Total Eclipse

REVIEW
A laughably bad melodrama about the love affair of 19th-century poets Arthur Rimbaud and Verlaine. While delivering on the promise of an unblinking depiction of gay love, this fails in just about every other aspect. Total Eclipse proves that gay-themed films can be just as bad as straight romantic dramas. The story is set in France where 16-year-old Rimbaud (DiCaprio), teen rebel and poet, arrives in Paris to cooly make his mark on the world. His first order of business is to snag himself a sugar daddy -- enter Verlaine (Thewlis), a 30ish sniveling, disagreeable man who harbors the triple demons of greed, pretension and ambition. Sexual energy and narcissistic attraction fuel their ultimately tragic love-hate relationship. DiCaprio's portrayal is simply one of a sugar-cereal propelled, California teenager.