Eating Out 2: Sloppy Seconds

Eating Out 2: Sloppy Seconds is a 2006 American sex comedy film directed by Phillip J. Bartell. It is the sequel to Eating Out (2004) and the second installment in the Eating Out franchise. Q. Allan Brocka, who wrote and directed the first film, returned to co-write the screenplay alongside Bartell. The film stars Jim Verraros, Emily Brooke Hands, Rebekah Kochan, Brett Chukerman, Marco Dapper, and Mink Stole. Verraros, Hands, and Kochan reprise their roles from the first film as Kyle, Gwen, and Tiffani, respectively, while Chukerman replaces Ryan Carnes as Marc. Dapper portrays nude art model Troy, while Stole plays Kyle's mother Helen. Following the first film, Kyle and Marc break-up, with both setting their sights on Kyle, who is unsure of his sexual preferences. In his attempt to approach him, Kyle pretends to be an ex-gay man, with Tiffani posing as his girlfriend, and with Troy attends meetings at an ex-gay support group; conversely, Marc decides to seduce Kyle by being his out gay self.

Production on the movie began quickly after the first Eating Out proved to be a financial success. Due to scheduling conflicts, Brocka was unable to return as director, handing the duties to Bartell, who started to write the screenplay in January 2006; the two would finalize the screenplay by April-May. This inclusion of topics such as the ex-gay movement stemmed from Bartell's wish to include political themes, believing that comedy can shift one's viewpoint, and Brocka's past experience with such organizations. As Carnes was unavailable, Chukerman, who had previously worked with Bartell, was cast as Marc. The casting of roles such as Troy and Octavio—played by Adrián Quiñonez—proved challenging, particularly due to the sex scenes and nudity involved. Filming lasted for 10 days from May 21 to 31.

Following its premiere at Outfest on July 13, the film received a limited release in cinemas in the United States on November 24. It was released on DVD in May 2007. Eating Out 2 gained mixed reviews from critics. The film's quality, plot, and humour received a mixed response. The political themes and subplot involving the ex-gay group was praised, primarily for its humour. The performances garnered a mostly negative response, although Stole was overwhelmingly praised. The film also received attention for the sexualization of its male cast members, with much attention afforded to Dapper's sex appeal.

Plot
Kyle breaks up with Marc, accusing him of flirting with hotter men. Kyle, Tiffani, and Gwen all become attracted to Troy, a muscular farm boy from Troy, Illinois, who poses nude for their art class. Troy befriends the group and confides in them that he has slept with both women and men, but is reluctant to embrace any gay feelings. Kyle and the girls devise a scheme in which Kyle pretends to be an ex-gay who is dating Tiffani, to overcome Troy's inhibitions and get him to sleep with the both of them.

While Kyle and Troy start attending meetings with the campus ex-gay ministry, led by Jacob, who proclaims that he is an ex-gay man himself; Marc notices Kyle becoming close with Troy and decides to try to seduce Troy himself. Troy eventually succumbs to Marc's advances during Gwen's homoerotic photo shoot, and the two have oral sex, but Marc cannot go through with it because he still has feelings for Kyle. Troy then overhears Gwen and Marc talking about the entire scheme.

Wanting to get back at the schemers, Troy visits Tiffani and Kyle because supposedly they have an "arrangement" that lets Kyle sleep with men. They attempt a threesome, with Troy getting even by goading Kyle into performing cunnilingus first. Gwen and Marc storm into Kyle's house after witnessing the debacle, and Troy scolds the group for being so sex-crazed. Troy ultimately concludes that he is bisexual, Kyle admits he was wrong to leave Marc, and the group makes up.

Believing that people like Jacob — whom Kyle had discovered to be closeted and sleeping with Octavio, another member of the ministry — are responsible for causing LGBT individuals suffering, forcing them back in the closet, the five scheme to out him. During one of the group's meetings, they get Jacob to out himself in front of his mother by tricking him into having sex with Octavio in a portable toilet on wheels. Jacob finally comes out to his mother and flees with Octavio. Troy takes a liking to Tiffani and they start a relationship.

In the end, Marc and Kyle get back together after confessing their feelings to each other. Gwen starts to date a girl experimentally.

Development and writing
According to producer Michael Shoel, work on a sequel to Eating Out began following its success at the box office. Q. Allan Brocka, who wrote and directed the previous film, was unable to return as director because his schedule was "too full", due to working on the Logo TV series Rick & Steve: The Happiest Gay Couple in All the World. Brocka personally reached out to Phillip J. Bartell, who had previously worked on the original movie as an editor. Bartell wrote the first draft of the script by himself in January 2006. Following the completion of the first draft, succeeding ones were co-written by Brocka and Bartell, with the process taking them around 3-4 months to finish. Eating Out 2 plot focusing on a gay man pretending to be straight came from Bartell, who wished to invert the previous movie's premise of having a straight man pretending to be gay. The film's ending featuring Jacob being outed in front of his mother was due to Bartell's belief that the character had to "get some sort of comeuppance".

