He also frets about his sex drive, saying, “At my age, I take what I can get.” Undaunted, he joins a gay Caribbean cruise but essentially remains a loner. He mentions weighing “exit strategies” but admits trying not to think about death too much. He reminisces about his longtime lover, whom he lost to a stroke after nearly 35 years and after some heart attacks, Robert is on a pill regimen while his nephew manages more of the business.ĭennis, a soft-spoken 78-year-old who dresses as Dee, alternates between a solitary life in a modest Florida residence and a retirement home outside Portland, Ore. Robert, an affable 72-year-old with a penchant for Hawaiian shirts, runs Robert’s Lafitte, a Galveston, Tex., gay bar that hosts weekend drag shows and holiday potlucks. As it hops across the country, the film depicts a generation that has seen profound advances in gay rights but struggles with common issues of aging. There’s much sympathy but little tension in P J Raval’s new documentary, “Before You Know It,” a gentle portrait of three gay men of a certain age.
