Coming from director Lee Stern, Rebel is a surprisingly big disappointment. Stern, once an actor in gayporn videos himself, has proven to be a director with a particular touch for bringing out the best in his stars, particularly younger players.  In Rebel he does succeed in eliciting some potent chemistry his stars in scene after scene, but everything else is left hanging.  Editing, photography and lighting are all strictly bargain basement.  As for the script, I can’t say that I noticed any evidence of a story.

As a result, Rebel can claim a certain rustic, cinema verite charm – what’s going on before the camera certainly looks authentic enough.  It also appears to be shot in real time, with the pacing left up entirely to the players.  This is a little like plying voyeur in real life – sight-lines may be terrific or lousy, and moments of genuine excitement are punctuated by long stretches of waiting for them to just get on with it.

There’s certainly nothing wrong with Stern’s cast this time out – all are eager and up, young and vital; a few are real knock-outs.  But they’re all crying out for some glossier packaging.  There’s no reason that headliner Mark Steel, making his debut here, couldn’t become a household word in gay VCR households, but it won’t happen because of Rebel.  This video is simply too sloppy and casually made.  By comparison, the superslick if sometimes empty products of Matt Sterling or John Travis look better and better.