Love! Valour! Compassion!

It's doubtful that independent filmmaker John Sayles thought his 1980 reunion drama "Return of the Secaucus 7" would spawn quite so many imitations.

First up was Lawrence Kasdan's "The Big Chill," the 1983 hit that launched the careers of some of its stars (including William Hurt, Jeff Goldblum and Glenn Close). Film academicians continue to debate which film is better (though I would probably lean toward the former, which has slightly better writing and structure).

The trend has now spread to gay playwrights and filmmakers, who seem to be stuck in a similar formulaic rut. An argument could be made that this group of creators is actually copying the 1970 film "The Boys in the Band" — if not for the fact that they swipe key story elements from the Sayles and Kasdan films, without so much as a thank-you (especially the amateurish "Everything Relative").

The latest of this group is "Love! Valour! Compassion!" based on Terrence McNally's hit Broadway play. And while it, too, borrows heavily from Sayles and contains way too much in the way of beefcake full male nudity, it has a few things in its favor that the others didn't — a keen sense of humor and a terrific cast, led by Jason Alexander (from TV's "Seinfeld") and John Glover.

In it, eight gay men spend three separate summer holiday weekends at a Victorian home owned by Gregory (Stephen Bogardus), a 40ish choreographer. Joining him are Bobby (Justin Kirk), his younger, and blind, lover; gay yuppies Arthur (John Benjamin Hickey) and Perry (Stephen Spinella); John (John Glover), an overbearing English composer; John's new lover, Ramon (Randy Becker); and Buzz (Alexander), a fan of Broadway musicals whose body has begun feeling the ravages of AIDS.

Over the course of the holidays, several situations come to a head — Ramon tempts Bobby into several near-trysts, Arthur and Perry fight but stay together and John reconciles with his estranged twin, James (also played by Glover), who is also suffering from AIDS and who charms the whole house full of guests.

To be honest, there's not much here that we haven't seen before — especially the confrontational dinner discussion scene — although the athletic competition scene has an interesting twist, thanks to Alexander's preening performance.

As mentioned, the other performers are very good as well, especially Glover, whose "confrontation" between the twins is certainly the film's best scene.

But Joe Mantello, who also directed the play, gives things a static feel with his unimaginative style. Also, the midnight skinny-dipping scene at the end is a copout and seems like a concession to give audiences a "happy ending."

"Love! Valour! Compassion!" is rated R for considerable profanity and full male nudity, a few vulgar gags and references, some discreet sex, violence and a couple of racial epithets.