Synopsis :

Danny is a young man looking for love, the son of a gay dad and a top model mom who died of an overdose when he was still young. He wants to become part of a society that values luxury, glamour and appearances above all, by becoming a model, despite his dad who's dead set against it. His first forays in the world of fashion dramatically change his vision of things and he abandons everything. He embarks on a quest to find his real identity, taking modeling to its extreme by becoming a stripper. He finds the love he was looking for on the set of a porno shoot, with Karine, a photographer who's as voyeuristic as he is exhibitionnist. But destiny soon catches up with him...

Credits :

2002/05/31: EYE (Toronto), Adam Nayman

"...a French-Canadian Zoolander played straight... Danny just wants to be famous like Boogie Night's Dirk Diggler... tortured, perfectly-lit... director Denis Langlois has given the project an almost impossibly glossy sheen..."
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2002/05/31: Toronto Sun, Derek Tse

"... the French-Canadian equivalent of Showgirls... Tres sleazy... (it) shows that... Canada can pump out the camp classics with the best of them."
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2002/05/31: Globe and Mail (Toronto), Stephen Cole

" ... professionally shot and not badly acted ... a Quebec film about beautiful young people who lose their way in the mirrored hallways of the fashion world. "
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2002/05/31: NOW (Toronto), Sarah Liss

"Danny in the Sky offers a lotta eye candy and a few revelations ... an examination of sexual identity and the outward manifestations of queerness... Artfully shot."
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2002/05/13: Inside Out Film Festival

" Danny in the Sky is most striking for its gentle blurring of the outward signs that traditionally, perhaps stereotypically, point to queerness. Its presentation of a straight man through the eyes of a gay sensibility at once enforces and questions the great divide between various male sexualities.

Danny (Thierry Pepin) wants to be a glamorous model, just like his late mother who took the infant Danny on fashion shoots with her. After her fatal overdose, Danny was brought up by his gay father. Now in his late teens, he finds himself faced with a world that expects him to be gay: He's a gorgeous model (eventually a stripper); he displays his body with ease and comfort (the camera-and the audience-lusts after him); he even has a gay father. How could it be otherwise?

Recognizing that sexuality and its manifestations are not set in stone, director Denis Langlois (L'Escorte) plays with some of our notions of how we go about presenting our sexuality to the world. Immersed in a gay world, Danny struggles to express himself-to his father, to the woman he loves and, most importantly, to himself. "
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2002/05/02: Xtra (Toronto), Gordon Bowness

"... you have to see it to believe it... the straight title character tries to prove his manhood by becoming a runway model. When his gay father finds out, Danny is thrown out of the house and spirals down into a world of drugs, go-go dancing and hustling. The lap-dancing reconciliation scene is mad. Only in Quebec."
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2002/05/02: Toronto Star

"Beautifully shot"
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2002/02/12: SÉQUENCES - Julie Tremblay

"Let's point out the absolutely convincing performance by Thierry Pepin, a non professional, like most of the actors in the film - with the exception of Éric Cabana, the father, who is excellent. A physical drama that (...) brings to the screen a rare sensuality."
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2002/01/01: Quotes from newspapers, magazines and TV

"...Langlois has a feel for the social content... with acuity and candour... an insight into the slippery nature of sexuality and masculinity... An almost unbearably pretty cast... slick cinematography... His movies have a freshness, a directness... He has an angle" - Dimitri Katadotis, HOUR

"... sex-appeal...hip soundtrack...urban attitude... There are a thousand and one excuses to gawk at a 19-year-old hunk and Danny in the Sky uses them all... "- Geneviève Royer, THE GAZETTE

"... the main conflict - between Danny and his father - doesn't really fit the mainstream hetero mode, except maybe in that American Beauty way..."- Joanne Latimer, MIRROR

"... a cautionnary tale about a society obsessed with youthful sex-appeal..." - Brendan Kelly, THE GAZETTE

"...fast, sexy, raw and hard...an undeniable authenticity..." - Yves Lafontaine, FUGUES

