Roland Emmerich’s “Stonewall” finally screened in Toronto last night, and the result was a mostly hilarious mix of tweets confirming it’s not the great movie no one really expected it to be. We’ll have our thoughts in a LGBT-themed recap of TIFF on Monday (believe it not, it’s still ongoing and we have a few screenings left), but in short: We agree with most of these tweets. It’s a well-intentioned movie that we wanted to like more than we thought we would. But it’s also ridiculously conventional, badly written (often to an unintentionally funny degree) and a largely missed opportunity.
Check out some other opinions (our fave is @alisonwillmore’s):
Ballsy of STONEWALL to demonize the mainstream-courting Mattachines even though THE MOVIE INVENTED A MASC BLOND LEAD TO BE MORE MAINSTREAM
— Kyle Buchanan (@kylebuchanan) September 18, 2015
There isn’t a single convincing moment in Stonewall, an embarrassing am dram punishment of a film #TIFF15
— Benjamin Lee (@benfraserlee) September 18, 2015
STONEWALL: Feels like a musical with all the songs stripped out so what’s left are broad archetypes who keep ending up in tableaux.
— Alison Willmore (@alisonwillmore) September 18, 2015
Stonewall (Emmerich) Chris Columbus’ RENT finally has a double-bill partner. Opens on joke about eating hot dogs.
— David Jenkins (@daveyjenkins) September 18, 2015
STONEWALL is fatally flawed but probably doesn’t deserve all the derision that’s coming its way.
— Joe Reid (@joereid) September 18, 2015
STONEWALL (roland emmerich, somehow): ahistorical grotesquerie. but at least it’s INCLUSIVE ahistorical grotesquerie! blech. #TIFF15
— pre-ghost john (@johnsemley3000) September 18, 2015
STONEWALL: I predict a riot. Well, another one. #tiff15
— Norm Wilner (@normwilner) September 18, 2015
STONEWALL: really embarrassing stuff post-SELMA but it could’ve been worse?? it’s not good but at least emmerich is passionate. #TIFF15
— josh lewis (@thejoshl) September 18, 2015
Stonewall wasn’t great but I liked it probably more than I should have because it’s clear that they had good intentions making it #TIFF15
— Edward Douglas (@EDouglasWW) September 18, 2015
Gay pride origins get long overdue conventional epic treatment in Roland Emmerich’s emotionally powerful STONEWALL #TIFF
— Nick James (@filmnickjames) September 18, 2015
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