The Trip (2002)

39% of critics liked it
(31 reviews)
70% of users liked it
(2,794 ratings)

Stretching from the 1970s to the 1990s, The Trip chronicles the often turbulent romance between two gay men. One night in 1973, teenagers Tommy (Steve Braun) and Alan (Larry Sullivan) meet at an L.A. party. While Tommy is openly gay and organizes for gay civil rights, Alan, an aspiring journalist,… More Stretching from the 1970s to the 1990s, The Trip chronicles the often turbulent romance between two gay men. One night in 1973, teenagers Tommy (Steve Braun) and Alan (Larry Sullivan) meet at an L.A. party. While Tommy is openly gay and organizes for gay civil rights, Alan, an aspiring journalist, is a repressed, button-down member of the Young Republicans who is working on his first book, a thick volume about the evils of homosexuality. On the pretext of interviewing him for his book, Alan invites Tommy to his house for dinner, where the sexual tension between the two is so throbbingly blatant that Alan's girlfriend makes a hasty exit. An intense romance between the two men follows. When we next see them, it's 1976, and Alan's book has been published anonymously and is being used by right-wingers who are supporting Anita Bryant's "Save Our Children" campaign in Florida. Unfortunately, Tommy finds out that Alan wrote the book and leaves him, and subsequently takes up with Peter (Ray Baker) an affluent closet case. It isn't until the '90s that Alan and Tommy meet again, and are confronted by the romance they thought they had long left behind. The Trip was screened at the 2002 Philadelphia International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: R, 1 hr. 35 min.
Directed By: Miles Swain
Written By: Miles Swain
Genres: Drama, Romance, Gay & Lesbian, Comedy

In Theaters: May 9, 2003 Limited
On DVD: Dec 9, 2003
Studio: TLA Releasing

Critic Reviews

Randy Cordova, Arizona Republic
Despite its flaws, it eventually gets under your skin and is sweetly moving.
Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel
There is absolutely nothing that hasn't been said more compellingly and originally somewhere else, and said often.
Wesley Morris, Boston Globe
By the time it's over you'll be able to fill a bumper sticker with everything you've learned.
Charles Ealy, Dallas Morning News
The screenplay has huge holes, character motivations are inexplicable, the tone switches from serious to loopy and back to serious, and the editing is choppy and uneven.
John Monaghan, Detroit Free Press
The Trip almost dares you not to like it, even when its script heads in all the wrong directions.
Carrie Rickey, Philadelphia Inquirer
Riddled with romantic and political cliches but is often redeemed by the charismatic performances of Braun and Sullivan.
John A. Nesbit, Old School Reviews
doesn't insult your intelligence or rely strictly on cliché to gain a few knowing chuckles
Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald
The story's third-act detour into tragedy is predictable and unwelcome, providing a resolution that is too pat and familiar to be moving.
Jeffrey Bruner, Des Moines Register
It's ... drenched in melodrama, saddled with a forced plot and surrounded by so many character stereotypes that the film almost becomes self-parody.
Robin Clifford, Reeling Reviews
There are a couple of good aspects to "The Trip," particularly Steve Braun's performance, that will appeal to its niche audience.
Cherryl Dawson and Leigh Ann Palone, TheMovieChicks.com
Pack your sequined T-shirts, your favorite bell-bottoms, and a sturdy houseplant and get ready to take a sentimental trip with two guys who will first have you laughing and then shedding a tear or two.
Laura Clifford, Reeling Reviews
For a film with so many problems, it is awfully hard to dislike.
David Elliott, San Diego Union-Tribune
The soft personal story is caught between history, including the coming of AIDS, and Swain's reach for sitcom bitchiness and final pathos indebted to Midnight Cowboy.
Chris Hewitt (St. Paul), St. Paul Pioneer Press
The acting in The Trip is inconsistent, and I didn't really buy the conflict at its heart, but it's a big-hearted movie.
Gary Thompson, Philadelphia Daily News
The movie's strength is the rapport between the two appealing leads. It's hurt, though, by shifts in structure and tone.
Brent Simon, Entertainment Today
The Trip handles some of its seriocomic moments awkwardly... but, anchored by solid acting and deftly managed scenes, it's a project that bodes well for nearly all the young talent involved.
, E! Online
Like being stuck in the backseat on a lengthy family expedition with nothing to do but play that license-plate game, The Trip is an extended journey into boredom.
Chuck Wilson, L.A. Weekly
As so often happens in queer moviemaking, the attempts at raucous humor distract from the lovers.

Read all 18 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

jay n

A captivating small film dealing with the relationship of two gay men over many years and the surrounding upheaval of the gay movement. Many wonderful supporting performances contribute to the overall goodwill of the film. Sirena Irwin is a sketch as Beverly the trend jumping greek… More
A captivating small film dealing with the relationship of two gay men over many years and the surrounding upheaval of the gay movement. Many wonderful supporting performances contribute to the overall goodwill of the film. Sirena Irwin is a sketch as Beverly the trend jumping greek chorus and Jill St. John an absolute scene stealer as Alan's boozy wise mom. The musical score is also loaded with excellent choices which really set the right tone for each scene. It all boils down however to the chemistry and performances of the two lead actors which are strong and makes you really like and root for the characters through their journey.
Daniel P

"Can you get me your supervisor please, or maybe a human being if you've got one back there?" Well, that was unexpected. Not only is The Trip good, it's damn good. Ok, so it's yet ANOTHER story… More
"Can you get me your supervisor please, or maybe a human being if you've got one back there?" Well, that was unexpected. Not only is The Trip good, it's damn good. Ok, so it's yet ANOTHER story where AIDS rears its ugly head to claim the life of an undeserving gay guy, but at least the story here is told with a fair amount of conviction and good intentions. Spanning over a decade, The Trip cleverly uses archive footage from newsreels as well as music and fashions of the period. It's not exactly massively ambitious but looks like it was made for a good deal more money than was actually thrown at it, and the two lead performances are winning. Larry Sullivan is all goofy Jake Gyllenhall-esque with the odd temper tantrum, and is a pretty hot mess, despite some awful haircuts. Steve Braun has less range but makes the most of a slightly underwritten role, and has this Brad Pitt/Nick Stahl mix in him that works well. Both actors also age quite convincingly, which is always a hard trick to pull off. Also impressive is the photography - The Trip is beautifully lit. A couple of the scenes drag and are overplayed (one in which Alan's mum and kooky friend come to pay him a visit is especially cringy), but mostly the balance between drama and comedy is successful, and the final minutes are genuinely touching.