Rating of
3/4
Gimme "Shelter"
kcvidkid - wrote on 05/08/08
There's much to like in this gay coming out story, but somehow it left me wanting more.
I said this a while back about the surplus of gay flms as they became more common and stopped being a novelty: at some point they're just as likely to be stereotypical and derivative as straight films.
I guess it's been some time since I've seen a coming out story, and the specific situation(s) in "Shelter" seemed fairly original. But all these movies end up in the same place, especially if they want to be crowd-pleasers. In striving to do so, "Shelter" was not authentic to me.
I actually felt sorry for the main character who wants to settle down so quickly and be a "family". I mean, he's just acknowledged that he's gay: he's not going to have a chance to sow his wild oats and experience what being gay has to offer. It may be my real life experience, but I just don't see it working out for him past the confines of the movie.
The cast, though, is ever so appealing and goes a long way towards the enjoyment of the movie.
Skin Rating = 3 (out of 4). I'm being greedy here, because there is ample, yet not plentiful, young male skin. I just wanted more. And I have to subtract a little from a perfect rating because I fear Brad Rowe is not aging well. Don't get me wrong; he's still very attractive. But he used to be H-O-T.
