Shelter (2007)

Too much of everything

Fantastic!

Excellent, Without a doubt!!

Not sure how, but this is easily one of the best movies all summer. Multiple levels of funny, never takes itself seriously, super colorful, and creative.

SPOILERS. I absolutely adore this film - so much so that I watched it again the day after my initial viewing. I'm not normally into romantic films but this was an exception. The aspiring artist that's torn between his family and love and success seems a little cliché but it's somehow made individual. Trevor Wright (who is all kinds of attractive) is a brilliant actor and brings the character of Zach to life perfectly. Zach, the artist, has a freak-out about his gay tendencies and pushes away the man he has feelings for because he doesn't want to be judged. His sister's comment of "You're not a fag, are you?" was uncalled for but necessary for her character - who is extremely dislikable. Through her nonchalant attitude to life and the fact her boyfriend is more important to her than her son, we see the best qualities of her brother show through. Shaun, the older brother of his best friend, becomes a shoulder to lean on for Zach and is open about his feelings. This initially drives Zach away. When he knocks at Shaun's door, after having an internal debate, and pushes him against the wall, kissing frantically, we see the real Zach come out. His goofy grin the morning after sex is what made the film for me. He's gorgeous in the sunrise light. After many other internal debates, he finds himself in Shaun's bed again and there's an amazing scene (with the addition of well picked music) that just makes your heart melt. Then Shaun's younger brother arrives and things get messed up again. It takes a conversation with his ex-girlfriend to make Zach realise he's in love and they live happily ever after with Zach's nephew (more like his son).

Shelter is an award winning 2007 debut feature by writer, director Jonah Markowitz, often dubbed the 'Gay Surfer Movie' by journalists and reviewers alike, in much the same way as Brokeback Mountain was labelled the 'Gay Cowboy Movie'. It is essentially a love story between a couple of guys doing what they love, surfing and spending time outside, and considering they come from California they have a lot of opportunity to do that. Trevor Wright plays Zach, an aspiring artist living in San Pedro, which is a pretty working class suburb of Los Angeles. He is essentially a nice guy, he has put his dreams of art school on hold for a while as he helps his family out. Taking care of his older manipulative sister Jeanne, his little nephew Cody and their disabled father takes up a fair amount of his time. To make ends meet he works in a restaurant cooking fast food and when he gets some free time he likes to paint, draw murals, surf, and hang out with his best mate Gabe. He also finds time to see his quasi-girlfriend, their relationship seems to be one of those off again on again off again affairs, both not quite ready to cut the cord completely and they really understand in an unspoken sort of way it is more friendship that relationship. All is sedate revolving and unaffected until Gabe's older brother Shaun comes down for a few weeks and as Zach and Shaun go surfing together a friendship grows and develops between them at thunderous speed. Shaun, played by the lovely Brad Rowe, encourages Zach follow his dreams a little more and take control of his life. Confusion starts to rage in Zach's mind, his emotions are all in a state of flux, which is only added to when one evening after an afternoon of surfing Shaun kisses Zach. Whilst it is a pleasurable experience for them both, Zach is not quite ready to expand and explore the feelings the kiss has given birth to. It takes a little while, but a little soul searching later their friendship soon morphs into a full on romance, all the while Shaun builds up a strong rapport with Zach's little nephew, Cody.There are some lovely comic moments spaced throughout the movie, for example, Zach and Shaun are in bed together after a bit of bonding, when they hear Gabe coming back from college, which results in a rapid hiding of Zach, which could have easily turned into loose farce had the scene pacing been carefully thought out. Sister Jeanne knows Zach has been spending a lot of time with Shaun, she warns Zach of Shaun sexuality and telling him to keep Cody away from him. This brings in the obligatory social pressure needed to further confuse poor Zach. Behind the scenes, Shaun has been a bit of a mischievous minx and secretly submitted an application to art school on Zach's behalf. This my darlings is the movies so....Zach an offer of a full scholarship. However, we are not quite at the happy ever after stage yet and there is more malarkey on the horizon to deal with. Jeanne's boyfriend, the rather nasty Alan gets a job in some godforsaken place; I think it is called Portland, which is so not within LA commuting distance. The film scored a slew of awards from various GLBT film festivals, including best actor and best cinematography at Tampa, best film at Dallas, best feature at Melbourne, best director at Seattle and GLAAD honoured it with an outstanding film award in 2009.It is a sweet and gentle romance with a heart and an interesting core whilst also not being too adventurous, left field or controversial. Some in the cruel light of a dank, drizzly English morning might proffer Shelter is as tame as an episode of In The Night Garden, so packed is it with typical clichés and soft soaping of the issues that it should stay as a teatime special on Hallmark or Really.Find out where this film made it in the Top 50 Most Influential Gay Movies of All Time book, search on Amazon for Top 50 Most Influential Gay Movies of All Time, or visit - http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B007FU7HPO

If you've been interested in watching a movie with gay characters but cringe in exasperation when you see guys dressing up as women, acting like tarts, courting death by way of promiscuity, taking drugs, feeling sorry for themselves or bathing in suicidal despair, then "Shelter" is the movie for you. Trevor Wright (who plays Zach) and Brad Rowe (playing Shaun) make this film very likable. They do not look offbeat or effeminate; they do not walk around singing Broadway show tunes; and they do not refer to themselves or other gay guys as "girl." They convincingly portray two healthy, regular American guys who just happen to be gay. In fact, they turn out to be intelligent, resilient and altruistic. Shaun is already well grounded in his identity and Zach is journeying toward his authentic self. This film is substantially more positive in tone than many gay flicks and contains no maddening goofiness or flippancy. Zach has to deal with some real-life choices - among them, choosing whether or not to realize that the most challenging homophobia does not come from an oppressive society but from within one's self. Throw in Zach's adorable little nephew - played by Jackson Wurth - and you have a movie that's pretty hard to resist.

I only recently found out about this movie and I'm so glad I did! The movie is so amazing and inspiring to watch. It is a great film and I would urge people to watch it if they have no already. However, if you like huge box office smashers with plenty of action, this movie is not for you. It's so true to real life and has the ability to inspire others. The storyline is very simple yet so interesting and moving. It's a simple movie with a beautiful meaning behind it and I'm so happy I got to see it. It is now definitely one of my best movies and I wish more people would make movies like this, instead of all the non meaningful rubbish thats out there today. I really do recommend people to watch it, especially if you are thinking about it, it is worth it and you will hopefully enjoy it as much as I did!