'Tongues Untied'

For some odd reason, I've always been interested in the sub-culture of the African American gay male.

I think there's a twofold reason: One, I've read about this sub-culture as being called on the "down low" and that random straight guys dabble in it far more than, say, a white straight male dabbles in homesexuality.

On the flip side, as it appears, there's a stringent attitude in the African American culture against homosexuality more so than in other demographics.

None of this may be true, but it's certainly not discussed in "Tongues Untied," which comes off as a community theatre's attempt at an art-house film while spending no money and borrowing somebody's mother's 8mm camera.

Nonetheless, some of the andecdotes and characters are entertaining. But never do they delve too deep into themselves or their culture. Which is all very easy to do: To show your cover, but to never reveal your true self.