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weekend watch

Sinner, spaceman, sex worker… meteorologist?? Matt Bomer’s four most underrated performances

By Lee Meyer August 9, 2024 at 11:00am
Image Credits: ‘Papi Chulo,’ Blue Fox Entertainment (left) | ‘The Sinner,’ USA Network (center) | ‘Space Station 76,’ Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (right)

Welcome to your weekend streaming recommendations, a.k.a. the Weekend Watch, a handy guide to the queerest film and TV content that’s just a click away!

Who doesn’t love Matt Bomer? The out actor has been delivering fantastic film and television work for years now, but it feels like he’s only recently been getting the flowers he’s always deserved.

Aside from the recent second life of White Collar after it began streaming on Netflix, Bomer also received the best reviews of his career on Showtime’s gay historical drama Fellow Travelers, which featured intense sex scenes and earned him his second Emmy nomination! He’s also been tapped to star opposite Nathan Lane in the sitcom Mid-Century Modern, which has been described as a queer take on the Golden Girls formula, which just might end up being our favorite show ever??

In honor of the current Bomer-ssaince, let’s take a look back on four of the actor’s fantastic, lesser-known roles from over the years that you can stream roght now. This guy’s got the range!

Space Station 76

This 2014 dark comedy, directed by Jack Plotnick, imagines a retro-1970s future about a group of people on the space station Omega 76. In this ensemble film, Bomer plays Ted, a mechanic who’s unhappily married to the ice-cold Misty (Marisa Coughlan). Throughout the film, relationship dynamics in the ’70s—including sex, depression, monogamy and, yes, homosexuality—are explored with a decidedly hilarious sci-fi bent. And sweaty, greasy Bomer, with a robotic hand, is our favorite part.

Now streaming on Tubi. Available to rent digitally on Amazon, Apple TV, and Microsoft Store.

Papi Chulo

Bomer plays Sean, a lonely, broken-hearted weatherman, in this lovely 2018 comedy by John Butler. One day, Sean picks up a migrant worker, Ernesto (Alejandro Patiño), to paint his deck and an unlikely friendship is born. Sean is a neurotic gay man constantly on the verge of a meltdown, while Ernesto is a straight, stoic, hardworking guy with a family. As they grow closer, Sean is forced to face some of his co-dependency issues and learn to be okay in his own skin without the help of a companion.

Now streaming on Prime Video, Peacock, Hoopla, Fandor, and FreeVee.

Anything

In Timothy McNeil’s 2017 romance, Bomer plays trans sex worker Freda Von Rhenburg, who strikes up an unlikely romantic relationship with Early Landry (the terrific John Carroll Lynch), a man grieving the loss of his wife. While Bomer and the film received some criticism for a cis man playing a trans woman, this film is also deeply empathetic and portrays a surprisingly tender love story that defies sexuality.

Now streaming on Prime Video. Available to rent digitally on Amazon, Apple TV, and Microsoft Store.

The Sinner

In the third season of this fascinating crime drama starring Bill Pullman as Detective Harry Ambrose—who has a knack for finding twists in seemingly open-and-shut cases—Bomer plays Jamie Burns, a seemingly perfect husband and dad-to-be whose life is turned upside down by the reemergence of his college friend, Nick Haas (Chris Messina). When Jamie and Nick are involved in a devastating car wreck, Ambrose realizes something sinister is going on with Jamie. While this story doesn’t have an outwardly gay character, there’s something distinctly queer about the strange relationship between Jamie and Nick.

Now streaming on Netflix.

The Kicker…

Bomer got his start in soaps, playing Ben Reade on Guiding Light from 2001 – 2003. Over the course of his two years on the show, Ben went through… a lot. Check out Bomer’s hilarious summary of the outrageous Ben Reade story on Conan.

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2 Comments*

  • linedrive

    My sister and I bought the White Collar series on DVD (remember those 🙂 ) back in the day and watched it together. Loved it! So glad it’s getting a new life. And Matt Bomer…wow. What a beautiful man.

  • shanek

    I’d call Space Station 76 just depressing instead of a dark comedy. Maybe I didn’t “get it”.

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