Kiss Me, Guido

Synopsis

Frankie (Scotti) is a young Italian American man living with his family in The Bronx, New York. He works in a pizza parlor but, inspired by the likes of Al Pacino and Robert De Niro, he wants to be an actor. After catching his fiancee (Jennifer Esposito) cheating on him with his brother, Frankie decides the time has come to move out and pursue his dream.

He starts by checking the classifieds for roommate ads. He finds an ad from a "GWM." In classified-speak this stands for "gay white male" but Frankie and his friend Joey (Domenick Lombardozzi) interpret it as "guy with money."

The GWM in question is Warren (Barrile), an actor who's recently broken up with his director boyfriend. Frankie and Warren each have some initial misgivings - Frankie over Warren's being gay, Warren over Frankie's being a "Guido" or stereotypical Italian - but Warren lets Frankie move in.

Warren's ex, Dakota (Christopher Lawford), returns and offers Warren a part in his new play. Warren initially accepts but after being injured in an attempted gay bashing, has to withdraw. Frankie replaces him, but the part involves a same-sex kiss, which makes him nervous. At the premiere Frankie gives a good performance (although he hesitates on the kiss, leading his scene partner to hiss "Kiss me, Guido!") for an audience that includes his family, who come to understand and accept his decision to become an actor.

Soundtrack

Television

CBS brought Kiss Me, Guido to the small screen in 2001 under the title Some of My Best Friends. The series starred Jason Bateman as Warren, Danny Nucci as Frankie, Michael DeLuise as Pino and openly gay actor Alec Mapa in the newly created role of Vern Limoso. The series, written by Tony Vitale and Marc Cherry of Desperate Housewives, was cancelled after one season. Repeats turn up occasionally on Logo.