Obsessed About Contact
When Shane (Nic Robuck) shows up to Deerfield College on a wrestling scholarship he does so with one bag of clothes and a jacket he stole out of a back of a car. But Shane soon becomes best friends with Brandon (Brian Borello) who even takes him home to meet his parents Caren (Kelly Lynch - Homeless to Harvard: The Liz Murray Story) and Phil (Michael Nouri - Changes). But not only does Shane learn that Brandon has form for making friends with the new guy and dropping them just as quickly but Shane has a dark, volatile side brought on from his father telling him he will never amount to anything. When Brandon decides to drop Shane it leads to a devastating fight but also Shane becoming close to Caren as he ends up moving in to their guesthouse to help out around the house much to Phil's annoyance.
Watching "Dark Desire" reminded me of the movies Rob Lowe use to be in during the early part of his career as we have a handsome character who wants some thing and will do what ever it takes to get what he needs and that includes .... oh I had better say spoiler alert now although trust me it isn't much of one .... sleeping with his friend's mother who he overhears moaning to a friend about her poor love life.
But "Dark Desire" has an interesting angle because if this had been made back in the 80s it would be all about the money and power, the main character trying to climb the social ladder to wealth by means fair or foul. But the modern version wants to be more soulful and instead what the character of Shane desires is the connection to Caren which he hasn't had with anyone especially his father who treated him badly and made him feel small. Of course this side of his behaviour, the need for connection leads to obsessive behaviour and that in turn leads to danger which to be truthful is very much the obvious side of the movie as we watch Shane's behaviour spiral out of control to protect the world he has created through his lies.
Now here's the sticky side of things as for this sort of movie Nic Robuck plays the part of being a split personality psycho quite nicely whilst Kelly Lynch is attractive as Caren which makes it believable that Shane would make a play for her. But what I get a sense of is that Nic along with some of the other young actors were cast partly because they have the physique for spending time with their shirts off as they do quite a few times. And when it comes to Kelly Lynch she looks good in a bikini. I know to say this is wrong but there is that visual appeal side to the movie which at times seems to be more important than the story.
What this all boils down to is that "Dark Desire" is just a variation on the movies which were being made back in the late 80s but done with a contemporary ethic where motive is not money or power but human connection. It isn't a bad movie and I am sure there will be some who enjoy seeing young male actors with their shirts off but it isn't anything special.
