Eric Schaeffer butts up against convention once again -- gloriously -- in BOY MEETS GIRL

A filmmaker who consistently goes his own way -- unconventionally, often where sexuality is concerned -- Eric Schaeffer is at it again in his newest movie, BOY MEETS GIRL. Mr. Schaeffer usually stars in his own films, and for some audiences I think this has proven a deal-breaker. TrustMovies happens to enjoy this actor/director's somewhat abrasive on-screen personality, and so his films have generally given me more pleasure than not. In this latest, which is also one of his best movies, the filmmaker plays but a tiny role, leaving the major acting to the chops of others. This may prove a smart move, garnering Schaeffer (shown below) a newer and wider audience.

Throughout his more than 25-year career as both writer and director, Schaeffer has been most interested in three topics: the independent movie business, love relationships and, of late, out-of-the-mainstream sexuality. After Fall, Winter dealt with (surprisingly well) the relationship between a blocked writer and a younger dominatrix, while Boy Meet Girl tackles the transgendered in a manner that provides the least judgmental, most all-embracing movie experience on this subject that I've yet seen. Not that other characters in the film are not judgmental and sometimes nasty, but the filmmaker/creator attempts to and mostly succeeds at showing us this experience from as many angles and viewpoints as possible, while focusing on his leading character, Ricky, a boy who has always longed to be a girl and has for some time been working to make this desire a reality.

As played by the very pretty and talented newcomer, Michelle Hendley (above and below), Ricky is alternately sweet, sassy and sad, as she/he negotiates her way through the various land mines of sexual freedom in today's Kentucky. TrustMovies is guessing that Ms Hendley is herself transgendered. Or maybe not. I don't think it really matters because the point of this unusually clever and affecting film is that all kinds of love and sex and genders are OK and to be encouraged.

Even the hugely overused title that Schaeffer has chosen turns out to be just about perfect, for Boy indeed Meets Girl in this film in all kinds of ways, real and ironic, most remarkably in the performance of Ms Hendley, which bring the two together in a manner we have not seen. In one of the final moments, a full-frontal knock-out (which may or may not have been CGI-enhanced), we see the sexes coming together unforgettably. (Note: I have just been informed by the film's publicist that Ms Hendley is indeed transgender, which is unusual since most transgender roles, notably Jared Leto’s character in Dallas Buyer’s Club, are played by non-trans actors. Also: there are no CGI effects in that nudity scene.)

This is part of what Schaeffer wants -- to force us to confront things we would prefer to leave in the dark. He has his characters do this, too, and his command of screenwriting and directing has grown stronger over the years until, in this film -- romantic comedy that it most assuredly is -- he brings it all home: the confrontation, the boundary-breaking, the shock and finally the acceptance.

The moviemaker and his casting director, Jenn Haltman, have come up with a terrifically good bunch of actors, each of whom manages to succeed and surprise us. The plum role of Ricky's new friend and maybe more, a local debutante named Francesca, is played by Alexandra Turshen (above), who brings immense beauty, charm and generosity to her glowing performance.

In the role of Ricky's long-term best pal, Robby, Michael Welch (three photos above) all but steals the movie with his rough/sweet portrayal of a guy who is faithful and trustworthy yet can't see or accept what he most wants and needs, while a dark hunk named Michael Galante (above) surprises with his initial homophobia that masks something more and yet offers a step beyond the usual cliché we're so used to seeing.

Even the parents here prove a little unusual. There's a scene at an engagement party in which one father, whom we'd expect to be a bigot, shows his sturdier side, while another -- Ricky's kindly dad, played very well by Randall Newsome (above) -- proves the sort of father we all wish we'd had. Schaeffer also manages a funny flashback (below) involving a "flasher" and the response he gets from our little "girl."

Boy Meets Girl is such a feel-good delight -- while tackling a subject that is usually anything but -- that it is tempting to over-praise it. So I'll stop right here. But it's a big step forward for Mr. Schaffer. I can't wait to see what this fellow gets up to next. The movie, from Wolfe Releasing, opens this Friday, February 6, in New York City at the Village East Cinema, and on February 27 at Laemmle's Noho 7 in the L.A. area. Midway between these dates on February 13 -- it will open in San Diego, Washington DC and Brattleboro, Vermont. Click here to see all dates and theaters.

