The Trouble With Lou
D: Gregor; with Lou Romano, Katheryn Cain, Tom Winkler, Michelle Maaske, Donne McRae, Michael Ambrosini. (Video, 85 min.)
The “trouble” with Lou is that he jerks off. A lot. For most 17-year-olds, masturbation isn’t so much trouble as it is habit, but Lou lives in the antiseptic Fifties, where choking the chicken is the fastest way to invite social stigma. The Trouble With Lou is shot entirely in the style of one of those black & white, one-reel sex-ed flicks. There’s even a velvety-throated narrator who charts Lou’s transformation from sexual deviant to stellar citizen. It’s a cute concept, but one that wears thin surprisingly quickly. The film delivers every line, every gesture so tongue-in-cheekily that the characters never engage us. Lou‘s good for a few chuckles but, much like wanking off, it leaves you feeling kinda vacant afterward.
This article appears in March 16 • 2001.
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A graduate of the Michener Center for Writers at the University of Texas, Kimberley has written about film, books, and pop culture for The Austin Chronicle since 2000. She was named Editor of the Chronicle in 2016; she previously served as the paper’s Managing Editor, Screens Editor, Books Editor, and proofreader. Her work has been awarded by the Association of Alternative Newsmedia for excellence in arts criticism, team reporting, and special section (Best of Austin). The Austin Alliance for Women...
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