Show Low Budget Noahs Noah's Arc Is a Surprise Hit Richard Leiby The Washington Post Noahs Arc Jumping the Broom a mostly comic romp about the wedding of two gay black men is not nota a movie for everyone But even if most of America has never heard of Noahs Arc the box office has spoken and Hollywood is paying attention The low- low budget little film posted what industry watchers called phenomenal ticket receipts when it opened last weekend in five cities A from a canceled series on Logo a gay cable channel Noahs Arc arrived with virtually no mainstream marketing Yet it drew sellout crowds in Washington Atlanta Chicago New York and Los Angeles It gave Clint Eastwoods Eastwood's latest directing effort Changeling a run for its money in terms of screen per-screen average sales according to Indie com corn which closely follows independent releases The site called the opening weekends weekend's screen per-screen average astounding Granted Noahs total haul for the weekend wasn't much vs Changelings never mind the 42 million for the latest High School Musical installment But it seemed likely that more cities would be added this weekend to satisfy the films film's eager audience I think its it's kind of stunned the entire industry that wasn't really checking for us this tiny little gay black movie said Noahs Arc director Patrik-Ian Patrik Polk creator of the Logo series of the same name Its showing how well you youcan youcan youcan can do when you aim a film at a niche market Set on a wintry Marthas Martha's Vineyard the movie mines laughs from its broad representations of the romantic tribulations of its hunky male characters including the couple preparing for nuptial bliss Jumping the Broom refers to a wedding tradition that evolved during the slavery era when most blacks could not marry legally The movie also dispenses somber messages about the stigma many American African-American families impose on their gay sons Its not perfect Willie Wise a 45 year-old year from Laurel Md 1 said of the film after seeing it this week For traditional people it would be over the top and campy but its it's ours Its It's entertainment on the large screen for us Some viewers find the characters reminiscent of those in Sex and the City or even with their predictable needy personalities colliding in farcical set But the film is also about a search for acceptance and family Logo a division of Viacom put its own twist hvist on the Sex and the City model Rather than doing a third Noahs season it had Polk make a movie instead the budget was no more than 2 million he said This provided a in built-in audience for the picture by playing to pent- pent up curiosity about how the V characters were faring The TV series also won a hard die-hard following among straight women many of whom showed their support at screenings here Women may relate to all the dramas of gay men because they too date men Polk noted in a telephone interview from Los Angeles Plus theres theresa a camaraderie of friendship among gay men that's more akin to female friendship Besides finding revenue in its narrow demographic Noahs Arc has prompted a wider discussion about a hot political issue the profile high-profile support that conservative black church leaders have shown for ballot initiatives to ban sex same-sex marriage Polk who grew up as a churchgoer in Mississippi recalls an implicit dont don't-ask tell dont policy toward homosexuals There were clearly gay people all over ove the church and gay people in every family but it just wasn't discussed The director came to Washington a week ago agoto agoto agoto to host a screening for the National Black Justice Coalition a civil rights group for black sexual minorities that has been trying to foster more tolerance in African- African American churches Like any niche market film it its it's s always surprising to others when they discover it said Alexander Robinson the groups group's executive director An understanding that doesn't happen through political discourse we sometimes get through entertainment f I |