It’s the end of the ’90s. Michael Glatze is one of the significant gay activists in the U.S. XY Managing Editor, one of the most important gay magazines in the country; Glatze spent his time meeting dazed and confused youngsters scared by their sexuality. Happily engaged, Glatze was very touched by his parents’ death. His mother, an ardent Christian, died of cancer, and his father fell cold stone dead from a genetic heart malfunction. He was convinced to suffer from the same disease, but it was not like that, and he was so happy about it that he decided it was God’s will. So he chose to glorify the Lord, leaving the wrong road and pursuing homosexuals.
This lengthy prologue was necessary because the story of Glatze is so absurd that it seems written by an excellent screenwriter, but it’s all true and is told by Justin Kelly, a Gus Van Sant pupil. A good biopic said with the right balance of irony, “I am Michael” is a human tragedy, the curve of a man incapable of finding himself. Based upon the biography written by his boyfriend, Kelly’s movie keeps a benevolent point of view on Glatze instead of the distaste he acquired towards diversities. Kelly outlines the inconsistency of this man as a deep state of confusion that turns Glatze victim of his acts.
James Franco is comfortable playing Glatze, as always, when he works on borderline characters. There’s an excellent Zachary Quinto as the boyfriend who betrayed God at his side. Kelly directs without stains and gives the right tempo to the movie that runs pleasantly and, in the end, leaves us with profound discomfort. Whether God or Allah, the real problem is always those who talk in his stead.