Eating Out 2 features the Christian right, anti-gay movement, and particularly the ex-gay movement as prominent themes. Concerning the inclusion of the ex-gay movement in the film, Brocka admitted that he had experienced members of such organizations attempting to recruit and convert him. Its inclusion also stemmed from Bartell's desire to "sneak a little political thoughts and ideas into what is basically known as gaysploitation", believing that humour and comedy has the capacity to change people views on a given topic. During the film's production, Bartell attempted to attend an ex-gay meeting for research, but was unable to find one within an appropriate timeframe.

Casting and filming
From the beginning of the film's production, the crew was sure that Jim Verraros, Emily Brooke Hands, and Rebekah Kochan would reprise their roles as Kyle, Gwen, and Tiffani, respectively. In contrast to the first film, Verraros has a more prominent role in the sequel. Concerning her character, Kochan stated that Tiffani has "not changed at all" and that she's "become skankier". According to Bartell, Ryan Carnes didn't reprise his role as Marc due to budgetary issues; he was replaced with Brett Chukerman, who had previously worked with Bartell in the director's short film Crush (2000). Other additions to the film's cast included Marco Dapper in his first film role as nude model Troy, Mink Stole as Kyle's mother Helen, Scott Vickaryous as Jacob, leader of the ex-gay group, and Adrián Quiñonez as Octavio, one of the group's members.

Bartell described the process of finding an actor for the role of Troy as the "big[gest] search" during casting, with Dapper being amongst the "third wave" of actors that came to audition for the role of Troy. Concerning Troy's casting, Bartell stated that finding an actor that was comfortable with playing a queer man, espcially one that kisses another man, and with the role featuring full-frontal nudity, proved challenging. Dapper, who is straight, admitted to being initially being nervous of filming the nude scenes. However, he found them justifiable given their context and his character's status as a nude model. Concerning his involvement in the film, Dapper was warned that playing a gay character could lead could lead to him getting typecast and "ruin [his] career". Despite this, Dapper took the role, and highlighted Bartell's and Brocka's belief in him as one of the reasons. Dapper described the cast of Eating Out 2 as "welcoming and easy-going", with the shooting experience being "fun".

Besides Troy, many actors dropped out from the role of Octavio because of a scene featuring the character having sex with Jacob in a portable toilet. Quiñonez stated he enjoyed the role of Octavio as it gave him the opportunity to portray a "light hearted and fun" character; he also appreciated the film's message that "hypocrisy is present in all forms". Sloppy Seconds was filmed over a 10-day period, which Bartell described as a "very stressful time-frame to work in", and finished on May 31.

Release
Eating Out 2: Sloppy Seconds premiered at Outfest in Los Angeles on July 13, 2006. It opened on November 24, 2006, in one theater in the United States, where it earned $4,394; the film placed 82nd overall, and ninth out the films opening in that weekend. Despite making only $842 on its second weekend, Eating Out 2 managed to place 68th on its third weekend, earning $9,198 across 5 theaters with an average of $1,839 per theater. Its last screening, in three theaters, occurred during its seventh weekend, where the film finished in 68th place with $8,295. Eating Out 2's total earning were $37,072, all from the domestic box office. The film was released on DVD on May 29, 2007. Eating Out 2 became available on Amazon Prime Video in April 2018, as part of a licensing agreement with Outfest.

Reception
Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported an approval rating of 44%, with an average score of 5.1/10 based on 16 reviews. Metacritic (which uses a weighted average) gave the film a score of 39 out of 100 based on 9 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".

The film's overall quality, plot, and humor were generally criticized. Although Robert Koehler of Variety considered Sloppy Seconds funnier than its predecessor, he still thought of it a "cheapo campy goof". Chicago Sun-Times' Bill Stamets, who gave Eating Out 2 only 1.5/5 stars, also described the film as "cheapo", finding it only somewhat funny and arguing that it falters during more dramatic moments. Rob Nelson of Village Voice similarly criticized the film's humour and "daytime-soap-quality". According to San Francisco Chronicle's G. Allen Johnson, the film "rarely rises above the level of a high school skit". Writing for Star Tribune, Colin Covert labelled the film "feeble" and that if not "for the gay slant" it would "surely vanish in the space of a bored yawn". Metro Weekly's Sean Bugg gave the film 2/5 stars, recognizing that it "add[ed] more gay perspectives to the classic American teen sex comedy", but that it "veers wildly between second-rate American Pie rip-offs and strangely preachy After School Special moments". Kevin Thomas of Los Angeles Times described Eating Out 2 as "sweet-natured, but [...] lame and way too talky", critiquing its plot for being "silly and tedious" and a retreat of its predecessor; Jeannette Catsoulis of The New York Times, who described the film as a "slop", also criticized the plot for its "stunning imbecility". Michael Wilmington of Chicago Tribune also described the film as a "cheerful but one-note low-budget farce"; he did however praise Bartell's directing for making "[Sloppy Seconds] look fairly good" despite its low budget. In a retrospective review, Valerie Complex and Andrew J. Stillman of Pride.com also responded negatively to the film.

