1998 comedy-drama film starring Ben Silverstone (Stephen) and Brad Gorton (John).
Set in middle-class Basingstoke, England, Stephen Carter is a gay secondary school student. John Dixon is a tall and handsome jock who is revealed to have secrets of his own.
This film contains examples of
- Armoured Closet Gay: John is very much this, at least when his friends are around.
- Closet Gay: Stephen is only out, initially, to his best friend Linda, whilst John goes to every length to deny and conceal his sexuality.
- Comically Missing the Point: Stephen's father is shown to do this regarding his son's sexuality on one or two occasions.
- Fag Hag: Linda to Stephen.
- Fainting: Stephen wants to escape a wedding, so Linda fakes a faint in order to achieve this.
- Gay Cruising: Stephen hides his sexuality and goes cottaging for public sex in men's bathrooms. He meets the school jock John in the same restroom, also looking for sex.
- Gay Guy Seeks Popular Jock: John is a popular jock with a sizeable circle of friends who is aiming for Oxford. Stephen becomes highly interested in him after they unknowingly meet at a cottaging location.
- I Have No Son!: The fathers of the two protagonists are implied to be less than entirely comfortable with the idea of their respective sons being gay.
- Jerk Jock: John has to be considered this, at least somewhat.
- Last-Name Basis: John's circle of friends often do this.
- Rousing Speech: Stephen gives one to his school assembly, after he reveals that he wrote an article about being gay for the school's magazine. He receives only scattered applause, which is probably to be expected in a conservative English town during the 1990s.
- Selective Obliviousness: Stephen's father and John's friends both find quite compelling evidence that something might be going on between Stephen and John, but they don't want to acknowledge it.