"... a cool film" - Catherine Perrin, LE SEPTIEME

"...DANNY IN THE SKY is worth seeing for the questions it raises... Strong questions with troubled and troubling answers, not for those who would want safe answers that won't challenge the way they think... tight and fast treatment and editing... each seconds count... - Michel Joanny-Furtin, ETRE

"... a topical issue... in a world where looks matter more every day, the filmmaker's questions are not without interest..." - Patrick Gauthier, JOURNAL DE MONTREAL

"... Danny in the Sky is a pertinent film... young, dynamic, rousing... The characters are real people, each looking for his identity and his happiness... the images are colorful, lively and sexy... Danny in the Sky is worth seeing were it only to better understand today's youth and knock down some age-old prejudices... - Evelyne Bergeron, L'ARGENTEUIL

"...a portrayal of marginal worlds... new forms of relationships... Danny in the Sky takes no distance..." - Eric Fourlanty, VOIR

"... Danny in the Sky takes you on a night out in a certain underground Montreal night life... For his first appearance on the big screen, Thierry Pepin manages to make us believe in his character... - Denise Martel, JOURNAL DE QUÉBEC

"... (Thierry Pepin)...the gorgeous hunk plays his narcissistic character to the max..." - Normand Provencher, Le Soleil de Québec

"... all the actors and actresses are gorgeous...a seducing touch of energy..." - Sylvain Prevate, ECHOS VEDETTES

"... The quest for identity of a sex god... a sexy young straight guy who attracts men as well as women..." - Steeve Laprise, CONVERGENCES

"...Entertaining...Thierry Pepin is one of the most fascinating and seductive face in the history of our showbusiness.. - Michel Girouard, ALLO VEDETTES

"... Thierry Pepin... Promising !... " - Lise Giguère, LE LUNDI
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2001/11/25: Critic - Dimitri Katadotis, Hour

"Langlois has a feel for the social content of his stories. There is no Quebec director that I know of who treats the vicissitudes of modern, mainstream gay life with Langlois's acuity and candour. Because Langlois is something of a small " m " maverick, working on the outskirts of the industry with his regular collaborator, producer an co-scripwriter Bertrand Lachance, his movies have a freshness, a directness. Langlois's latest, Danny in the Sky, represents a step up for the director. It's a bigger budget project with higher production values and slick cinematography courtesy of Stefan Ivanov (whose credits include Rodrigue Jean's gritty Full Blast and idiosyncratic Chilean auteur Raoul Ruiz's Généalogies d'un crime). With clothes provided by a slew of Quebec designers and a bumping soundtrack featuring cuts from such techno heroes as DJ Mutante, Les Jardiniers, Luc Raymond and Alain Vinet, to name a few, the film is a showcase for local talent. What Danny does offer (...) is some insight into the slippery nature of sexuality and masculinity. Though feminized by being an object of adoration, a commodity whose body is for sale, Danny learns to forge his own identity. It's such insights that keep me interested in Langlois's work. He has an angle."
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2001/10/30: Comment from a spectator

Love the movie
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2001/10/28: Comment from the audience: daniel

Super cool
10/10
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2001/10/26: Critic - Denise Martel, Journal de Québec

"...a side of Montreal's nightlife..."
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2001/10/26: Critic - Geneviève Royer, The Gazette

"...sex-appeal... hip soundtrack... urban attitude..."
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2001/10/25: Critic - Joanne Latimer, The Mirror

" ...wonderfully measured Caroline Portelance as Sophie... "
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2001/10/25: Critic - Yves Lafontaine, Fugues

"Moral tale, this second feature by Denis Langlois (L 'Escorte) is like the universe of the kids it depicts : fast, sexy, raw and hard. Danny's role and the roles of most characters in the movie are held by young actors appearing for the first time on the big screen (except for Éric Cabana, in a composition role in which he is very much right on) . Their acting is unequal, but they give the film an undeniable authenticity which serves it."
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2001/10/25: Comment from the audience

There is not one likable character in this film & yet it held me. There's enough eye-candy in the cast to make one a diabetic.
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10/24/01: Critic - Catherine Perrin, Le Septième

"Good address for a hip movie"
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