“Coffee Date” is actually a queer short film that I discovered AFTER I watched the feature-length film. It turns out that as often happens, the short film came first. Honestly – I’m glad that I watched them in this reverse, backwards order! While the heart of the storyline is present in the short film, poor cinematographic choices actually make the film seem older than it is; and I’m not sure that I’d want to see more after just watching the short. However, this queer short film review is for the short film. So rather than get into a comparison, let’s break down “Coffee Date” (Short Film)!
Synopsis of “Coffee Date (Short)”
Todd is getting ready for a blind date. As he’s on the way out, he passes his brother who has just woken up after crashing on the sofa. Todd confesses he’s off to a coffee date, with the girl that he met on the internet from the ad his brother posted. However, he confesses that he hopes she looks as good as the ad – as they haven’t swapped pictures yet. His brother grins – something is up!
When Todd arrives at the cafe, it’s clear that he’s in the wrong place: it’s a LGBT cafe! As he turns to leave, one of the guys approaches him to say “Hi”. But Todd brushes him off, almost in disgust and sits down at the only open table – the one this other guy was sitting at while waiting for his date. A rather homophobic quip nearly sours everything, however Todd apologises and they agree to both share the table – at least until one of their dates arrive. But it’s clear that Todd is still quite uncomfortable, even insisting to the waiter that he’s straight and NOT this guy’s date. Finally a chick enters the cafe and Todd latches on that this is his date! Except she’s not – and she’s a lesbian as well. Bummer.
To help pass the time while waiting, they start to chat about random things and discover they both absolutely love cinema! Yet this gay guy just won’t let the straight vs gay talk be glossed over, eventually asking Todd what kind of guy he’d be attracted to. Not that that makes you gay! But of course he quickly leads into the oft-asked question: didn’t you ever mess around with your friends? Surprisingly, Todd confesses he has – ooo! However Todd breaks this awkward confession by needing to head to the bathroom. The guy they had been talking about ends up following him in, does the usual cruising of Todd while Todd just stands there frozen in place. However, after the guy leaves he laughs at himself, realising that nothing actually happened and he’s fine.
But when Todd returns to the table, it’s empty. His new cafe friend moved to another table that opened up while they continued to wait for their dates – but Todd ends up joining him at the new table, as they’re both enjoying the chat while waiting. Todd asks the guy how long you’re supposed to wait for a date to show, presuming he’s done this before, naturally leading into a conversation about dates versus hookups. Todd mentions that he was married – and confesses to sleeping around a bit after things ended. But they both agree that while sex can be great, nothing beats a good conversation with someone you can connect with! However our new friend has his own confession: he doesn’t know what his date looks like! Puzzled, Todd asks for more info about his friend’s date, before realising something fishy is going on… Finally Todd asks the name of this mystery email date: Todd, the guy replies – right about the same time that “Kelly” puts two-and-two together. They’re actually each other’s blind date!
Todd confesses that his brother posted the ad online, and is probably laughing his butt off at home knowing it was in the M4M section! But then Todd admits that other than being the wrong gender, Kelly isn’t too bad – nor wrong about being “VGL”. Blushing, Kelly confesses that Todd is actually his type as well. Todd starts to look appalled, to which Kelly quickly offers to get them coffees – “since you’re technically my date anyways!” Todd agrees, although they differ on their coffee preferences: Todd likes it black; Kelly likes “girly” drinks. As Kelly heads up to the counter, Todd asks Kelly if he’d like to join him watching an old movie later. Not as a date, he quickly adds. Kelly agrees, heading off to get their coffees.
Later that night, Todd’s brother hears Todd returning and quickly turns off the porn – just waiting for the reaction. Except Todd enters holding Kelly’s hand, as they quickly slide past into the bedroom! His brother just stares in shock, while Todd and Kelly have a laugh at turning the joke back on his brother.
The Critique
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Music is very dated, tad wonky… quality of the copy is horribly grainy (but not sure if that’s an issue with the film itself being a low-budget indie film – or just my old copy).
Wrap up
Queer Relevance of “Coffee Date (Short)”
“Coffee Date”, both the short film and its later feature-length film, both are definitely queer relevant! In fact, they’re almost too queer, as in it’s very stereotypical and falls into common genre tropes. We have our very flamboyant gay guy, Kelly, opposite our slightly homophobic Todd. While the two characters work well opposite each other in a blind date scenario, it’s not the greatest trope to portray. Especially when the usual gay vs straight comparisons start happening. Stereotypes and misconceptions run abound, including the concept that every straight guy has messed around with another mate at least once. Ugh.
There’s another aspect of “Coffee Date” that needs addressing: the very dated parts of the film make this a film that simply doesn’t land the same way today. Online dating ads remain, but they’re often attached to profiles – not the short quick Craigslist ads two decades ago. And almost no one would agree to meet someone that they’ve been emailing back and forth but have not yet swapped photos! Sorry. Thankfully, the other stereotypes are even a bit dated now. But in the end, “Coffee Date” is still very much a queer short film.
