‘Chrissy Judy’ Review: A Black and White Ode to the Fun and Frailty of Queer Friendships
Manuel Betancourt Even if you didn’t know Todd Flaherty had produced, written, directed, and edited “Chrissy Judy” himself, you could tell from his performance that this is quite a self-driven endeavor. More passion than vanity project (Flaherty has written himself a capital-M “messy” protagonist, after all), Flaherty has clearly bet on himself here. And it mostly pays off in what is an unassuming story about the falling out between a pair of “good Judys” — that’s short for best gay friends — that brims with the kind of belabored authenticity that belies a desire to showcase Flaherty’s ambitions as an actor, yes, but also as a budding multi-hyphenate. The title for Flaherty’s film refers to the twinned friends at the heart of this tale: but where James aka Judy (Flaherty) has a knack for self-delusion he hopes will fuel him into a version of his life where he’ll find stardom as one half of a drag duo, Chrissy (Wyatt Fenner) is, alas, already considering alternative visions for a future that finally puts such a dream to rest. In quite simple terms: Chrissy is fed up. He’s sick of trying to merely get by. He’s eager, it sounds, to let those big-city dreams go and relocate to suburban Philadelphia (imagine the horror!) with his new boyfriend. Instead of finding a supportive ear in his longtime bff, Chrissy comes face to face with a raging narcissist who cannot fathom why anyone would ever let New York (or himself) go for, let’s face it, such a basic life.