When Romance Tries to Distance Itself From Tropes

Films way too often present unrealistic expectations for romantic relationships. Whether it be unattainable beauty standards, the idea of a soulmate, or seemingly perfect romances, it feels impossible to escape these Hollywood-designed tropes. The romcom genre relies on coincidences such as two people seated next to each other on an airplane or a fake relationship becoming real. While these coincidences make for an enjoyable watch, they don’t exist in real life at the frequency that they appear in movies.

The Man with the Answers (2021)—an independent queer romance—attempts to steer itself away from the trope-filled modern romance but only ends up yielding two men with the wrong kind of chemistry. The chemistry doesn’t drive their relationship forward. Instead, in a backwards sort of manner, their physical intimacy is what creates the chemistry. Almost like a chicken and egg sort of situation, it seems strange for them to be intimate with each other before there is even any chemistry or even flirtatious behavior.

All of this is not to say that The Man with the Answers isn’t worth watching. In fact, the film has many admirable traits. The Man with the Answers explores the characters’ interiority with such tenderness and vivid passion. Each character is thoughtfully developed from their personality to their motivations to their background.

Just like in real life, the characters don’t always please you. Matthias is quite insufferable for much of the film. He’s extroverted and talkative yet not welcoming. He doesn’t seem to take the hint that Victoras doesn’t want to converse with him. Matthias and Victoras’s relationship isn’t smooth whatsoever: they don’t really enjoy each other’s company for quite a while, hence why I noted the lack of chemistry early-on. Their passion and love for each other isn’t evident until near the end of the film, when one of them thinks the other has left them after their first night of intimacy. Matthias and Victoras don’t really embody the classic “romantic” trope seen in many modern romance pieces. Instead, they feel realistically raw, while remaining their sweet inner romantic.

The Man with the Answers is a pleasant story of queer romance. It tries to navigate the world of trope-filled romance but only manages to produce two characters with relatively low chemistry. Nonetheless, the characters do feel passionately real, even if their relationship does not, which I must applaud the filmmakers for. Evidently, The Man with the Answers doesn’t possess the answers to navigating a trope-free romance film, although it handles pacing, interiority, and queer themes with prowess.