Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Binding: DVD
Brand: WELLSPRING/GENIUS
EAN: 0858423001353
Format: Closed-captioned
Label: Genius Products (TVN)
Manufacturer: Genius Products (TVN)
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Genius Products (TVN)
Region Code: 1
Release Date: 2008-05-27
Running Time: 89
Studio: Genius Products (TVN)
Theatrical Release Date: 2007

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Spotlight customer reviews:

Customer Rating:

Summary: Best gay movie ever
Comment: Most gay movies are low budget and cheesy. This movie has great actors, gream film technique, a good screen play, a compelling plot, interesting characters, beautiful scenery, and leaves you feeling moved and challenged at the end. I'm glad I live in one of the cities where it is showing in theaters because I plan to go watch it again in a few days. I'm a bartender at a gay bar and asked many of my customers if they have ever seen a better gay movie. Everyone who has seen it said that nothing they have seen in the gay genre is as good. Highly recommended!

Customer Rating:

Summary: Charming
Comment: I was just as fascinated with Zach's sister, nephew, ex-girlfriend, and best friend as I was with the two male leads, that is a true compliment. I ordered this movie off Here! TV and watched it 5 times before the 24 hours elapsed. I quickly pre-ordered it from Amazon. I like all kinds of movies but some movies are content to just put two good-looking guys on screen, take their shirts off, let them get touchy and hope it plays. This one came through. You really wanted Zach to make the right decision and even agonized with what would become of little Cody if he didn't. And of course, two good-looking guys make out. That's a plus...not the whole show! Also, the soundtrack is wonderful! Truly a charming and inspiring romance.

Customer Rating:

Summary: one of the sweetest films i ever saw!
Comment: I recently found this film, and can not wait until May 27th when it is released so that i can buy it. I have never written a review online before, but this film deserves to be seen. The main characters Zach and Sean are so sweet to one another and encouraging for each other that it makes this far better than most films. They trust one another and want each other to do well. i do not care for the sister character, but the little boy and Zach's best friend and Sean's brother are very good characters. The acting is stronger than most films, the story is very good. I almost felt like crying when the leads's sister keeps forcing him to take care of her and her son, while not having a life of his own. Thank god he meets and falls in love with Sean and that they end up taking care of her son, he will have a great life with two people who love him and love each other. A totally inspiring story.

Customer Rating:

Summary: Gimme Shelter
Comment: "Shelter" is the homoerotic version of the Endless Summer, think of it as "The OC" with gay romance thrown in. Zach (Trevor Wright) is an aspiring artist. He wants to go to Cal Arts, but he has to deal with a promiscuous,intoxicated sister Jeanne, and care for his nephew. His father is addicted to painkillers and on disability. Zach lives in run-down San Pedro. He then encounters Shaun (Brad Rowe),the older brother of his friend Gabe. After a furtive, drunken kiss, Zach questions his sexual orientation, his relationship with his girlfriend Tori,and his art. He finally "comes out", with Tori and Gabe being supportive and compassionate. There's melodrama with the homophobic Jeanne. Still, it resolves with a happy ending.

"Shelter" is a gay "Juno." It's an indie movie, humbly made. The largely unknown cast bring realism to their roles. Wright shines as the conflicted Zach. The Southern California landscape is drenched in sunlight; the Pacific Ocean is almost another character, its waves and tides reflecting the leads' inner conflicts.

It does have some problematic aspects, however. Rowe portrays Shaun in a seemingly predatory way, and his "you're like your mother" to Zach comes across as... odd. The master/pupil relationship comes across as creepy. The plot also resolves itself too neatly. Jeanne's acceptance is sudden, deus ex machina. Then again, this is fiction, not a documentary. "Shelter" is a touching, sympathetic story. There's nothing flamboyant or over-the-top about it. Catch the wave!

Customer Rating:

Summary: UnMISSable
Comment: What a WONDERFULLY romantic film! Like the other reviewers before me, I was besotted by the film. This is definitely one of the best gay themed movie to come in a long while. Production values, acting, actors were all top notch. Definitely something you would keep as a collector.

More Reviews

Editorial Reviews:

The feature-film debut from art director Jonah Markowitz (Quinceaera) pivots on the tension between responsibility to family and responsibility to self. Recent high-school graduate Zach (Trevor Wright) has one summer to reconcile the competing halves of his life. The aspiring Picasso lives in blue-collar San Pedro with his irresponsible sister, Jeanne (Tina Holmes, Half Nelson), her five-year-old son, Cody (Jackson Wurth), and their rarely-seen father. Zach gave up his art school dreams to toil in a diner and help look after his much-loved nephew. With his best friend, Gabe (Ross Thomas), away at college, Zach draws, surfs, and skateboards by his lonesome. When Gabe's novelist brother, Shaun (Brad Rowe, Billy's Hollywood Screen Kiss), returns to his Orange County home to recover from a broken heart, he and Zach alternate between riding the waves and encouraging each other to pursue their aspirations. Shaun is gay, while Zach appears to be straight, but a casual kiss between the two soon leads to a secret relationship. Before the former returns to Los Angeles, the latter has to decide who he is--gay, straight, artist, cook, uncle, or father--and what he's going to do about it. Except for the location shooting, this low-budget indie plays like an extended episode of The O.C. what with all the "bro"s and "dude"s and love scenes tame enough for network TV. Nonetheless, Markowitz's heart is in the right place, and Shelter may provide some real-life Zachs with the courage they need to follow their passions. --Kathleen C. Fennessy