Suffering for Suffering Man's Charity

Alan Cumming may be busy with multiple acting gigs and his new perfume, but somehow, he also found time to direct his second indie feature, Suffering Man's Charity. When I first saw this news, I made a high-pitched noise and dove into the net, searching for any information I could find. I loved the crisp colour in his digital collaboration with Jennifer Jason Leigh, The Anniversary Party, and I was ready for more.

Now Cumming has released a picture on his website, and I have to share my delight. He's veering from his path of characters with blurry lines of sexuality and real-life drama, and into comedic horror. But that's not the kicker. He's doing it with everyone's favourite brooding Angel, David Boreanaz.

Suffering Man's Charity tells the story of John Vandermark (Cumming), a cello teacher who harbors a secret attraction to a struggling writer named Sebastian (Boreanaz). Vandermark moves the writer into his home, and Sebastian has a fatal accident. The teacher finds the writer's unpublished manuscript, publishes it as his own, and finds himself haunted by Sebastian as the novel becomes a success.

While the quirk factor has Cumming written all over it, it's definitely new territory for Cumming's solo directorial debut. The cast is, once again, filled with great names from Jane Lynch to Carrie Fisher, but the biggest shock is the pairing of Cumming and Boreanaz. Erik Davis recently mused about the unlikely pairing of DeNiro and 50 Cent, but this duo might take the cake. The man who banks on testosterone-infused sexuality is facing off against the quintessential man of blurred sexuality. Who do you think will come out on top?