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GAG'EM wrote on 03/25/2012:

The story is really quite stupid, but nobody with a heart can help but fall in love with the big, sweet, shy and adorable Indian. You'll love this film in spite of yourself.

Movie Buff wrote on 01/25/2012:

Nice little treat for romantics at heart! If you need a good Valentine's Day gift, why not give this gift and then the two of you can curl up on the sofa and watch it together? One of my favorite movies -- even when it isn't Valentine's Day!

Amos Lassen wrote on 02/10/2011:

“BIG EDEN”
Simply Wonderful
Amos Lassen
Big Eden is a small fictional town somewhere in northwestern Montana in the heart of cowboy and lumber country. Henry Hart, an artist in New York who is successful reruns to Big Eden where he grew up. Once he is back, he must come to terms with his former relationship with Dean Stewart, who was his best friend in high school and the object of his love (although never fulfilled). Henry has come home to care for his ill grandmother but he also wants to bring some closure to himself about Dean. He has been pining for him. Suddenly a new character enters the picture, Pike Dexter, a Native American and owner of the general store in Big Eden who falls in love with Henry. The citizens of the town attempt to bring Pike and Henry together but can Henry forget Dean and allow himself to love someone else?
“Big Eden” is a film in which gay men are represented as just men—al shapes, all sizes and even over thirty. They are just regular guys, not drag queens or suicidal manic depressives, no circuit boys and no stereotypes (and Cher is not on the soundtrack).
The movie is Based upon a “what if” assumption—no bigotry, no homophobia, no self hatred. Self discovery is the focus and herein is the change from so many other gay films. The film maintains that if hate and bigotry do not exist, then we can all live and love together.
When Henry realizes that his feelings for Dean were illuminated by the fact that they were not in contact and that distance made his love thatmuchstronger.H also realized that he wanted what he could not have. Instead of being hurt by his self realization of lost love, he is enlightened when he realizes there are alternatives. As “Big Eden” defies al of the clichés of the typical gay films and attempts to present a wholesome and real portrayal of gays, we see walls come tumbling down and hope that this movie opens doors for others to follow. We have a values system in this movie.
Here is a gay themed movie without the threat of AIDS, where there is no fag bashing, with no beautiful bodies. It is just quite simply a look at the rest of us. Here is a movie we can actually call our own e3specially for those of us over thirty.
The plot itself is simple. The only thing that seemed a bit out of the ordinary is that we are asked to believe that in Marlboro Country that we are loved an unconditionally accepted.
Before we look at the cast, let me comment on the technical aspects of the film. The photography is stunning and even though simple; the plot is realistic and engaging. It is a beautiful story about self acceptance as an adult and how to navigate family relationships. The movie is about friends and family and hope.
Arye Gross has been under used by movies until now and in “Big Eden” he shows us what he can do and does it well. He is a regular guy and he plays Henry just that way.Tim DeKay as Dean is sympathetic and he wears his part so well that there are times you just want to slap him around. And there is Louise Fletcher who so wonderfully shows us how to be a good person with a good heart and who wants to see that
someone be made very happy. But it is Eric Schweig who owns this movie. As Pike he steals the film and our hearts.
“Big Eden” is quite simply, simply wonderful.

JANORM wrote on 07/19/2009:

I had viewed this movie a couple of years ago. It has taken my purchasing the film and seeing a couple of times in order to appreciate the true meaning. This is a film of love lost and finally realized and found again. The story line is what makes this picture so great. The support that the principle character has, is truly remarkable, for a small town scenario. This is one film that you should take the one you love to see, for it is well worth the price. This should be considered for your collection. LOVE, TRUE-LOVE, CAN BE LOST, BUT IT CAN BE FOUND JUST AS READILY!!! NJMJr!

DNormann (dcscribe8860@gmail.com) wrote on 11/07/2003:

Were this the stereotypical, angst-riddled gay Hollywood drama, especially the kind of indie that we could've expected a couple of decades ago, it would definitely be about small-town bigotry and homophobia, probably including a doomed romance between two great-looking guys, and ending in some sort of horrific tragedy.

But that's what makes BIG EDEN so wonderful: it takes every conceivable stereotype and turns it upside-down. When a big-city artist returns to his small hometown "out West" to take care of his ailing grandpa, sparks fly between him and the handsome, conflicted boyhood crush he left behind.

Complicating matters is another friend from childhood, a big and big-hearted Native American guy named Pike, who runs the town's general store, who has carried a torch for the artist since forever. Painfully shy, Pike begins to express his love the only way he knows how: by learning to cook sumptuous meals for his unrequited love.

But here's where the kicker comes in: writer/director Thomas Bezucha takes a cast of small-town, redneck-appearing characters straight out of Central Casting, and gives the audience the shock of their lives--not only are these people accepting and understanding, but they are rooting for the truly intended lovers to get together, while doing everything in their power to see to it that it happens!!!

A modern-day gay romantic fairy tale, BIG EDEN combines the magic of LIKE WATER FOR CHOCOLATE, the quirkiness of NORTHERN EXPOSURE, and just a pinch of ALL OVER THE GUY, stirs well and presents us with a breathtaking, heartwarming vision of a place we all wish we could go to. And better still, it delivers the message that as long as you have people who love you, everyone CAN go back to their own version of BIG EDEN.