ThinkFilm
Running Time: 102 minutes
Rating: Not Rated