Writer/director Bryan Poyser's Dear Pillows evidently flew under a whole lot of radars but thankfully Heretic Films has given this odd little film a very respectable DVD release - here's hoping more people get the chance to check it out now that it's been made available.

The film follows a teenager named Wes (Rusty Kelley) who spends his time hanging out in the low rent apartment complex where he and his divorced father (Cory Criswell) share a pad. Like most young men his age, Wes is pretty much completely preoccupied with sex, primarily because he's never had it. He thinks about it constantly and his mind wanders even when he hopes it won't. In an odd twist of fate, Wes winds up forming a rather reluctant friendship with Dusty (Gary Chason), the strange middle-aged gay man who lives in the same complex. Why would Wes want to spend his time with a strange older man? Because Dusty writes for a pornographic magazine and as such, he provides a link of sorts, even if its an imagined one, into the world that Wes so desperately thinks he wants to be a part of.

As Dusty takes Wes under his wing and essentially tutors him in the ways of the pornographic fiction writer, Dusty soon decides that it might help Wes out to meet Lorna (Viviane Vives), the foxy, older and unusually willing manager of the apartment complex. Dusty notices that his new protégé has a real knack for this kind of work but that he's not quite there yet and so he sets into motion a plan to essentially make Wes a man, but is Wes really ready for this, even if he can't stop thinking about it all?

Anyone who grew up with even the slightest bit of sexual frustration ought to be able to relate to the central character in Dear Pillow. Wes is very human, and as such, very believable. Rusty Kelley plays the character as a fairly meek and rather introverted type that makes the last half of the film all the more barbed and, in a strange way, fascinating. The absurdity of the situation definitely lends itself to the film's strange sense of humor but there's very definitely a heart to the story that, if it isn't touching, at least shows a heart. The dialogue that makes up most of the film never feels forced, and the characters are fleshed out enough that it wouldn't be the least bit shocking to find out that this film was based on some real life incidents.

While Kelley's performance is at the front of the film, Chason is very much his equal in the acting department. He plays his rather bitter part with an earthy realism while Vives comes across very much as the slightly older woman next door, the one that the teenage boys are definitely going to notice but maybe be a little too awkward to talk to. For a film so character based and so dialogue heavy, it's nice to see the acting reach the same level of quality as script.

The cinematography is confidant and polished if a little simple, but any flashy camerawork probably would have undermined the story and character development that is the real center of the film. At eighty-five minutes the film never overstays its welcome and it proves to be quite well paced and far more interesting than most indy 'dramedies' - it also proves to be very well made on pretty much every level. The subject matter may turn some viewers off as the picture doesn't shy away from the pornographic subplots that pepper the plot but those willing to take a chance on the film will find a movie more obsessed with coming of age and human development than anything so simplistic as skin magazines.

Video:

Dear Pillow was shot on digital video and is presented here in a decent 1.78.1 anamorphic widescreen presentation that has, unfortunately, not been properly flagged for progressive scan playback. That omission aside, the picture looks pretty solid for the most part. There are some mild compression artifacts present in a couple of scenes as well as some mild line shimmering here and there but the color reproduction is strong and the flesh tones look lifelike and natural. The picture is clean from start to finish and there is a pretty strong level of detail present throughout playback as well.