October 2, 2025
FILM: PLAINCLOTHES
DIRECTED BY: CARMEN EMMI
STARRING: TOM BLYTH, RUSSELL TOVEY, MARIA DIZZIA
RATING: 3 out of 4 stars
By Dan Pal
In Plainclothes, Tom Blyth plays Lucas, a cop in Syracuse, New York who is tasked with arresting gay men who offer sex in a shopping mall rest room. Lucas is young and attractive and can easily lure men into the public space. Then one day he meets Andrew, his target, who is a slightly older, more seemingly confident man. Instead of arresting Andrew, Lucas falls for him.
The film is set in 1997, which may surprise some people who were around then and were unaware that such police activity was still going on. However, the story is based somewhat on a true story and those were, well, somewhat less open times. Think about it: a new drug had just helped ease the AIDS epidemic of the previous decade and we were only on the verge of Ellen’s big coming out and Will and Grace becoming a television hit. So, it is a somewhat particular pocket in gay history that might seem longer than it actually was.
Films like this can be frustrating because they give off the impression that gays could only have sex in private/public spaces (some might remember all the problems George Michael had during the era in British public restrooms…) and that many gay men remained closeted or in unhappy marriages. That certainly was true for a number of men but many of the rest of us were out and deep into long-term relationships at a time that felt the most open ever up to that point.
That doesn’t mean that some men didn’t have the experiences represented in Plainclothes, many surely did, but sadly there have been more stories on film that have depicted such traumatic times rather than celebrate the positive steps made within the LGBTQ community during the era. Plainclothes feels like it could have been set in the 1950s, 60s, or 70s. We’ve seen a lot of related stories in the past. What it does provide though is an original take on a closeted cop falling for one of his targets.
Lucas is an interesting character in that the married man somehow wound up on these assignments while becoming aware that he himself was experiencing same sex attraction. I suppose having an out gay cop performing the task wasn’t an option in 1997 Syracuse. Lucas’s attraction toward Andrew is curious. He’s not conventionally handsome (although many do find actor Russell Tovey attractive, he’s not playing his looks here.) Yet there is something more stable, almost father-like about Andrew that Lucas is clearly drawn toward. Andrew has his own back story which is not revealed until late in the film. Still, he seems pretty disciplined in his pursuits.
Both actors are very good in their roles. Tom Blyth plays Lucas as simultaneously driven, lost, and lustful. This is a character going through a major shift in his life. Tovey as Andrew is appropriately more controlled given that the character has settled into a particular way of life. The chemistry between the actors is solid even if the possible trajectory of their connection might feel doomed.
Writer/director Carmen Emmi may be operating in Twentieth Century thematic territory here, but his visual aesthetic is original and inspired. There are several very jarring flash cuts throughout the film that seem to reflect the inner and outer psychological state of Lucas. We often see his slightly disoriented and ever-evolving perspective through many quick point of view shots. Lucas’s dissociative and anxiety ridden look at his world is captured using both 90s style Hi-8 cameras and more contemporary 5D lenses. Essentially, Emmi creates two sets of eyes for Lucas resulting from his two perspectives: one as a cop trying to incriminate gay men and the other which is more aligned with his true self. His two worlds were previously separated, but they now collide with each other.
There are several characters that are introduced early in the film that, at times, feel a bit overwhelming to the story. These mostly appear as Lucas’s family and colleagues. A sub-plot involving the former seems at times a bit unnecessary, but it does provide a nice lead up to the film’s rather dramatic conclusion.
The narrative timeline is somewhat unclear for much of the film as there are many scenes featuring an unshaven Lucas intercut with those of a cleaner version of the character. Which sequence comes first takes a while to be revealed. I’m not sure if these were meant to appear confusing in this way but they are intricately woven together to sometimes feel a bit opposite to their true ordering.
Plainclothes doesn’t break a lot of new ground but the performances are quite good, and the film does seem to represent the experience of at least some gay men, which makes it relevant and historically significant viewing.
Plainclothes opens this week in limited theatrical release, including the Music Box Theater in Chicago.
