“Burning Blue” - "Brokeback Mountain" Meets “Top Gun”

Don't Ask Don't Tell is on the trash heap of history now, but while it lasted it harmed and/or destroyed many lives.  Some of those lives were of local military members and the boyfriend and I count as friends a good number of individuals who lived under Don't Ask, Don't Tell.  Some were thrown out of the military for who they were and who they loved.  A new movie, "Burning Blue," looks at such lives and is based on the play written by DMW Greer that draws from his own experiences as a naval aviator.  One synopsis describes the basic plot as follows:

Since enlisting in the Navy, movie-star handsome elite aircraft pilots Daniel and William have been the best of friends. A friendship tested following two fatal accidents aboard their aircraft carrier. A government agent is placed aboard the ship to determine what may have been at the root of the mishaps. But his investigation abruptly changes direction when a sailor reports seeing Daniel cavorting with another fighter pilot, the headstrong, muscle-bound Matthew, in a gay club changing their lives forever. Think a gay Top Gun with heart and soul.

Newnownext describes the movie this way:

Burning Blue, the new drama from writer-director DMW Greer, recounts an illicit affair tween two male Navy pilots in the era of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell. If that sounds a little Top Gun meets Brokeback Mountain, you should know the film is based on Greer’s 1992 off-Broadway play of the same name.

Lionsgate is distributing the film, which boasts a pretty impressive cast, including  Trent Ford (Gosford Park), Morgan Spector (Boardwalk Empire), Rob Mayes (The Client List) and Tammy Blanchard (Life with Judy Garland).  Burning Blue lands in theaters and on VOD on June 6. 

Other than perhaps the Naro Theater, the film may not even be shown in this area even though there are thousands of gays in the military.