Travis Fine’s “Any Day Now’ is set in the late 1970s, but, with its story about a gay couple battling to adopt an unwanted child, it could just as easily be set in the current day.
It’s one of the few films being released Dec. 14 (in limited release), up against the juggernaut of “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.” So if you’re looking for the little movie that will make you laugh and cry – and think – here’s the one to seek out.
Fine’s film is based on a true story and focuses on a struggling drag queen in Los Angeles, Rudy (Alan Cumming), who is barely keeping up with the rent in his dismal apartment building. But his life isn’t worse than that of his neighbor, a teen with Down syndrome named Marco (Isaac Leyva), whose mother is an addict-prostitute, who leaves him alone at night when she works.
Even as Rudy is launching a potential romance with a closeted lawyer named Paul (Garret Dillahunt), he discovers that Marco has essentially been abandoned by his mother. So he takes him in – then enlists Paul in the battle to give Rudy some sort of foster-parent or guardianship role in Marco’s life. At the same time, Rudy essentially puts Paul on the spot: Is he interested enough in Rudy to have him and Marco move in and create an impromptu family?
The answer is yes – but creating a family and hanging on to it are two different issues.
This review continues on my website.