Michael Christopher White is a writer, director, actor, & producer for TV & film & the winner of the Independent Spirit John Cassavetes Award for Chuck & Buck. White's father is the Reverend Dr. Mel White, a former speechwriter for Religious Right’s Jerry Falwell & Pat Robertson. Mel White came out in 1994. Mike White is openly bi-sexual. Father & son appeared together on the 14th season of The Amazing Race.
Mike White made his directorial debut with the self-penned Year of the Dog at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival. White is a vegan, & an animal rights supporter, & he received an award from animal rights group PETA for Year of the Dog. White was a writer & producer on Dawson's Creek & Freaks & Geeks. He wrote & acted in the films Chuck & Buck, The Good Girl, Orange County, School of Rock & Nacho Libre.
I will never forget when the Husband & I sat down to watch Chuck & Buck. We thought we were going to view a lark of a buddy film. Yikes! In childhood, Buck (Mike White) & Chuck (Chris Weitz) were best friends. They did everything together, from climbing trees to the kind of innocent sexual play that happens between 11-year old boys. For Chuck, this was a step to a healthy, well-adjusted adulthood. Living in L,A,, he is an executive in the recording industry with a gorgeous house, & a beautiful fiancé. Buck, on the other hand, became stuck in adolescence. At age 27, he is socially unformed, mentally immature, & fixated on his limited sexual experience with Chuck. When his sick mother, whom he has cared for in her old age, dies, Buck is set into action.
Buck invites Chuck to the funeral, & the pair meet for the first time in 15 years. Chuck is a different person, but Buck is not. It doesn't take Chuck long to realize that his former friend is no longer the kind of individual he wants to have contact with. an obsessed Buck follows Chuck to California, where the haunting & stalking begins. When Chuck tries to explain that the past & their friendship are now buried, Buck doesn't want to hear it. He blames Chuck's fiancé for ruining their relationship, & sinks all of his savings into producing a play- Hank & Frank. Written by Buck, it is a thinly veiled story of his friendship with Chuck transplanted into a land of make believe. The play's director, the quick-witted Beverly (Lupe Ontiveros in a terrific performance), calls it "a homoerotic, misogynistic love story", a label that confuses Buck, who sees it as an innocent fairy tale about how he lost Chuck to his fiance.
Chuck & Buck is a dark comedy that presents its characters starkly. Hollywood delights in turning mental instability into a "cute" condition, making individuals afflicted as quirky & likable. Chuck & Buck does no such thing. Buck, perfectly played by Mike White, is a disturbing person. We're never entirely comfortable when he is on screen. He is an innocent in an unkind world that he is unequipped to deal with, & the potential for harm underlines every scene. The goal of Chuck & Buck is to offer a realistic depiction of how the naiveté of a childhood friendship cannot survive intact into adulthood. Chuck & Buck is not a buddy movie.
Buck's play, Hank & Frank is a masterpiece of ineptitude. Buck casts an incompetent actor, Sam (Paul Weitz), in the lead role because he reminds him of Chuck. Sam does not recognize Buck's immaturity, & they develop an awkward, tentative bond, until Buck makes a clumsy pass at the resolutely heterosexual Sam. When the play is eventually performed, Chuck is horrified by what he sees, & by the realization that Buck's fixation on their friendship is not going away.
Chuck & Buck is more than a bit unsettling, & scene after scene play with real discomfort. Buck's troubling emotional state is sketchy; to say the least & the humor drips with irony. The film's edgy sadness kept poking at me long after viewing the film. There is something compelling about the fear of growing up & the more unnerving dread of being found out. Chuck & Buck is one of those films that will shock, amaze, & really pull at the strings of your heart. It is a film, first & foremost, about friendship & the destructive impact that childhood moments can have on our futures.
I have true admiration for the brilliant mind of Mike White. Not only did he write Chuck & Buck, but his work as an actor is especially strong as Buck. While most movie fans will remember him as Jack Black's friend in School of Rock, his true talents are showcased in this film. Mike White completely embodies his character… & that is a bit scary. Check out Chuck & Buck, but be warned, it is not for the faint hearted.
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