Shelter

There's real chemistry between the two actors.

Features a superb performance in the lead role, a strong supporting cast, very good cinematography and, most of all, emotional authenticity.

Coming out has rarely looked so pretty.

A pleasant romantic drama that works best when focused on the romance -- or on the waves, since the principal characters spend a lot of time surfing.

Shelter is a gay movie like other American gay movies. Boy meets boy. Boy comes out. Boys fight opposition. Opposition caves. If there's life beyond the closet, too few movies know it exists.

Actors Trevor Wright and Brad Rowe are good enough to turn a formulaic coming-out tale into a sweet romance.

The script sounds like literal diary transcripts, the camerawork tests the limits of eyestrain, and the soundtrack bleats with mediocre pop songs by unknowns.

Continuing my Pride month marathon I finally got around to this splendid gay film after lots of reccomendations. Centering around a young man named Zach who begins hanging out with his best friends gay brother played by hunky Brad Rowe (Billy's Hollywood screen kiss). At first the two bond over surfing but it soon becomes something more as Zach has to deal with not only the effect of his relationship but the courage to pursue the life he wants. There's really nothing new here but it's done very well. The film is beautifully shot with solid chemistry from its leads and the story has a genuine, relatable feel due to the elevated, confident direction. 8/10

I finished this movie and I'm really delighted. The script, with many clichÃs though, itâ

Lots of plot holes, like forgetting about Zach's father in the wrap-up and the implausibly compressed one-month timing of the relationship. The characters are oversimplified--Gabe, the girlfriend, and Shaun are perfect in every way (supportive, accepting, hot, good with kids, ...) while Jeannie is flawed in every way (homophobic, depressed, drug abuser, bad mother, unattractive, ...). Zach is deeply in the closet which causes him to be horrible to the perfect three above, but none of them care that he's gay and Shaun's gay anyway--so most of the drama is baseless. It's like the screenwriter forgot to add motivation and the director was hoping nobody would notice. A lot of the film is like that. The two leads have chemistry and look good, which is a plus, though by the end I wanted Shaun to have at least one character flaw for interest's sake (he doesn't get any). The first half has a good amount of skin (no nudity), but the second half has almost none. In a movie like this there should be at least one good shot of an attractive shirtless man every ~10-15 minutes, and this movie failed there--but I digress. The love scene is cute. It could have used another, especially considering the script's many flaws. As I write this, this is the lowest rating here. I don't know why everyone else likes this movie so well. The guy I watched it with shared my opinion. We later watched the original Starsky and Hutch which has a far better male-male relationship (and offers so many "Ho Yay" opportunities!); we enjoyed it much more. We're both kind of bummed about the lack of good, happy, gay male movies since this one seems to top the lists and yet neither of us liked it.