Some reviewers responded more positively to the film's quality and humour, especially its lighthearted tone. Tom Keogh of The Seattle Times praised the film's tone, arguing that while it can get "pretty raw, [..] it remains playful and smart enough to keep one interested", further praising its "crisp, comic energy" and Bartell's directing. Ben Zipper, an editor for Melbourne Queer Film Festival described it as a "rapid-fire comedy" and praised the film's humour, particularly its "one-liners". Chicago Reader's Andrea Gronvall actually viewed Eating Out 2 as an improvement over the first film, describing it as "funnier, lighter, and faster paced". In more mixed reviews, The Boston Globe's Wesley Morris gave it 2/4 stars, describing it as "almost-smart", and the dialogue as "sharp and vicious". Slant Magazine's Ed Gonzaled gave it 2.5/4 stars, describing its "funny-because-it's-true" humor as "stinging". Neil Cohen, reviewing the film for Echo Magazine, argued that Eating Out 2 had the "raunchy spirit of Another Gay Movie [but] without the latter's utter crassness".

Eating Out 2's treatment of the ex-gay movement was praised, being deemed as one of the film's most comical elements. Despite his overall criticisms of the film, Koehler did praise its message that "efforts to make gay youth 'go straight' is destined to fail", finding that scenes involving the ex-gay group provide the film with "broad satirical targets". Catsoulis similarly acknowledged the film's prominent theme of "show[ing] the fruitlessness of right-wing efforts to reorient gay men" and found scenes involving the group to be "amusingly dimwitted". Morris specifically praised the humor concerning the ex-gay group, finding that it offered "nice gags", with Keogh finding the first scene involving the group to be the film's "funniest scene", particularly for how the group's "restless members struggle to convince one another (and themselves) that all they're really interested in now is straight seduction".

The film's cast and acting received a mostly negative response, although Stole was generally praised. Koehler deemed that the cast "confuse[d] reciting lines with acting", while Catsoulis described the acting is "low-rent" and consisting of "wine-waiter line readings"; Nelson similarly found the acting "absurdly stilted". Conversely Keogh praised the film's acting, particularly Stole and Verraros, with Bugg also praising Verraros' acting and humor. Despite their criticisms of the acting, both Koehler and Catsoulis praised Stole's performance, describing her as one of the film's highlights and "giv[ing] her all as Kyle's ebullient, gay-friendly mother". Stole's acting was also praised by Johnson and Morris, who viewed her as the film's highlight. Thomas also praised Stole for "provid[ing] some snap", finding Dapper to be charismatic in his performance. Similarly, Gronvall also highlighted Stole's performance, as well as Scott Vickaryous' for being "spot-on as a conservative zealot determined to 'stop the spread of faggotry'". Despite his criticisms of the film's overall acting performances, Nelson did praise Rebekah Kochan's performance as Tiffani.

The use of fan service in the film, particularly the sex appeal of Dapper and his physical attractiveness, was emphasized and often praised. Johnson acknowledged that Sloppy Seconds is filled with "eye candy", with Complex and Stillman describing the film's attractive male cast as its only positive trait. Cohan drew attention to the presence of male nudity, declaring that "the guys are hotter" than the first movie. Bugg even lamented that "there's not that much shocking or titillating on display" in the film and that it "would have done better with some more nudity". Morris noted that Dapper is the most sexualized cast member in Eating Out 2, with Gronvall even describing him as the film's "big attraction", and also "hunky". Dapper's attactiveness was many critics; Gonzaled described him as a "hot piece of man meat", Catsoulis as a "molded lump of muscle and tan lines", Keogh as "hunky", and Zipper as "gorgeous and buff". Nelson also highlighted Dapper's full-frontal scene, describing it as being of "impressive length"; Bugg similarly commented on Dapper's nude scene, describing him as "impressively endowed", praising both his and Chukerman's full-frontal scenes. HX Magazine's Mark Peikert referred to Dapper as "the kind of dreamy, sexually confused guy who's catnip for every horny undergrad", while also highlighting the sex appeal of Verraros, Chukerman, and Quinonez. Writing for Seattle Gay News, Milton W. Hamlin similarly highlighted the sex appeal of Dapper and Chukerman, stating that their nude scenes "make the film a 'must see'"; Hamlin also referred to the film's post-credits sex scene involving Joseph Morales and James Michael Bobby as "worth watching". Writing for Adelante Magazine, Al B described Quiñonez as "gorgeous, hot and sexy". Years after the release of Eating Out 2, Dapper amassed a gay following owing to his role as Troy.