''I Think I Do'' is a 1997 American gay-themed

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a sub-genre of comedy and Romance novel, romance fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount all obstacles. Ro ...

film written and directed by Brian Sloan and starring

Alexis Arquette Alexis Arquette (; July 28, 1969 – September 11, 2016) was an American actress and transgender activist. Born in Los Angeles, she was the fourth of five children to Lewis Arquette, an actor and director, and Brenda Olivia "Mardi" (née Now ...

. It premiered on June 20, 1997 at the

San Francisco International Lesbian and Gay Film Festival The Frameline Film Festival (also known as San Francisco International LGBTQ+ Film Festival and formerly known as San Francisco International LGBT Film Festival; San Francisco International Lesbian and Gay Film Festival) is an annual event that ...

, and was also shown at the

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the most prestigious and largest publicly attended film festivals in the world. Founded in 1976, the festival takes place every year in early September. The organi ...

later that year, before receiving a small theatrical run on April 10, 1998. The film was restored and re-released for its 25th anniversary on April 19, 2024.

Premise

The film follows the relationship between Bob and Brendan, roommates at

George Washington University The George Washington University (GW or GWU) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally-chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Originally named Columbian College, it was chartered in 1821 by ...

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, five years after Bob made his romantic feelings toward Brendan known. When the two reconnect at the wedding of college friends, Bob is in a serious relationship with a soap opera star Sterling Scott, while Brendan is single and re-examining his own identity.

Cast

as Bob * Christian Maelen as Brendan *

Lauren Vélez Luna Lauren Vélez (born November 2, 1964) is an American actress. Her most notable television roles are as María LaGuerta on Showtime (TV network), Showtime's ''Dexter (TV series), Dexter'', Detective Nina Moreno on Fox Broadcasting Company, F ...

as Carol Gonzalez *

Tuc Watkins Charles Curtis "Tuc" Watkins III (born September 2, 1966) is an American actor, known for his roles as David Vickers on ''One Life to Live'', Mr. Burns in ''The Mummy (1999 film), The Mummy'', Bob Hunter (Desperate Housewives), Bob Hunter on ''Des ...

as Sterling Scott * Jamie Harrold as Matt Lynch * Guillermo Díaz as Eric *

Maddie Corman Maddie Corman (born Madeleine Cornman; August 15, 1970) is an American actress. She has appeared in over 25 films, including ''Seven Minutes in Heaven'', '' Some Kind of Wonderful'', ''The Adventures of Ford Fairlane'' and ''A Beautiful Day in t ...

as Beth * Marianne Hagan as Sarah *

Elizabeth Rodriguez Elizabeth Rodriguez is an American actress. She began her career appearing in films ''Fresh'' (1994), ''Dead Presidents'' (1995), '' I Think I Do'' (1997) and '' Blow'' (2001). She played Detective Gina Calabrese in the 2006 film adaptation of ...

as Celia Gonzalez *

Patricia Mauceri Patricia Mauceri is an American actress. She is best known for playing the role of Carlotta Vega on the American Broadcasting Company, ABC soap opera, ''One Life to Live''. Early life and career Mauceri played Angie Perrini Frame on ''Another Wor ...

as Barbara Rivera *

Marni Nixon Margaret Nixon McEathron (February 22, 1930 – July 24, 2016), known professionally as Marni Nixon, was an American soprano and ghost singer for featured actresses in musical films. She was the singing voice of leading actresses on the s ...

as Aunt Alice * Mateo Gómez as Mr. Gonzalez *

Arden Myrin Arden Myrin () is an American actress and comedian. Myrin was a cast member on the Netflix series ''Insatiable (TV series), Insatiable'', playing the role of Regina Sinclair. She was a cast member of ''Mad TV'' for the last four seasons along wit ...

as Wendy * Richard Salamanca as Fr. Paulsen * Leonard Berdick as Mr. McPherson *

Lane Janger Lane Janger is an American independent film producer, director, writer, and actor. He was born in Los Angeles, California and obtained a Master of Fine Arts in filmmaking at the New York University. In 1999, he was the star, co-writer, director ...

as wedding bartender

Production

In an interview with '' IndieWire'', director Brian Sloan said, "I wrote a ten page treatment first and from there I started writing the script. It took me about three weeks to get the first draft. I get very nervous sitting at the computer and not doing anything, so I work very fast when I actually sit down to work. Then in the course of three years, I went through ten drafts. The hardest thing about going through ten drafts during that time was to get all the characters to connect. To find a balance between all the couples and to make the different story lines work together." Filming would take place in

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

and

Reception

''I Think I Do'' grossed $345,478 while in theaters during 1998, only having been released in 10 theaters. On

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, the film holds a rating of 42% from 31 reviews. In her review, Anita Gates of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' claimed that the film requires "a taste for pointed, topical humor and a particular brand of clever conversation" and that "The characters are uniformly funny and sympathetic, and you want all of them to find the right person and be happy."

References

External links

* * * 1997 films 1997 LGBTQ-related films 1997 independent films 1997 romantic comedy films American independent films American LGBTQ-related films American romantic comedy films LGBTQ-related romantic comedy films Films set in Washington, D.C. Films shot in New Jersey Films shot in Washington, D.C. 1990s English-language films 1990s American films English-language independent films English-language romantic comedy films {{1990s-US-comedy-film-stub