Say Uncle (film)

Say Uncle is a 2005 independent black comedy film. Written and directed by Peter Paige, it stars Paige, Kathy Najimy, Anthony Clark, Gabrielle Union, Lisa Edelstein, and Melanie Lynskey. It was released theatrically in the United States on June 23, 2006.

Premise
Paul (Peter Paige), a childlike artist, becomes upset when his godson's family moves from Oregon to Japan. He tries to compensate for his feeling of loss with visits to the neighborhood playground. Paul's best friend, Russell (Anthony Clark), tries to warn him what people might think if they see him hanging around their kids, but Paul doesn't quite see it that way. Sure enough, it isn't long before a bigoted local mom, Maggie (Kathy Najimy), launches a crusade against the naïve Paul, with an army of furious parents in tow.

Cast

 * Peter Paige as Paul Johnson
 * Kathy Najimy as Maggie Butler
 * Anthony Clark as Russell Trotter
 * Melanie Lynskey as Susan
 * Gabrielle Union as Elise Carter
 * Lisa Edelstein as Sarah Faber
 * Jim Ortlieb as David Berman
 * Robert Blanche as Phil

Casting
Kathy Najimy was the first actor that Paige reached out to. He said of her casting, "I loved her from Sister Act [etc.] but it was her New York theatre work [that] made me know that she would understand the darker undertones of the piece and the resonance that it was meant to have". Referring to the rest of the actors, he said, "When we had the full cast assembled, my best friend looked at me and said, 'You do realize that at one point or another, you have said to me about every single person in this movie, 'I think so-and-so is a genius' ... and when we sat down to [do a read-through], I was overwhelmed. I couldn't believe everyone had shown up to help me make this movie".

Filming
Say Uncle was filmed in Portland, Oregon in the summer of 2004, during a break between the fourth and fifth seasons of Queer as Folk (on which Paige starred). It had a production schedule of 18 days. Paige chose to shoot on Super l6 mm: "I wanted the grain because of the kind of movie it is. It's heightened reality".

Release and reception
After premiering at Outfest on July 10, 2005 and screening at various other festivals that year, the film was distributed by TLA Releasing on a theater-by-theater basis. It opened in Los Angeles on June 23, 2006, followed by New York on June 30, 2006. It was released on DVD in September that same year.

Uncle received a mixed reception, with many critics finding fault with its tone. Writing for The New York Times, Jeannette Catsoulis said, "[the film] may be trying to address gay persecution and social paranoia, but it mostly comes off as a study of arrested development. The movie's most laudable gamble is its refusal to make [the characters] sympathetic, but the moral subtleties are obscured by a one-dimensional script and a protagonist as self-centered and lacking in expression as a fetus. Viewed through Paul's eyes, the complex threads of homophobia are impossible to untangle". In a more positive appraisal, the Los Angeles Times called it "a comedy of the darkly absurd", describing Najimy as "at once hilarious and scary", while saying of Paige, "[he] reveals that he is not only a fearless actor but a skilled and thoughtful [filmmaker]. Say Uncle is a notably risk-taking first feature".