Bruce says: "We all bring our own baggage into every experience. It is hardly surprising that the effect of any common experience and the baggage we carry away from it will vary for each of us. Most of the time, the differences are a matter of nuance. Not all the time. Gregg Araki’s MYSTERIOUS SKIN explores the extremely different ways that two small boys in a small Kansas town are affected after being sexually molested by their little league coach when they were eight years old.

"Neil McCormick (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), the best player on the team, was the first to receive overtures. He lives with his mother and his first experience with a 'wet orgasm' is as a voyeur, catching his mother and one of her gentlemen callers going at it. As a small child he thinks the coach (Bill Sage) is dreamy, like one of those guys in Playgirl that his mother keeps under the bed. The coach asks Neil’s mother if it is OK for Neil to go out with him and some of the other kids for pizza. When no other kids show up, the coach takes Neil to his house and the two of them go to the kitchen for a snack. Neil wants cereal when he spots a Kellogg eight pack in the cupboard. The coach opens one of the packages and pours the cereal on his head. Neil does the same. Before long cereal is flying everywhere and suddenly the coach is on top of Neil and the multi-colored cereal is crushed into the arabesque patterned tiles on the kitchen floor. When the coach tells him that he is his favorite, getting Neil to have sex with him is easy. 'I felt honored,' is how Neil feels ten years later.

"Brady Corbet (Brian Lackey) had nosebleeds and blackout periods at the age of eight. His father is disinterested in child rearing and his mother is a caricature of a Midwestern housewife, fussing about in fulsome ways. Brady has bad dreams. One has Neil setting off rockets from his mouth and giving him oral sex. Another involves Brady and his mother on the roof of their house watching a UFO approaching. Growing up he is convinced that UFOs are responsible for his blackouts and that in 1981 five hours were taken mysteriously from his life. In his late teens, Brady sees a TV show about UFOs featuring Avalyn (Mary Lynn Rajskub), a young woman also from Kansas, who was also abducted. He writes to her and they strike up a friendship. When Brady visits her in person, Avalyn show him the scar where aliens have implanted a tracking device. When Brady confesses to having nose bleeds, Avalyn commiserates 'Ah, the old up-the-nose trick.' Brian Lackey expertly conveys the total damage that the experiences of youth have rendered.

"Neil progresses from precocious little leaguer to a sexy, cocksure hustler. His specialty is older men about the same age as the coach would be at any point in time. Nothing mysterious about what is going on with Neil. Everyone loves him; his mother (Elisabeth Shue), his soul mate Wendy (Michelle Trachtenberg) and his best friend Eric (Jeffrey Licon). He has a cavalier attitude towards his sexual adventures and, not unlike most males his age, has the notion that no harm can come to him for he is immune and invincible. Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s performance is self-assured and magnetic. He first shows us Neil’s the tough-as–nails exterior, then has us convinced that underneath the veneer lies a warm and generous soul.

"I really did love this film but to be fair I should point out its flaws. Subplots involving Neil’s friends Wendy and Eric are not quite satisfying – first, because they slightly diminish what is a terrific expression of childhood trauma and second, because Michelle Trachtenberg and Jeffrey Licon do not have the talent to match the rest of the cast. The success of this film lies in Araki’s ability to help us understand the human condition and to simultaneously entertain us while doing so. The story line switches back and forth between the two teenage boys interspersed with flashbacks of the two boys at the age of eight. Add in a few dream sequences to complete the whirlwind of activity. The positives of this film outweigh the negatives to such a degree that I hardly remember there were things about the film I did not like. 5 cats

"This film was shown at the 2004 Toronto International Film Festival"