What if Abraham Lincoln’s presidential pursuit was sparked amid some playful, shirtless roughhousing with his legal clerk Elmer Ellsworth? Now imagine another twist — a tree in full drag regalia is a witness.
That’s some of the reinterpreted history in the unconvincingly staged new film “Lavender Men.”
The film begins with Taffeta (Roger Q. Mason), the mistreated stage manager of a community theater production about Lincoln, who is fed up with the current state of the play. Taffeta, who is nonbinary, seizes control of the narrative, granting “America’s daddy” romantic agency and his own gay love story.
Through this queer lens, Taffeta critiques Lincoln for his role in upholding white supremacy while also connecting with him as another “lonely queen,” using the encounter to reframe Taffeta’s own story. In this act of reclamation, Taffeta inhabits a kaleidoscope of roles — from army cadet to Mary Todd Lincoln to that all-knowing, unseen tree. “This is my fantasia, honey,” they proclaim to the camera. (The queering of Lincoln is also present in “Oh Mary,” Cole Escola’s Broadway hit.)
Drawing a line from modern repression to the 16th president’s sexuality is a bold premise, and “Lavender Men,” which was originally a play written by Mason, struggles to fully realize its world onscreen. The director Lovell Holder, who wrote the screenplay with Mason for this adaptation, tackles the idea of inherited trauma by breaking the fourth wall, yet the film remains narratively inert, reaching for profundity with the earnestness of poetic fan fiction.
Tonal whiplash — farcical comedy, heavy drama, even a musical number — undermines the film’s emotional stakes. You want a better story for Taffeta, and for Lincoln and Ellsworth, too. “Lavender Men” rewrites the past, but it could use edits in the present.
Lavender Men
Not rated. Running time: 1 hour 42 minutes. In theaters.
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