Queerly Ever After #40: THE 10 YEAR PLAN (2014)

Queerly Ever After is a bi-monthly column where I take a look at LGBT+ films that gave their characters a romantic happily-ever-after. There will be spoilers. Also, don’t forget to buy your Queerly Ever After merch right here.

At 25-years old, best friends Myles (Jack Turner) and Brody (Michael Adam Hamilton) make a deal. If, by the time they are both 35 they are still single, they will end up with each other. Well, it’s been almost 10 years, Brody is now 35 and Myles’ birthday is fast approaching and both men are, of course, still single. With their deadline approaching, Brody resolves to find Myles a boyfriend before his birthday. If the plot of J.C. Calciano‘s The 10 Year Plan sounds familiar to you, that would be because there was a spate of movies in the early aughts about best friends who make a pact to get together by a certain age only to realize of course that they were in love the whole time. It’s the kind of easy rom-com fare that follows the expected beats to its foregone conclusion, and when that’s what you’re in the mood to watch, great.

I have already covered Calciano’s most recent movie, Steam Room Stories: The Movie! in a prior entry, and he has a couple of other films that will make their way into this column. It seems I am covering his work in reverse chronological order, so I’m going to say, Steam Room Stories and The 10 Year Plan, are much better movies than his first two, e-Cupid and Is It Just Me?

Best Friends or More?

Myles is a hopeless romantic, always looking for true love. Unfortunately, he comes on a little strong, always believing that this new boyfriend is the one. His overly romantic gestures tend to scare away all of his boyfriends and he finds himself on the receiving end of a breakup. After his relationships crash and burn, Brody also swoops in to pick up the pieces of Myles’ broken heart. Brody, unlike Myles, is a player. He goes from one-night-stand to one-night-stand, never calling anyone for a second date. Instead, he always calls Myles after a hookup. What becomes clear to the viewer, though not our two leads, is that although they haven’t admitted it to themselves yet, they are already in a relationship.

After another breakup, Brody convinces Myles to put himself on a dating site. At first hesitant, Myles agrees and it is on this app he meets Hunter (Adam Bucci). Now, Hunter himself is not that important, what is important is the rift he creates between the two friends. For some reason, though Brody can’t figure it out, he becomes jealous of Myles’ new relationship. Things go even more south when Brody meets a man named Stone on another dating app, and Stone turns out to be Hunter, neither of which is his real name.

A Lawyer and a Cop

While Myles and Brody dance around their feelings for each other, each has another close friend/work colleague with whom they discuss their personal lives. Myles, a lawyer, confides in his colleague, Diane (Teri Reeves), a brash, ebullient woman who doesn’t understand how Brody and Myles have never hooked up. On the other hand, Brody, a cop, confides in his partner, Richard (Moronai Kanekoa), who thinks Brody should realize how great a catch Myles is. In following the traditional trope of the genre, sparks fly between Diane and Richard from the moment they meet. The two also resolve to make Myles and Brody see that they belong together.

 

Do they end up together? Of course, they do, but in a rom-com, it’s never so simple. After Brody’s almost hookup with Hunter/Stone, he admits to Myles what happened. Pissed off, Myles decides that he’s had enough of Brody and stops talking to him. He also comes to the conclusion that he needs to get out of California and start anew by transferring to his law firm’s New York offices.

During a dream sequence, Brody realizes that he’s been in love with Myles all along. But now, Myles is moving across the country so he has to catch him before it’s too late. Cue the car chase scene, Brody and Richard drive off in their police cruiser to stop Myles before it’s too late. After a false start, and a couple of twists along the way, they do find him, having just left Diane’s house. And finally, all’s well that ends well.

In Conclusion: The 10 Year Plan

The 10 Year Plan is a traditional rom-com, it is not about coming out of the closet, it is not about homophobia, it is just about two best friends who realize they’ve been in love all along and they both happen to be men. It’s a cute, sweet movie that – if rom-coms are something you enjoy – is a good one to watch.

The 10 Year Plan came out in the USA on June 2, 2015. For all other release dates, see here.

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