‘Henry Gamble’s Birthday Party’: Coming-out story in Chicago suburbs lacks insight

Even for teens in sophisticated, urban and relatively liberal communities, coming out as gay is challenging — even in 2016. For youth raised and continuing to live in households run by parents who strictly adhere to evangelical Christian beliefs, that challenge is overwhelming.

That’s the premise of “Henry Gamble’s Birthday Party,” the well-intentioned if flawed film from writer and director Stephen Cone, who shot the movie in the Chicago suburbs.

The title character, played somewhat amateurishly by Cole Doman, is the son of an evangelical minister (Pat Healy), who along with his wife and the boy’s mother (Elizabeth Laidlaw) throws Henry’s 17th birthday party — mostly centered on their backyard swimming pool.

Throughout the storyline, we are barraged by some pretty heavy-handed moralizing by Cone’s screenplay (inspired clearly by his own Southern Baptist upbringing) that juxtaposes the religious teachings of the Christian right and the natural impulses coursing through Henry’s young, sexually curious body.

Henry is clearly eager to experience the satisfaction of a physical relationship with another young man — ideally his best pal Gabe (Joe Keery), who happens to be straight and thus unattainable.

The film kicks off with the two boys sharing a bed during a sleepover prior to Henry’s party — a night during which they mutually masturbate. While that scene is intended to showcase Henry’s frustration and true feelings, it only came off (so to speak) as another example of this film’s awkward storytelling.

In addition, Cone seemed to have some kind of obsession with filming Henry and the rest of the young, attractive cast (both male and female) in a seemingly endless series of underwater shots.

That said, there are a number of effective scenes in “Henry Gamble’s Birthday Party.” I particularly liked the moment when his mother, played with deep sincerity by Laidlaw, reveals a past straying from a righteous life to her daughter Autumn (Nina Ganet) — who is, herself, struggling with a lot of emotional issues.

Also insightful was the scene where some non-Christians query the kids about how such subjects as biology are taught in a strictly Christian school.

However, while this film attempts to address an intriguing human conflict, it falls short from delivering what could have been a more engaging answer to that conflict between the flesh and the soul.

[s3r star=2.5/4]

Sunroom Pictures presents a film written and directed by Stephen Cone. Running time: 87 minutes. No MPAA rating. Opens Friday at the Gene Siskel Film Center.