Modest Male Exposure 2: I Dream of Genes

SUPRISINGLY FUNNY AND ORIGINAL!

I saw this movie at a club in New York City in November 2024. It was right after the Presidential election and the mood of the whole country was very tense, and everybody was exhausted from the constant political news every day. I did not know what to expect, except that someone who knew some of the cast told me it was supposed to be hilarious. They weren't kidding! "Modest Male Exposure 2" was just what I needed to escape the "real" world. At first the movie seemed like it was going to be just a series of vignettes, like "Sex and the City" except from a male perspective... with a LOT of unexpected full-frontal male nudity. OMG everybody just seemed really horny in this movie! But then there was a serious plot about the main character who finds out he has a son that he did not know he had from a DNA test. The scenes between the father and the new son were really very sweet. The rest of the audience really seemed to love it too, although I suspect that most of the people there were friends with the cast and the director. Some scenes were outright hilarious, such as when the father and son first meet in a restaurant, and then when the son hides in the closet and watches his father have sex with another guy's girlfriend... Overall, highly recommended if you like crazy comedies with a lot of male nudity.

When I first learned there was going to be a sequel to the 2022 short film MODEST MALE EXPOSURE, I was wondering out loud just how long New York City drag queen Clover Welsh (who wrote, directed, and starred in the original movie) and New York City journalist/actor Jed Ryan (who produced and starred in the original) could stretch the first movie's theme of naked men and shifting attitudes towards male modesty. After all, just how much further can you go after you have four penises on the big screen, all competing for attention at the same time? Were they now planning on showing EIGHT penises on screen at the same time?! The short answer is no, although there's certainly no shortage of full-frontal male nudity in this film as well. Thankfully, this full-length (96 minutes) sequel does actually have a plot-- and a pretty interesting one at that. In this incarnation, Sam Derrick (Jed Ryan, who write the screenplay and directed) learns that he has a son named Rev from a college fling. Rev (charmingly played by Jonathan Wong Frye) seems taken aback by the seemingly hedonistic lifestyle of his father-- especially when Sam seduces and ultimately jumps into bed with the girlfriend of a rival rugby player while Rev unwittingly watches from a closet. The blossoming father-son bond is ultimately put to the test when the pair attend a costume party/presumed orgy called The Devil's Ball, thrown by the mysterious socialite Mistress Windy (Wendy Stuart) who seemingly has some psychic powers. Without giving too much away, let's just say that things get rather disquieting quite quickly...

Ryan's screenplay is quite funny, with some moments being true comic gold-- particularly a farcical restaurant scene, and a moment later on where a sexy temptress (Rew Starr) seduces both father and son at a party. While the director gets wobbly performers from some of the cast (It's a little too obvious that Ryan cast his friends in many of the roles.), other actors really get to show their gift of comedy, especially Ike Avelli, Tym Moss, and Mark-Eugene Garcia. Sabastian Roy is also quite touching as Ari, a rugby player with a secret; Sara Minisquero is equally affecting as his sympathetic girlfriend. Clover Welsh, returning as "Goldie", is a hoot in her blindingly loud dress sets and unabashed horniess. Welsh could easily become the 2025 equivalent of the 1970's sitcom staple Jo Anne Worley: the slightly daffy but still libidinous older woman who isn't afraid to seduce the younger guys. Still, I can't help but wonder if Clover Welsh and Jed Ryan are just playing thinly veiled versions of themselves. Let's see what this duo plan to do with the inevitable MODEST MALE EXPOSURE 3...

This movie is like "Sex and the City" (or maybe "And Just Like That", because everyone in the movie seems to be on the older side)-- but focusing on the male perspective rather than the female perspective. Still, there's a lot of nudity (mostly male) and sex in this movie. There are four main guys: Sam, Trevor, Fred, and Ari... but instead of shopping like in SATC, they are into playing rugby and drinking beer and of course having sex. I really liked the way the movie told each of their stories-- especially the character of Ari, who is a transgendered man who wants to have phalloplasty to "fit in with the other guys". But the main character is Sam. He learns that he has a grown half-Asian son named Rev from a college fling. The movie shows the father and son bonding with each other in New York City which is really fun to watch-- especially the two women they meet up with in Times Square. However, things get a little crazy when they go to a party called The Devil's Ball together. A homophobic bouncer thinks they are a gay couple... but then the two get involved in a weird group scene. The father and son do resolve their misunderstandings. But there's still one main twist in the end. I really liked the actress Wendy Stuart who plays a character named "Mistress Windy" who has a crystal ball that changes colors. There was also a funny drag queen named "Goldie" played by Clover Welsh. But mostly this movie is all about the guys.