Shortbus

Director John Cameron Mitchell ("Hedwig and The Angry Inch") flaunts cinematic tradition with a raucous sex comedy filled with truly shocking sex acts that underscore his vision of New York as a playground of debauchery. Various straight and gay couples publicly vent their private functions and dysfunctions at a copulation salon modeled after an actual gathering place in DUMBO (Down Under Manhattan Bridge Overpass). While the orgiastic sex doesn’t compensate for Mitchell’s characters’ lack of gravitas beyond the bed, the movie is a thoroughly irreverent and rebellious in-your-face experiment with a cool soundtrack and a stand-out performance from cross-dressing singer Justin Bond as a kinky Cabaret-inspired master of ceremonies. This bastard-child of porn and independent cinema is not for the prudish.

Not Rated. 102 mins. (C) (Two Stars)