Gay film based on cartoon doesn’t translate

Published 9:00 pm Thursday, August 3, 2006

A low-budget number for the gay circuit, “The Mostly Unfabulous Social Life of Ethan Green” fails to make much of an impression. It has the novelty of being based on a newspaper cartoon of the same name, but whatever it is about the comic strip that has won over readers does not translate onto film.

Ethan Green, played by Daniel Letterle, is a flibbertigibbet 26-year-old who can’t stay in a relationship for long. At the moment, he is embarking on an affair with a well-known baseball player (Diego Serrano) who’s just revealed himself to be gay in a tell-all book called “Batter Out.”

Meanwhile, Ethan is in danger of being kicked out of the house he rents from ex-lover Leo (David Monahan), who wants to sell the place. In an amusing subplot, Ethan arranges for the world’s surliest real-estate agent to represent the house. That way, it might never sell.

Nobody, including Ethan’s mom (the well-traveled sitcom star Meredith Baxter) believes Ethan’s latest relationship will last. This becomes even less likely when Ethan is trailed by a 19-year-old moron named Punch (Dean Shelton), who fancies himself irresistible.

The film, a directing debut for George Bamber, is best when it can get its many characters into the same room together and let them bicker. This happens often enough for the movie to satisfy its target audience, but – unlike “Adam &Steve,” a very witty gay movie from earlier this year – it seems unlikely to travel far.

Except for the occasional whimsical graphic, there’s nothing particular that suggests the comic-strip origins of the piece. Without that, it just seems generic.

And without a compelling leading man, it’s a chore. Daniel Letterle was appealing in the musical “Camp!” but here he overplays to the point of irritation. Truly, this is a guy only a mother could love – and as the movie makes clear, she’s got her doubts.