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Sunday, Jul 06, 2008
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Shelter engaging, but falls short of potential |
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| Shelter engaging, but falls short of potential | ||
| by Nick Ardizzone -
SGN Staff Writer Shelter Opening March 21 After taking Best New Director and Favorite Film prizes at last year's Seattle Lesbian & Gay Film Festival, Jonah Markowitz's Shelter lands on screens this week. It's the story of surfer Zach (Trevor Wright), a vaguely geeky budding artist who longs to go to college but is saddled with caring for his trashy older sister Jeanne and her son, Cody. Already trapped by familial obligations, his life gets more complicated when he finds himself drawn to his best friend's brother, Shaun (Brad Rowe). Where Zach puts his priorities and how he deals with his attraction forms the backbone of Shelter, a movie frustratingly close to excellent, but which falters when it uproots its grounding in reality. First-time director Markowitz shows a lot of potential. Zach's passion for painting ("street art," he snaps grittily) is portrayed gracefully as he broods in his rooftop studio and tags the city with genuinely interesting sprays. When he surfs, the world falls into slow-mo to emphasize the tranquility of his near-meditative state. Zach and Shaun's first kiss is spontaneous and natural, and Markowitz shows laudable restraint by not amping up the soundtrack or camerawork to embellish it - these tricks are saved for the pair's first sexual encounter, a quick-cut sequence of grinding bodies set to a guitar riff that echoes the pounding orchestral stabs of the Godspeed You Black Emperor! track from 28 Days Later. Strong casting and acting give Shelter a solid emotional core, but Markowitz hits a few snags. Shelter is a gritty indie, but Shaun's character is pure Hollywood-style Prince Charming, unbelievably and distractingly flawless. Often shirtless, he looks like Brad Pitt in full Tyler Durden mode, but has a heart as gentle and nurturing as a spring rain. He loves surfing, Zach's nephew Cody, and frolicking under the high thread-count sheets in his sun-dappled bedroom. An audience expecting his perfect façade to eventually chip will find nothing underneath but more selfless benevolence; after Zach angrily lashes out at him, Shaun retaliates by submitting Zach's application to art school. He is perfection made manifest. At the film's dramatic climax, Zach has to decide whether or not to stay with a handsome, supportive millionaire who loves cooking juicy steaks almost as much as raising kids. Another sticky problem arises when Zach accepts his feelings toward Shaun. After the audience has braced itself for the emotional fallout, the only consequence Zach faces for coming out is a quick, ignorant talking-to from his sister. Unquestioning acceptance from his circle of friends is immediate. When Zach's beer-bonging fratboy buddy gets hit with the news that Zach's been sleeping with his brother, he reacts with the sensitivity of a Buddhist master - a far cry from his previous scene, where he joked about "low-carb fag food." Zach's longtime girlfriend Tori (well played by ruddy-nosed Katie Walder), initially miffed by his change of heart, comes around two scenes later. Even his sister has a change of heart. If this is meant to be commentary on today's open-minded society, it still smacks of lazy writing - a third-act Gayus ex machina. It works out very well for Zach, but the outpouring of unconditional love smothers Shelter's conflict, diluting the story and turning the movie into a soft-pedaled romance. It's easy to compare new Gay cinema to the Brokeback Mountain juggernaut and find it lacking, but Shelter is more in league with the German Summer Storm or 2001's time-jumping Come Undone. Involving and absorbing when it shows Zach working through substantive issues, Markowitz's choice to have it coast through the second half is disappointing. It's a sweet, feel-good movie that achieves the modest goals it sets, but could have reached for much more. |
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