A Slice of the Big Apple's Sweeter Side By Steven Rea, The Philadelphia Inquirer BROADWAY DAMAGE is a sweet-natured slice of life that, although set in present-day New York, has a jaunty innocence more in keeping with Breakfast at Tiffany's depiction of the denizens of the big city. Yes, there are references to AIDS and male prostitution in Victor Mignatti's handsome first feature. But in the world of best friends, Marc (Michael Shawn Lucas) and Robert (Aaron Williams), even the most dire circumstances has an up-side, and more than a few of the film's scenes end with a breezy musical motif -- a tooting horn, a cavalier clarinet -- that suggests a sit-com universe, not a real one. In BROADWAY DAMAGE, Marc is a struggling musical theater actor, Robert, a struggling songwriter. Between their auditions and day jobs, the pair amble around Greenwich Village, ogling hunky guys (they rate them on a scale of 1 to 10) and ruminating about their love lives. Robert, shy and owlish beneath his floppy Woody Allen hat, secretly pines for Marc, while Marc is preoccupied with studlier fellows - notably David (Hugh Panaro), a singer who lives across the way. There is also Cynthia (Mara Hobel), Marc's roommate, a compulsive shopper and compulsive gossip, obsessed with becoming New Yorker editor Tina Brown's personal assistant. Only Tina isn't returning any of her calls. (And who can blame her? Cynthia's manic-depressive behavior is hardly appealing.) BROADWAY DAMAGE can meander, like Sunday strollers with no destination in mind. But Lucas and Williams evince an easygoing rapport, and writer-director Mignatti's deliberate lack of cynicism is a tonic when so many other movies about the gay urban experience are steeped in hip nihilism and ennui.

On BROADWAY DAMAGE Instinct, May/June 98 A colorful, breezy feature in which a trio of friends (played by hunk-a-burnin-love Michael Shawn Lucas, Aaron Williams and Mara Hobel), fresh out of college, descend on Greenwich Village and struggle to land apartments, jobs and boyfriends (and not necessarily in that order). Without giving too much away, it's worth reporting that folks always seem to leave this one smiling. Jean-Pierre went for this movie in such a big way, Oila was taken aback, (so impetuous, that one!) Perhaps it's an age thing: Jean-Pierre, though a very mature 25, is admittedly a trifle younger than Oila. But Oila appreciated the film's optimism and its illustration of the contortions of young boy-boy love, mediated by goofy gal pal Mara (so different from the Little Christina she played in Mommie Dearest). Ultimately, strange to tell, the story's element of suffering brought pangs of pleasure to Oila, as the cute youngsters weathered rejection, heartache, and household pets.

BROADWAY DAMAGE By Andrew Huang, The Village Voice Uneven but amiable, Victor Mignatti's debut BROADWAY DAMAGE is at once a meditation on the dream/reality chasm, a satire festooned with piquant repartee, a feel-good dramedy that blindly pursues its romanticism, and a facile morality play where the good guy wins the prince. The roommate set-up: a rakish, blond Greek god (Michael Shawn Lucas) who wants a "perfect 10" lover; a bespectacled gay nerd (Aaron Williams) who, head over heels for the former, defines the phrase unrequited lover; an overweight, over-accessorized struggling writer (Mara Hobel) whose phone calls Tina Brown won't return - promises a certain amount of nefarious humor as the three engage in a series of madcap quests for the perfect career and love affair. The film vacillates between two incongruous modes: at its sardonic best, the riffs on "the hierarchy of beauty" and "the bad-boy myth" are Solondz-worthy; at its sentimental worst, the shameless banalty can be hokier than Meg Ryan's smirk. The zany pursuit of ideals escalates to the finale, where an improbable happy ending is tagged on. Always bittersweet, sometimes trenchant, and often hackneyed, it's a gem tarnished by its forced finish.

Next Stop, Greenwich Village By Ken Fox, TVgen Movie Guide * * * * * Frothy romantic fun on a shoestring. Writer-director Victor Mignatti offers further evidence that you don't need a lavish budget or a big-name cast to turn out winning entertainment. Robert (Aaron Williams), Marc (Michael Shawn Lucas) and Cynthia (Mara Hobel) are recent college grads looking for careers, boyfriends and an affordable Greenwich Village apartment - in short, the impossible dream, Manhattan-style. Robert is a shy, Steven Sondheim-worshipping songwriter who's secretly in love with best friend Marc, an aspiring actor; Marc, however, is too busy looking for the perfect 10 to notice. While Robert and Marc pursue love and Broadway stardom, Marc's roommate Cynthia, a compulsive shopper with spiraling credit-card bills, angles for a job with magazine editor Tina Brown. Unfortunately, her "creative" tactics soon attract the attention of the FBI. That this well-worn premise actually works is due to Mignatti's sharp script - the film is full of incisive observations about the often harsh realities of dating that anyone, gay or straight, can relate to - and a trio of appealing performances. Hobel, in particular, is wonderful, and comes complete with built-in camp clout: As a child she starred as the young Christina Crawford, the little girl on the receiving end of Joan Crawford's wire hanger tirade in Mommie Dearest.