Henry’s ability to inspire comradeship, love and culinary craft may seem a bit like wish fulfillment.
#Tim dekay big eden movie
So does shy, hulking, sensitive Native American Pike Dexter (Eric Schweig), also an ex-classmate - he falls madly in love with Henry and spends the movie cooking and delivering gourmet meals to Henry while mysteriously pretending they were made by the local grande dame, Widow Thayer (Nan Martin). Dean shows up, still regarding Henry as his best buddy despite a 10-year hiatus. This convenient reunion and the renewal of an old high school crush suggests something along the lines of Chuck and Buck - which was partly a gay sexual fantasy as well.
Dean, now a divorced father with two young sons, surprisingly returns almost the same time Henry does. And for years, he has suffered from unrequited passion for his high school best friend, football hero Dean Stewart (Tim DeKay). Henry’s family and friends, amazingly, remain unaware of his sexual orientation. Though his art career is booming and a gallery show of his art is about to open, painter Henry Hart (Arye Gross) unselfishly decides to care for Grandpa Sam (George Coe) during his convalescence in a paradisiacal house by the lake. It’s a tall tale about a successful gay New York artist who moves back to his Montana small-town birthplace, Big Eden, when his grandfather suffers a stroke. The masterpiece of this meal, however, is the platter of endive, asparagus, yellow and orange peppers, and bean sprouts.In Big Eden, first-time writer-director Thomas Bezucha concocts a fantasy of heartland good will and sexual brotherhood so unlikely that it’s amazing he’s able to present it as a piece of low-key comic realism. No movie about familial relationships would be complete without a Thanksgiving meal, and Big Eden depicts the usual dysfunctional gathering, with all the trimmings: turkey, green beans, biscuits, potato salad, and cherry and pumpkin pies. The film shows many of Pike’s creations-chicken with apricots, olives, and figs stuffed green peppers mushroom and spinach salad baked salmon garnished with radishes and celery steamed clams curly endive and cucumber salad chicken with carrots, celery, and beans trout poached in white wine (he sends his friends out to the stream to catch the trout!) mushroom soup-and the viewer even hears tell of a delicious peach sorbet (made in Montana, in the winter!). He begins by reading The Joy of Cooking, and it remains his “bible” throughout the film but he also refers to Cooking Light, Gourmet, and Food & Wine magazines, creating tasty dishes because he wants “things to be nice” for Henry. At the same time, the film’s depiction of Pike’s progress in the kitchen serves as a real culinary education.
“So, what’s for eats?” Henry asks, and the audience is richly rewarded with a parade of amazing dishes. Despite promptings from his friends in town, it takes Henry a long time to get over his obsession with his straight friend Dean and to realize his affection for Pike and understand Pike’s for him. Since Pike is too shy to approach Henry directly, he decides to learn to cook and proceeds to prepare dinner for Henry and his grandfather, surreptitiously substituting his dishes for the ones made by the widow Thayer (Martin).
But while Henry pursues Dean (without actually coming out of the closet), Pike (Schweig), the owner of the general store, falls “head over heels” for Henry. When Henry (Gross) visits his hometown in rural Montana to care for his ailing grandfather, he discovers that Dean (DeKay), his high school “crush,” has also recently returned home. The directorial debut of Thomas Bezucha (who also directed The Family Stone), Big Eden was a breakthrough film that finally depicted gay men of all shapes, sizes, and ages navigating the treacherous waters of love just like regular folks, with no over-the-top drama or circuit boys or any other stereotypically “gay” details thrown in just for laughs. I'm just saying a woman didn't make this. Mary Margaret: A woman did not make this. She's the one who's been doing all the cooking. Mary Margaret: You're saying she made this? Henry: That's the widow Thayer, she made that. Mary Margaret: It's unbelievable! Who makes tortes out here anyway?
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