“Breakfast With Scot” is out in DVD today!

This is a wonderful film that I saw two years ago at the Palm Springs International Film Festival. Breakfast With Scot stars Ben Shenkman and my bigtime crush Tom Cavanagh whose big blue eyes and sexy lips are made for the big screen.

They play a couple whose lives are turned upside down when Shenkman’s nephew comes to live with them. The kid makes Justin on Ugly Betty seem butch. And that’s the point of the film. Cavanagh’s character is a closeted former NHL star-turned sportscaster whose internalized homophobia leads to him trying to make the boy (perfectly played by Noah Bennett) into a hockey player instead of a jewelry and make-up wearing kid who favors colorful boas and singing Christmas songs in October.

This is a comedy and a good one. But it also has so much heart and it does such a wonderful job of addressing this whole issue of what to do with a sissy kid.

Do you encourage the kid’s true nature or try and make a man out of him?

Cavanagh’s Sam thinks he’s doing what’s best but learns a lot of lessons – mostly about himself along the way

Director Laurie Lynd said the film absolutely could not have worked without the performance of Bennett who beat out hundreds of kids for the role of the nephew. He is the heart of the film and the scenes he shares with Cavanaugh are enough to make a grown man cry.

“For me, it wasn’t anything specifically about (playing gay). It was about the story,” Cavanagh said in an interview we did in 2008. “I really liked the idea of a mismatched couple taking in this flamboyant child. I felt like I’d seen this variation on screen but never with two guys and a child. It seemed like a twist on the twist.”

Cavanagh, who starred in the NBC series Ed and had a recurring role as Zach Braff’s brother on Scrubs, has never shied away from gay roles including that of Christine Lahti’s brother on the old WB series Jack and Bobby.

Playing a former NHL star turned sportscaster in Scot offered many layers to play, including the character’s internal homophobia.

“He had to face why he had that world view,” Cavanagh said. “It was fun to play. I loved playing the part and I loved the central conceit.”

Cavanagh and Shenkman had worked together previously on the short-lived series Love Monkey.

He had kind words for his on-screen partner: “He’s incredible, such a deft and talented actor. His is not an easy role to play. You want to try as much as you can to stay away from cliches on both our parts. I thought he was grounded and real. I feel like he grounds the picture.”

Shenkman and I chatted at Outfest in 2008 when the film was screened on opening night.

I asked him about the amazing Noah Bernett.

“The whole thing wouldn’t have worked if they hadn’t found him,” Ben said of Noah. “It can have no trace of a self-conscious performance about it otherwise you’re not worried for him. And all the comedy comes out of being worried for him and all the pathos comes out of being worried for him. They were just very lucky to find that kid.”

Here in a LINK to Amazon.com to find out more about the DVD.