Alright, rewind your minds with me. Picture this: browsing the aisles of your favorite video store, maybe a Friday night, the scent of popcorn and plastic clamshell cases in the air. You stumble past the big new releases, seeking something… different. And there it is, a simple cover, maybe a little worn: Trick. You take a chance. And sometimes, those chances paid off beautifully. Trick (1999) is one of those delightful discoveries, a lightning-in-a-bottle indie rom-com that felt like a breath of fresh air at the tail end of the 90s.
It captures that frantic, hopeful energy of a night where everything might just click, if only you can find a quiet corner. For Gabriel (Christian Campbell, instantly relatable), a shy aspiring musical theatre writer, a chance encounter on the subway with Mark (John Paul Pitoc), a charismatic go-go dancer, sparks instant chemistry. The problem? Finding a place – any place – for their potential hook-up to actually happen. And so begins a night-long odyssey through late-90s New York City, a quest hilariously thwarted by roommates, eccentric friends, and the sheer lack of privacy the city affords.
### A Night Out in 90s NYC
What makes Trick feel so authentic, even watching it now on a screen far sharper than my old CRT ever was, is its grounded reality. This isn't a glossy Hollywood fantasy; it's a film vibrating with the specific energy of Manhattan at that time. Director Jim Fall plunges us right into the streets, the cramped apartments, the bustling clubs. You can almost feel the humid summer air. Much of this raw feeling comes from necessity; reportedly shot in just 19 days on a shoestring budget (somewhere under a million bucks, peanuts even then!), the production often relied on quick setups and real locations. It gives the film an intimacy and immediacy that slicker productions often miss. That cramped apartment Gabriel shares with his actress best friend Katherine? You believe people live like that, piled practically on top of each other.
### More Than Just a Roommate
Speaking of Katherine, let’s talk about Tori Spelling. Stepping way outside her Beverly Hills, 90210 zip code, Spelling delivers a performance full of warmth, comic timing, and genuine friendship. She’s Gabriel’s fiercely loyal confidante and occasional obstacle, embodying the struggling artist archetype with infectious energy. It’s a widely known bit of trivia, but still cool: Tori Spelling reportedly took a major pay cut specifically because she loved the script by Jason Schafer (who based parts of it on his own experiences) and wanted to prove her comedic chops beyond Donna Martin. She absolutely nails it, becoming the film's heart alongside Gabriel's earnest quest. Her scenes trying to rehearse dramatic monologues while Gabriel and Mark awkwardly attempt to find privacy are pure gold.
### A Sweet Spot in Queer Cinema
Watching Trick today, what stands out is its relative lack of angst. Coming after a decade where many prominent LGBTQ+ films focused heavily on the AIDS crisis, social struggle, or coming-out narratives, Trick felt refreshingly… normal. It’s a romantic comedy first and foremost. The characters’ sexuality is central, yes, but the plot revolves around universal rom-com tropes: the meet-cute, the obstacles to connection, the will-they-or-won't-they tension. Premiering at the 1999 Sundance Film Festival, it generated significant buzz precisely for this reason – it was a charming, funny, hopeful gay love story that didn't feel weighed down by tragedy. It wasn’t about being gay; it was about finding connection, awkwardly, hopefully, hilariously, while being gay.
The chemistry between Christian Campbell’s sweet, slightly neurotic Gabriel and John Paul Pitoc’s magnetic, more enigmatic Mark is palpable. You root for them, you feel Gabriel's anxieties, you understand Mark's subtle shifts from casual hook-up interest to something potentially more. Their journey isn't just about finding a physical space, but navigating the emotional space between initial attraction and genuine intimacy. Remember how refreshing it felt to see that kind of story told with such lightheartedness back then?
### Does it Hold Up?
Absolutely. Sure, some of the fashion screams late 90s, and the technology (or lack thereof) firmly places it in a pre-smartphone world. But the core story? The humor? The performances? They remain incredibly charming. Jason Schafer's script is witty and observant, capturing the specific nuances of gay dating and friendship in that era without feeling exclusionary. It avoids clichés where it can and embraces them with a knowing wink when it needs to. The film’s indie spirit, born from its low budget and tight schedule, only adds to its appeal now, a reminder of a time when filmmakers relied on ingenuity and heart more than massive CGI budgets. It’s a snapshot of a particular moment, both in filmmaking and in queer representation, that feels both nostalgic and timeless.
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VHS Heaven Rating: 8/10
Justification: Trick earns this score for its sheer charm, witty script, winning performances (especially from Campbell and Spelling), and its significant place as a refreshingly light and hopeful mainstream LGBTQ+ rom-com from the late 90s. Its low-budget authenticity and capture of NYC energy are major strengths. It loses a couple of points perhaps for a slightly episodic structure in the middle and production values that occasionally betray its indie roots, but these are minor quibbles.
Final Thought: In the vast ocean of 90s cinema tapes, Trick remains that hidden gem – a sweet, funny, and genuinely heartwarming reminder that sometimes the most memorable nights (and movies) are the ones you stumble upon by happy accident. It’s a rom-com trick that definitely treats.