Heading home for Christmas break, college senior Olaf Gunnunderson (Keith Jordan), also known as Gunn, kisses his boyfriend Nathan (Adamo Ruggiero) goodbye and heads off. But Nathan, abandoned by his rich jet-setting parents at the last minute, decides to follow Gunn home and share Christmas with his family.
But that's not a good idea. Nathan doesn't know that Gunn is not out to his parents. In fact, Gunn has to stop at a gas station before he arrives home to remove all his fabulous clothing and switch into something more subdued and preppy. It's the exact opposite of 'don we now our gay apparel.'
Once home, Gunn is greeted by the bosomy embrace of his ebullient mother Anya (Kelly Keaton), a giggly Edie McClurg-lookalike with a broad Minnesota accent and a penchant for bedazzled holiday sweaters. Gunn's father Sven (Derek Long) is a college professor and stoner of 40 years who has so baked his brain that he can hardly remember his name or speak a complete sentence. All is well until Nathan shows up only to discover that he'll have to plunge into the closet himself in order to protect Gunn's secret. At first he's more than willing to oblige and just be a 'good friend,' but as the days go by and the loneliness of sleeping in bunk beds starts to get to him, he begins to resent having to live a lie. 'You're 22 years old,' he rightly points out to the nervous Gunn, and it certainly doesn't seem like Gunn's parents are inclined to toss him out of the house.
Other than a short cameo by Alison Arngrim (the great Nellie Oleson!) as a bitchy neighbor, little of interest happens until the inevitable revelation. While Ruggiero, a long-time veteran of the Degrassi High TV series, is relaxed and excellent in his role, everyone else comes across as an inauthentic caricature, and that prevents any authentic emotion from coming through.
In this, his fourth feature, writer/director Rob Williams once again keeps things relatively low-key, at least in comparison to other movies in the same genres (both coming out movies and holiday family reunion movies). That's sort of admirable but also sort of risky. A story needs some drama, even when it's as light and easy going as this one.
