| Cut Sleeve Boys | |
| Director: | Ray Yeung |
| Cinematography: | Patrick Duval |
| Music: | Paul Turner |
Cut Sleeve Boys is a 2006 feature film written, produced and directed by Ray Yeung. The comedy follows the lives of two gay Asian best friends Mel (Steven Lim) and Ash (Chowee Leow) as they negotiate the gay scene of London.
Mel and Ash are two British Chinese gay men who were at college together. After attending the funeral of a long lost friend, Gavin, a closet case from their university days, they start examining their lives. Mel, an aging muscle boy who wants to stay in the scene and party forever, rejects the love of Todd, because he thinks Todd is too provincial and not sophisticated enough for the metropolitan lifestyle. Ash is unable to find a boyfriend, because he is considered too effeminate for the “macho” gay scene. Following a chance encounter with Diane, a transsexual from their college days with a straight-acting lover, Ross, Ash decides to try cross-dressing. To his surprise, Ash finds that, in the West, an Asian woman is considered far more desirable than an Asian man. Cut Sleeve Boys is a quirky satire on the gay scene's obsession with masculinity. It is a journey of self discovery for the two British Chinese protagonists, both having abandoned their individual identities in order to fit in.
Critics gave the film mixed reviews. Cut Sleeve Boys holds a 42% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Phil Hall from Film Threat wrote "Something of a surprise: a gay-oriented feature that is genuinely touching and sincere."[1] Ken Fox from TV Guide wrote, "It's pretty much gay business as usual."[2] Paul Malcolm from LA Weekly said, "Yeung handles [his characters'] parallel journeys of self-discovery with humor, grace and an occasionally heavy hand, with Leow giving a winning performance as Ash." Rich Cline from Shadows on The Wall indicates the film as "surprisingly endearing as it tries to examine the nature of masculinity in a seriously un-masculine subculture."[3]