''Saugatuck Cures'' is a 2014 American

comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...

. It was directed and produced by Matthew Ladensack, written by

Jay Paul Deratany Jay Paul Deratany is an American lawyer, filmmaker and writer. He is the founder of Deratany & Kosner in Chicago and focuses his practice on human rights issues. He is the writer and producer of the feature film ''Foster Boy'' as well as the play ...

, and stars Max Adler, Danny Mooney, and

Judith Chapman Judith Chapman (born Judith Shepard on November 15, 1951) is an American actress, best known for soap opera roles, particularly as Natalie Bannon Hughes in ''As the World Turns'' (1975–1978), Charlotte Greer on ''Ryan's Hope'' (1983), Ginny Bla ...

. The film premiered at the 2014 Palm Springs International LGBT Film Festival.

Plot

''Saugatuck Cures'' follows a widowed bed and breakfast owner, Maggie Callaghan (Chapman), living in

Saugatuck, Michigan Saugatuck ( ) is a city in Allegan County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 865 at the 2020 census. The city is within Saugatuck Township, but is administratively autonomous. Originally a lumber town and port, Saugatuck, alo ...

, dealing with a second round of cancer. When she cannot afford treatment, Maggie's gay son Drew (Adler) becomes determined to raise money for her treatment, though he does not have the slightest idea of how to do it. After a falling-out with his affluent sister, Penelope, a religious conservative, Drew is convinced by his eccentric best friend Brett (Danny Mooney), who is straight, to pose as ex-gay ministers in order to raise the money by "

converting Conversion or convert may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''The Convert'', a 2023 film produced by Jump Film & Television and Brouhaha Entertainment * "Conversion" (''Doctor Who'' audio), an episode of the audio drama ''Cyberman'' * ...

" homosexuals into heterosexuals. The two friends set forth on a crazy adventure, getting into a lot of trouble with the law, family conflicts and not knowing if they will have enough time to save mom.

Cast

* Max Adler as Drew Callaghan *Danny Mooney as Brett Michaels *

as Maggie Callaghan *Amanda Lipinski as Penelope Callaghan *Matthew Klingler as Paul *Julianne Howe-Bouwens as LaQuisha *Jay Paul Deratany as Reverend Stan

Release

''Saugatuck Cures'' premiered Opening Night at the Cinema Diverse: Palm Springs International LGBT Film Festival, Reeling LGBT International Film Festival and QFlix Philadelphia in the same weekend.

Reception

''Saugatuck Cures'' received a negative review from the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'', which stated that "... the film actually vilifies those struggling to reconcile their religious upbringing with their

sexual orientation Sexual orientation is an enduring personal pattern of romantic attraction or sexual attraction (or a combination of these) to persons of the opposite sex or gender, the same sex or gender, or to both sexes or more than one gender. Patterns ar ...

. Given the higher suicide rate among gay youths, you'd expect a little compassion instead of mockery for the closet cases." Its release at the Cinema Diverse film festival in Palm Springs also resulted in an Audience Choice Award from the same festival.

Home media

Breaking Glass Pictures releases ''Saugatuck Cures'' on DVD and digitally on

iTunes iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...

Amazon Video Amazon Prime Video, known simply as Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming television service owned by Amazon. The service primarily distributes films and television series produced or co-produced by ...

, VOD for all cable providers on June 30, 2015.

References

External links

* * 2014 films 2010s buddy comedy films 2014 independent films 2014 LGBTQ-related films 2010s comedy road movies American buddy comedy films American independent films American LGBTQ-related films American comedy road movies 2010s English-language films Films set in Michigan Films shot in Michigan Gay-related films LGBTQ-related buddy comedy films Religious comedy films 2014 comedy films 2010s American films English-language independent films English-language buddy comedy films Cures Conversion therapy {{2010s-comedy-film-stub