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Director:
Ian Iqbal Rashid

Starring:
Jimi Mistry
Kyle MacLachlan
Suleka Mathew
Kristen Holder-Reid
Veena Sood

Release: 16 Jul. 04
IMDb

Where Humphrey Bogart came into Woody Allen’s life to help in the wooing of Diane Keaton in Play It Again, Sam, Cary Grant gets to the celebrity imaginary friend in Touch of Pink. This time it’s a romantically troubled Jimi Mistry, but instead of trying to get the girl he wants, he needs to hide the boy he has. Openly gay in Toronto, Mistry must still keep his longtime companion from his mother when she prepares for a visit. Grant, of course, gets to be the voice of reason, his own mastery at hiding his homosexuality (cf. the post-mortem tabloids, not verified elsewhere, though that might have been enough to cause his use here) used to hide it.

Ripping off The Wedding Banquet in large chunks, this impractical comedy has the potential for greatness -- just think of what could have been done with Grant’s films beyond the quotes lifted for the film -- but ultimately lacks any real entertainment value. Mistry, last seen in the horrendous The Guru, is perfectly game for the endeavor, but the script gives him nothing to do. The only kudos this films deserves are for the decision to make Kyle MacLachlan play the dead movie star. The resemblance may not be there, but there’s always the chance to remember MacLachlan communing with dead people in Twin Peaks.