The Story:
17-year-old Vincent is a star swimmer on his high school swim team. He has lots of friends and a girlfriend, Noèmie, who loves him. But he also has a secret. He's gay. He sneaks off to be with his sometimes boyfriend every now and then. Unfortunately, their relationship is never well-established—who is this guy? Where did they meet? What do they mean to each other?

Problems start when the new kid comes to school. This cute, dark-haired, nameless fellow immediately begins cruising Vincent, and Vincent is drawn to him. But everyone in school knows about this guy—and before long, Vincent is being outed. And that's when he discovers who is and isn't on his side. He finds allies he doesn't expect, enemies for which he didn't ask. His brother Régis, a boxer already jealous of Vincent's success as a swimmer, does not make things easy on him. We get to see (for a change) the conflicts that parents of a gay child must face. And there are some realistic (and unrealistic) reactions from the school staff. And poor Noèmie, who just gave her virginity up to Vincent, has to cope with her own loss of her boyfriend while trying to decide if she should support him as a gay friend.

This movie covers some very realistic aspects of teen coming out. Vincent feels alone—and is treated that way. His coming out suddenly places a full threat on his dreams of a successful future, as if sexuality really makes a difference in our talents and abilities. And those around him accuse him of being selfish by not telling them, when it is actually the terrible fears created by society that cause this secrecy—and the real selfish ones are those who feel they've been wronged because the sexuality was kept secret. We see how no one really understands what Vincent is going through. But at the same time, there are some aspects of the film that are bothersome. The school seems very concerned with Vincent's well-being, and most teens will tell you they are pretty much ostracized by their teachers as much as by fellow students in reality. Then there's Vincent's one quick trip to a gay bar that makes it seem like gay men in gay bars are all aggressive predators. Oh yeah, and then there's the issue of sexuality itself. There are a couple of homoerotic shower scenes, but most of the sexual interaction in this movie is straight. Vincent gets more on-screen action from his girlfriend than from any men, so the caring and passion he can find from another man is never shown. And while the performances in this movie are excellent, and so much of the emotion is raw and real, I wasn't completely moved by the film. I think perhaps, in the end, it all seemed like something I've seen before. There was really nothing original or unique about the film. Overall, I'd say the best audience for this movie would be gay teens struggling the way Vincent is (and their parents, for that matter), because this comes across like one long after school special—and although the ending intends to be uplifting, the fact is, the whole movie was more of a downer.

The DVD

Video:
The film is presented in an aspect ratio of anamorphic 1:85:1, enhanced for widescreen TVs. On the bright side, the flesh tones are excellent. That's about as good as it gets. The film is grainy (worse in progressive scan), and also tends to look very pixilated. It's a rather dark, bland image. Other than the fact that there are just a few hints of dust and specks on the print, it looks like a very dated movie.

Sound:
You have an option of 2.0 stereo or 5.1 surround. I was impressed with the use of surround sound in this movie at any opportunity that allowed for it. There was clear separation and traveling sounds. Only complaint is that the bass was more like a muddy hum at most times.

Extras:
Not much in the way of extras, and you do not have the option to turn on or off the subtitles. Here's a quick breakdown of extras:

TRAILER—this is a preview for the film, not featuring any dialogue, just captions of promo copy for communication.

ATTRACTIONS—Here are trailers for 5 more gay-themed movies.

PHOTO GALLERY—13 still shots framed by graphics. Pretty useless stuff, and the photos were even more grainy than the movie itself.

Final Thoughts:
While You'll Get Over it touches upon some very serious issues young gay teens face in high school and offers some excellent performances, it ends up focusing more on sending out a message to gay teens that, "yeah, life sucks, but you'll be fine." And although this is a great extended Public Service Announcement for young gay teens, this movie is still a bit depressing, and I don't know that it ever succeeds in achieving its purpose. The DVD itself offers few extras, and while the surround sound is well-utilized, the video image lacks detail and looks like it was transferred from an old film.