FILM: PLAINCLOTHES
DIRECTED BY: CARMEN EMMI
STARRING: TOM BLYTH, RUSSELL TOVEY, MARIA DIZZIA
RATING: 3 out of 4 stars
By Dan Pal
In Plainclothes, Tom Blyth plays Lucas, a cop in Syracuse, New York who is tasked with arresting gay men who offer sex in a shopping mall rest room. Lucas is young and attractive and can easily lure men into the public space. Then one day he meets Andrew, his target, who is a slightly older, more seemingly confident man. Instead of arresting Andrew, Lucas falls for him.
The film is set in 1997, which may surprise some people who were around then and were unaware that such police activity was still going on. However, the story is based somewhat on a true story and those were, well, somewhat less open times. Think about it: a new drug had just helped ease the AIDS epidemic of the previous decade and we were only on the verge of Ellen’s big coming out and Will and Grace becoming a television hit. So, it is a somewhat particular pocket in gay history that might seem longer than it actually was.
Films like this can be frustrating because they give off the impression that gays could only have sex in private/public spaces (some might remember all the problems George Michael had during the era in British public restrooms…) and that many gay men remained closeted or in unhappy marriages. That certainly was true for a number of men but many of the rest of us were out and deep into long-term relationships at a time that felt the most open ever up to that point.
That doesn’t mean that some men didn’t have the experiences represented in Plainclothes, many surely did, but sadly there have been more stories on film that have depicted such traumatic times rather than celebrate the positive steps made within the LGBTQ community during the era. Plainclothes feels like it could have been set in the 1950s, 60s, or 70s. We’ve seen a lot of related stories in the past. What it does provide though is an original take on a closeted cop falling for one of his targets.
Lucas is an interesting character in that the married man somehow wound up on these assignments while becoming aware that he himself was experiencing same sex attraction. I suppose having an out gay cop performing the task wasn’t an option in 1997 Syracuse. Lucas’s attraction toward Andrew is curious. He’s not conventionally handsome (although many do find actor Russell Tovey attractive, he’s not playing his looks here.) Yet there is something more stable, almost father-like about Andrew that Lucas is clearly drawn toward. Andrew has his own back story which is not revealed until late in the film. Still, he seems pretty disciplined in his pursuits.
Both actors are very good in their roles. Tom Blyth plays Lucas as simultaneously driven, lost, and lustful. This is a character going through a major shift in his life. Tovey as Andrew is appropriately more controlled given that the character has settled into a particular way of life. The chemistry between the actors is solid even if the possible trajectory of their connection might feel doomed.
Writer/director Carmen Emmi may be operating in Twentieth Century thematic territory here, but his visual aesthetic is original and inspired. There are several very jarring flash cuts throughout the film that seem to reflect the inner and outer psychological state of Lucas. We often see his slightly disoriented and ever-evolving perspective through many quick point of view shots. Lucas’s dissociative and anxiety ridden look at his world is captured using both 90s style Hi-8 cameras and more contemporary 5D lenses. Essentially, Emmi creates two sets of eyes for Lucas resulting from his two perspectives: one as a cop trying to incriminate gay men and the other which is more aligned with his true self. His two worlds were previously separated, but they now collide with each other.
There are several characters that are introduced early in the film that, at times, feel a bit overwhelming to the story. These mostly appear as Lucas’s family and colleagues. A sub-plot involving the former seems at times a bit unnecessary, but it does provide a nice lead up to the film’s rather dramatic conclusion.
The narrative timeline is somewhat unclear for much of the film as there are many scenes featuring an unshaven Lucas intercut with those of a cleaner version of the character. Which sequence comes first takes a while to be revealed. I’m not sure if these were meant to appear confusing in this way but they are intricately woven together to sometimes feel a bit opposite to their true ordering.
Plainclothes doesn’t break a lot of new ground but the performances are quite good, and the film does seem to represent the experience of at least some gay men, which makes it relevant and historically significant viewing.
Plainclothes opens this week in limited theatrical release, including the Music Box Theater in Chicago.