Fixing Frank

Ken Hanes wrote the screenplay for this adaptation of his controversial play about a reporter who finds himself torn between the firmly held beliefs of two psychologists. Frank Johnston (Andrew Elvis Miller) is an investigative journalist who is involved in a long-term relationship with Dr. Jonathan Baldwin (Paul Provenza), a psychologist. Both Frank and Jonathan are have an interest in the work of Dr. Arthur Apsey (Dan Butler), another psychologist who has become controversial for his claims that he can "cure" gay men of their homosexual orientation. Jonathan thinks Apsey is a fraud, and Frank thinks there's an exposé to be written about Apsey, so they come up with a plan: Frank will begin seeing Apsey as a patient, claiming he wants to be wants to be rid for his desires for other men, and Jonathan will use Frank's inside data on Apsey to reveal the flawed thinking behind his techniques. However, Frank soon discovers Apsey is shrewder than he imagined; it doesn't take long for the doctor to figure out what Frank is trying to do, and as he begins to question Frank, he forces the journalist to examine the flaws in his relationship with Jonathan that he's been willing to ignore, as well as poking holes in Frank's assumptions about Apsey's work. Fixing Frank was screened at the 2001 L.A. Outfest, a festival for gay- and lesbian-themed films.