Shelter (2007) - 5/10
First Viewed: 4/13/08
Directed by Jonah Markowitz
Starring Trevor Wright as Zach, Brad Rowe as Shaun, Katie Walder as Tori, Tina Holmes as Jeanne, and Jackson Wurth as Cody
Zach is a lower-middle class teenager who drifts aimlessly amidst his various misfortunes. He has not been accepted into his art college, he has been having an off-and-on relationship with his best friend, Tori, and he takes care of his nephew, Cody, since his sister, Jeanne, and his dad live out their lives in an even more desultory manner.
Zach, who spends most of his free time surfing, runs into an old friend, Shaun, who has an uncanny semblance to my Sociology 1 GSI. The pair form a tight friendship until, in an alcohol-induced encounter, their relationship takes a sudden sexual turn. Confused by this turn of events, Zach becomes even more angst-ridden than usual. Jeanne - who thinks that the two men are just friends - conveniently tells Zach that Shaun is openly gay and, as irrelevant as this plot point is, forbids him from letting Shaun get close to Cody.
Shelter does deserve credit for its refusal to make Zach's homosexuality the central aspect of his character. I only wish that the character's other aspects and difficulties were more interesting. This fault largely arises from the uninspired writing, which makes the characters stereotypical - see Jeanne - and dull. Shelter could have been an interesting film about fascinating, desperate people; sadly, it devolves into such a predictable and inoffensive film that it is forgotten almost immediately upon leaving the theater.
4 comments:
#1 This movies setting was in San Pablo, not Santa Barbara. Santa Barbara is where Zack's friend, Gabe is going to school. ;)
#2 The characters were far from stereotypical. Most of the time those woman who have such a problem with drugs and boyfriends etc still have some redeeming qualities and do not run off to Oregon and leave their kids! That is interesting right there. Also both homosexual characters were the opposite of the gay stereotype unless you count Zack’s affinity with art, but the art he creates is far from what we would expect from someone who is “stereotypically gay”.
#3 I also think this movie makes a brilliant step forward in the realm of homosexual parents. Blinded by some of its superficial flaws you fail to see the deep subtle societal challenges this movie constantly dishes out. It is called “Shelter” for many reasons. Throughout the film, Zack tries to take refuge in any place he can find, his sisters, his ex girlfriends, but none of these places seem to be an actual home, merely shelters as the name implies. But finally at the end of the movie this implication is shattered and Zack and Shaun finally face the future ahead together. Also, this movie is constantly challenging what "family" is. Does Cody have a family with his dysfunctional mother who goes from boyfriend to boyfriend or in his grandpa who has obviously never supported anyone. This film asks its viewers to accept a new kind of family and does it in a way that feels so real and natural that I had to remind you this film brought up gay parents at all! Cody is also the perfect example of another societal misconception we often have. We are taught homosexuality is wrong, but we don't instinctually have this ingrained in us like society would like us to believe. Cody makes this powerful political statement by blindly accepting Shaun and Zack and loving them both for who they are to him, loving adults. He does not see their relationship as anything but normal. Kids don't see the difference and family is family to them no matter what the gender. Another merit the film deserves is that Zack is forced not only to deal with his homosexuality but to deal with finding a real family, not only for himself but for his nephew. This film makes a powerful political statement about family and challenges our prepositions. I agree that some of the writing could have been better and some of Jeanne’s lines were a bit shall we say convenient, but I challenge you to give credit where credit is deserved. This movie is jumping into a world where these issues are at the forefront and it is empirical we acknowledge and applaud these brave and needed steps forward. This movie crafts this story in such a way that the ending is predictable but mostly because it is the natural end that we all crave and are rewarded with. We want to see these two men as parents succeeding in a society that constantly holds us back from seeing this sort of representation and this craving in the audience is played upon perfectly by the film makers to create an ending that is so natural, we call it normal and forget that in our modern society, it is far from normal. I think your review merely scratched the surface of a film that may not have ultimate craft, but definitely has merit and depth worth discussing, seeing for yourself and passing on. This is a hit for the LGBT community and a brave endeavor by the film makers. I give this movie an A and encourage anyone with an open mind to watch this awesome story and judge for yourselves.
You knew I had to weigh in my thoughts because I loved this film Mr. Critic! ;)
Jon
Oh, one more correction, the film is 2008 (someone is living in the past) ;)
#1: Thanks for the correction. I just decided to take out the location entirely. btw, you mis-spelled "Zach" ;)
#2: A number of the characters were stereotypical. Jeanne - with her, as you put it, "convenient" comments - and Cody - who just loves everything and everybody - were particularly bad in this regard. Zach and Shaun I concede weren't really stereotypical, though it was very predictable that they would start a relationship. They were, at the root of it, dull characters. I think you're confusing the actual nature of the characters with the above average performances the actors manage to wring out of them.
#3: I know what the movie was trying to get at. Do I think that it worked well at presenting the narrative in a subtle and plausible manner? No. But you do make a good point about Cody and his love for Shaun just because he's a good person, something I had not really noticed.
I looked online and the release date actually was in 2007. It was shown at festivals starting in the summer of 2007.
Post a Comment