Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ

Shortbus is a basement club where New Yorkers go to throw off the shackles of sexual inhibition - or indeed clip on the shackles. It's a daring but overindulgent comedy drama by indie filmmaker John Cameron Mitchell (Hedwig And The Angry Inch) that's further undermined by hints at post-9/11 angst. A fearless ensemble of actors bare their souls and everything else in countless graphic scenes; sadly, the heart is the only organ that goes without stimulation.

It's not that Mitchell doesn't try to tug the heartstrings; in fact he goes overboard with melodrama. Paul Dawson plays James, an openly gay man who's unable to be open with his lover (PJ DeBoy). His tendency to gaze into the middle-distance and cry after masturbation is supposed to indicate a troubled past... Other members of Shortbus include Sook-Yin Lee as Sofia, a sex therapist who's never had an orgasm, and Lindsay Beamish, playing an emotionally stunted dominatrix who offers to whip Sofia into shape, metaphorically speaking.

"GREATER TRAGEDIES EXIST OVER GENITAL DYSFUNCTION"

Beamish's deadpan portrayal and outrageous moments like Sofia being tormented via a remote-controlled vibrator prompt a few laughs, but you'll feel empty afterwards. Wherever Mitchell tries to convey deeper feelings, his characters only come across as tediously self-obsessed. Flashes of Ground Zero are intended to highlight the price of freedom yet they're actually a reminder that greater tragedies prevail over genital dysfunction. Everything comes to a head in a touchy-feely climax (if you catch our drift) where, ironically, it isn't the strong sex but all the singing and handholding that's the real turn-off.