Filmed in Syracuse

            Atlanta has become the new film hub for the U.S. So many movies are filmed there, from blockbusters to smaller films. Tyler Perry has his whole studio located there. From my understanding, studios have started to flock to Georgia to film because they offer tax breaks for companies to come and film there. Obviously, places like New York City and Los Angeles have high rates for taxes and everything else, so producing a movie there can lead to some expensive bills. It is always fun to see a place you have been before on the big screen, but it is cooler if it is a smaller location and close to home. So seeing places from Georgia that I recognize is cool, but when I see places from Syracuse on the big screen, that gets me so excited.

            Last month, a movie called Plainclothes hit the theaters. It was a small release that was originally screened at the beginning of the year at Sundance Film Festival, but then it had its theatrical release in September. The backdrop of this film is Syracuse, and they actually came to Syracuse to film it.

            The story revolves around two characters, Lucas and Andrew. Lucas is an undercover cop in the 90s. He is a part of an undercover unit that is trying to find homosexuals, and they basically lure them into the bathroom and try to catch them in the act. (I know, it is crazy that in the 90s this is something that was happening.) There is one catch though, Lucas is gay. So when he tries to trap Andrew, he ends up letting him go, and he gets Andrew’s number.

            This is the start of an on and off relationship. Andrew is very clear from the start that he is not in this for a committed relationship, but Lucas has never done anything like this before. In fact, he had just got out of a long relationship with a girl. So Lucas and Andrew rendezvous in various locations.  Over the course of a few dates, Andrew shows Lucas the ropes and helps him feel comfortable with his sexuality, but after a date that Lucas enjoyed, Andrew says that he does not want to see Lucas again, which really hurt Lucas, but Andrew had been clear that he usually does not meet up with men more than once, so he had already crossed this line, and now it is clear why.

            Lucas had fallen in love, and now he started to use his police resources to look up Andrew’s plates and find his address. From there, he found out where he worked, and Andrew was a priest with a family. Clearly in the 90s, and maybe even today(?), being a gay priest would not be okay by societal standards. So Andrew was furious by Lucas’s appearance in the pews, which seems fair no matter what the terms of the break up were. They hash it out and go their separate ways. The only problem left is if Lucas will tell his family, and how this affects his work.

            This story is told effectively, and it is shot beautifully. Throughout the whole film I felt the stress that Lucas was feeling, and it was easy to commiserate with him and his unrequited love. Lucas really had to fight on three fronts. He had his family, who did not know that he was gay, and also he had to deal with the death of his father. There was his work, which was literally centered on trapping guys that are gay, and then there was his relationship, which he wanted more from, but instead, he was just getting short term physical affection. Eventually this all reaches a boiling point, when his family finds a letter for him, but they think it was his dead dad’s, so the family thinks that the dead dad is gay, but Lucas has to say that the letter is actually for him, he just told his lover his name was his dad’s, which is a weird choice.

            So now to the Syracuse portion, the sting operation that the police are running takes place in the mall. For the outside of the mall, they use Destiny. There are a couple of shots of the Destiny Spire as they drive past it on 81, which was cool, because I was in the theater in Destiny, and although they did not film the police operation in Destiny, it was supposed to be in there. These shots are done using grainy VHS footage, which they go back to several times throughout the film, and it was a very effective filming technique. I loved the grainy parts of this movie.

            Instead of filming inside of Destiny, they filmed the inside part at the Galleries of Syracuse, which is a building downtown. Based off the inside, I did not realize where they were, but when I googled it, it is a location downtown that I have run past many times but have never been inside. It has a variety of uses, but it looks just like a mall. Now every time I pass it, I will think of this movie.

            There are also other local locations. I am not sure exactly where they filmed the apartment scenes, but honestly it looked just like my first apartment in Grenadier Village. There were some small differences, but they have a variety of living options, so I would not be surprised if it was filmed there. They also used local slang like calling Baldwinsville B’ville. In this case, they referred to a lake and a hiking trail (Beaver lake?). When I was taking Ethan to Chimney Bluffs two weeks ago, we got off at the B’ville exit, and we drove past a trail for a small lake, and there was a tarp greenhouse, which is literally what they did in the film. They went for a walk, then they went into the greenhouse, and I can only assume that is exactly where they filmed it.

            Finally, the first date Lucas and Andrew go on was in the Landmark Theater, they used it as a movie theater, which was cool. I wish that the Landmark would regularly show movies. After the movie was over, they hid behind pillars and snuck into the back room, like two high schoolers looking for some privacy. It was just so exciting to be like I have stood there before!

            What inspired me to go back and write this paper is that on Sunday, I went to a scary movie night, and I got to bring a movie. I brought The Nighthouse. This movie came out in 2021, and it was mostly filmed at a house in Skaneateles. They also go to a bar, Maxwells, which is one that I have been to before downtown, and one aspect that I missed that others in attendance knew is that the bookstore that the main girl goes to is on James Street, which is also a place that I have run past. They all seemed excited about seeing local locations on screen, so I was glad to see that it was not just me that got excited about this.

            I have Plainclothes as one of the best films of this year, and of course, this is partially bolstered by the fact that it was filmed here, but I also found the story telling very propulsive. I gave it four stars, and I recommend seeing it. When I was walking out of the theater, they had the poster up on the wall, and it was signed by the director, who grew up here and graduated from JD, and that was a nice parting gift to see. He really cares about the community here and wants to show it to others.