He’s physically built, unapologetically slutty, and the de facto leader of the multiethnic crew that includes the raunchy, boisterous duo of Luke ( Matt Rogers) and Keegan ( Tomás Matos), and the playfully judgmental Black intellectual Max ( Torian Miller).
Much of Yang’s expected brashness is transplanted to Noah. It’s excellent work that earns the hilarious and grandiose gesture the film gifts Howie with during the climax. Those familiar with the brash characters Yang portrayed on 'Saturday Night Live' will find a more subdued, introspective performance here, one that doesn’t scrimp on the sharp quips yet grounds them in a sincere longing for romance.
I over-exaggerate, to be sure, but it may explain why my interest gravitated toward Howie’s insecurities. If I dared venture there in my current 52-year-old dad bod condition, the island would sink itself in the Atlantic before I got there. And this was my twentysomething, in shape, muscular body. When I went to Fire Island for the first time over 25 years ago, no fewer than eight people stopped to explicitly tell me I was too fat to be there. I’m glad someone mentions it, and that the film ruminates on the real and perceived shallow optics inherent in that statement. “No fatties, no femmes, and no Asians,” someone says, describing a mantra seen in some gay spaces.