Oh, boy-- a 1980s musical delight! Festival favorite Ian Thorpe's ETERNITY: THE MOVIE

Who knew mediocrity could be so much fun? Well, Ian Thorpe (shown below, who is the director and co-writer, along with Joey Abi-Loutfi and Eric Staley) sure did. Together with a very nimble cast, they have found a way to make this mediocrity so sweet and silly and special that I swear, they've accomplished something that almost no one else has: finding exactly the right kind of dead-pan humor to make what should be a bad movie quite wonderful. ETERNITY: THE MOVIE works just about perfectly, in fact -- once you tune into its wave length, that is.

Maybe you have to be gay (and out) to go with this particular vibe. I noticed just a few moments ago as I was reading the The NY Times review that its critic clearly did not tune in. You may be luckier. Do try, because the rewards are great. This story of a meet-cute twosome (who resemble something awfully close to the Hall & Oates that some of us loved so well) decide to become a hit duo, and by gum, they sure do -- oh! Deadpan is often portrayed as affectless; here it's anything but. There is so much enthusiasm on display that you can't decide if it's infectious or just plain loony. Either way, though, it's a lot of fun.

The two leads could not be better, both at resembling Hall & Oates and at revving up for a real 1980s bash of music, fashion, very large mobile phones, bad moods and love. Part of the delight and charm here is that every other character in this movie is convinced that our adorable duo is gay. But this possibility seems never to have occurred to the boys themselves.

As played by Myko Olivier (above, right) and Barrett Crake (above, left), the twosome proves adorable and talented enough to have a few hits, as well as involve themselves in an eventualy three-way, would-be love affair with their neighbor, Gina-Marie (a smart and funny Nikki Leonti, shown at bottom, right).

Also on hand for support are old-timers Eric Roberts (below) and Jon Gries (above, left). But it's our ever-hopeful, starry-eyed duo who rule. How everyone here found the right degree of "almost reality," sweetness and skill to turn what, by all rights, ought to have been a big nothing into a quite something may remain one of those marvelous movie mysteries that occur but rarely.

So just be grateful and go bask in the cleverly conceived 1980s, where, if you can manage to grab on to that unusual wave-length, a very good time awaits.

Eternity: The Movie , running 91 minutes, opens today in New York City at the AMC Empire 25, next Friday, October 24 in Los Angeles at Laemmle's Music Hall 3, and thereafter at another half-dozen cities around the country. Click here to see all currently scheduled playdates.