The protagonist of "Testosterone," a shaky comic noir larded with soft-core sex, is a successful graphic novelist with writer's block. Ambling around, delivering wisecracks in the genial raised-eyebrow style of James Garner telling a yarn, Dean Seagrave (David Sutcliffe) hardly acts like a man with a broken heart. He insists, nevertheless, that the overnight disappearance of Pablo (Antonio Sabato Jr.), his live-in boyfriend of 10 months, has left him devastated.

Dean isn't unlikable, but he's annoyingly shallow. His description of his loss sounds more like a petulant whine of hurt pride than a cry of despair. At an art gallery, he runs into Pablo's imperious mother (Sonia Braga), who tells him that Pablo has gone home from Los Angeles to Argentina where he belongs. Determined to have one final confrontation, Dean hops on a plane to Buenos Aires and spends the rest of the movie playing sleuth.

"Testosterone" represents a big, awkward step into the unknown for director David Moreton. He aspires to stir up an elusive blend of black comedy and film-noir atmosphere. But the movie's narrative momentum is too tentative and its plot too muddled for the pieces of its story to fit or for its styles to jell.

The movie's vision of Buenos Aires evokes a city filled with mystery, dark shadows and furtive sex. Pablo's mother is a wealthy, conservative pillar of the community, and when Dean knocks on the door, she promptly summons the police. Later she has Dean followed by two menacing goons. In the meantime, he strikes up a wary friendship with Sofia (Celina Font), who works in the coffee shop next door to Pablo's home, and her brother, Marcos (Leonardo Brzezicki), who turns out to be Pablo's ex-boyfriend.

Marcos has orders from somewhere to kill Dean, but because he's attracted to him, he resists, and the two have a one-night fling. And yes, after the protracted tease, Dean finally confronts Pablo.

The film makes no psychological sense. Even within the convoluted realm of film noir, the development of the relationships defies any logic. "Testosterone" is a movie for connoisseurs of male eye candy. It wants to be much more.

"Testosterone" is not rated but would probably receive an R for simulated (gay) sex, male nudity, strong sexual profanity and crude sexual talk. Running time: 105 minutes.