BOY CULTURE REVIEW: *** OUT OF ****

I once had scabies in elementary school, but don't worry—a gayby, and the film Gayby, are much less unpleasant.

He's versatile: Lisecki wrote, directed and appears in Gayby

Gayby, written, directed and featuring a nelly-but-with-teeth (Franklin Fangborn?) supporting performance by Jonathan Lisecki, is about an average gay Joe (Matthew Wilkas) and what used to be called his fag hag but is now called his female best friend (Jenn Harris) getting together and deciding to have a baby...the old-fashioned way.

Think of it as The Next Best Thing, but funny and well-acted and worth seeing.

What we liked about this sweet comedy is that it has real heart and brings a bit of dimension to a simple premise thanks to the great chemistry of the talented cast. Wilkas is way too adorable to be believably having dating issues, but he has a wonderful Peter Scolari quality that helps you forget—for minutes at a stretch—that he is in possession of a bangin' body and could easily be off somewhere modeling instead of playing a character pining for an ex and meekly trying to find his Mr. Right. He's absolutely great in this.

Harris has a deadpan Jackie Hoffman thing that makes some of her work—especially an athletic sex scene—utterly hilarious.

And even though those three would have been enough to make Gayby satisfying, the large supporting cast is uniformly good and interesting, especially Jack Ferver, who out-nellies Lisecki in a memorable battle of the boy bitches. You know the script is good when you see the variety of talent Lisecki has attracted for small roles, including a virtual cameo by Randy Harrison, appearances by two guys who would go on to appear on Girls (Adam Driver and Alex Karpovsky) and Miss Mississippi Massala herself, Sarita Choudhury.

Gayby has a few easy jokes and some clichés, but it never gives itself over to them and never gets too serious, and that's the point. Having children isn't all angst—there's time to smile.

Gayby is available December 11 at WolfeVideo.com