Eric Schaeffer's AFTER FALL, WINTER probes pain, death, love and relationships

AFTER FALL, WINTER opens in Paris with a scene of a sick, maybe dying woman, who says to the man caring for her, "Call Sophie." He does. Turns out Sophie is a beautiful young caregiver-to-the-dying, and as the phone conversation proceeds, we get one whopper of a surprise which, if it doesn't immediately glue you to this film, you had better check your pulse. The movie then cuts to New York City, where our hero, Michael, played by Eric Schaeffer (shown below) who also wrote, produced and directed the movie, is having a very bad time.

Michael's latest book can't find a publisher, the guy just sold his NYC co-op at a huge loss, he's moved into a crummy third-world apart-ment, and he's over $600,000 in debt. (But is he happy?) So, when a good friend calls him from Paris and suggests he come visit for awhile, why not? As you might surmise, Sophie and Michael are going to get together. How they do and what happens makes up the meat of the movie (and an exceedingly meaty one it is).

Since 1993 Mr. Schaeffer has made eight full-length films, beginning with his debut effort, the OK-ish, sort-of-real-life comedy about trying to make a movie entitled My Life's in Turnaround. He followed this with the rom-com When Lucy Fell (featuring his starriest cast -- before they were stars), and then the darker Fall, followed by Wirey Spindell -- his exploration of bi-sexuality and romance as an adult and youngster. Then came the Jill Clayburgh/Jeffrey Tambor older-folk rom-com Never Again, and his ensemble rom-com-dram Mind the Gap, and then the follow-up to his first film, this time called They're Out of the Business.

For me, Schaeffer's movies have always been up-and-down affairs, promising more than they delivered. When I say that this is also true for his newest film, I must add that After Fall, Winter is far and away his best work, an often brilliant exploration of modern love-and-need that goes deeply into territory that is primal -- sex, love, pain, death -- and more often than not does that territory full justice. His dialog is real, witty, amusing, and deeply felt. And his situations, as bizarre as they sometimes are, work surprisingly well.

Performances are excellent all-round, with his luminous leading lady -- Lizzie Brocheré (above and below) in her first mostly-English-language performance, proving herself once again an actress of immense talent and beauty. Seen six years ago in the 2006 fraught, French teen-age transgression One to Another (her character here, Sophie, could almost be seen as the outcome of her character Lucie in that earlier film), Ms Brocheré was also first-rate in The Wedding Song (2008). The chemistry between the two leads is simply terrific, whether they are circling each other warily, bonding, spatting or screwing.

I've mentioned the word pain twice already, but I hesitate to go into detail for fear of spoiling things. As a filmmaker, and I suspect as a human being, Mr. Schaeffer wants us to refrain from judging his characters -- any of them. To that end he has arrayed before us their best and their worst qualities (and a lot in between). We're privy to some pretty awful stuff here, and to his credit the filmmaker lets us understand it better than almost any other movie I can think of that dares to go where this one does. From the gypsies to the mistresses of pain, the movie makes us understand things from a very different perspective than we are used to.

Schaeffer continues to learn about film-making technique, as well. After Fall, Winter is certainly his most beautiful movie to date. By using those spectacular Paris locations -- even the deserted warehouses look good -- perhaps this was not so very difficult to achieve. In any case, bravo.

But now: about the ending that Mr. Schaeffer has contrived. By the time we arrive there -- there may be a spoiler ahead -- the filmmaker has taken his story to a crescendo of drama and suspense. He has also painted his "hero" into the kind of corner from which there would appear to be little escape (his heroine perhaps even more so). When I say that we are in Romeo and Juliet territory, I mean it in both a good and bad way. How you'll react to the finale is anyone's guess. But just try to remember all the great stuff that has come before.

After Fall, Winter opens this Friday, January 27, in New York City at the Quad Cinema. Digital distributor FilmBuff (created in 2008) is releasing the film on VOD and Cable on January 31st. The film  will play at the Quad through next week, at the Cinekink Film Festival at the Anthology Film Archives on February 8, and at the FACETS CINÉMATHÈQUE in Chicago on February 27. Any DVD release is not yet confirmed.