DORIAN BLUES

There's a lot to like about writer/director Tennyson Bardwell's first feature film. In many goods ways it's a small movie, touching in its sincere treatment of two brothers, one gay and one straight, and how they navigate their rocky relationship with a domineering, emotionally abusive father. The performances are as heartfelt as the script, especially Michael McMillan as the despondent gay brother, Dorian, and Stephen C. Fletcher playing the smug righteousness of the dad. (Of local interest is the casting of several actors with a history in the Pittsburgh theater scene, including McMillan, Lea Coco, Portia Kamons and -- a big blast from the past -- Jeff Paul.) As with some first-time outings, Bardwell relies a bit too heavily on narration to move along his story, and the film's ending is abrupt; this is a movie that stops, rather than ends. But it's to Bardwell's credit that he leaves us wanting more. Harris (TH)