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Gimme Shelter

Gimme Shelter (2013)

October. 17,2013
|
6.4
|
PG-13
| Drama

After running away from her abusive mother, a streetwise teen seeks refuge with her father, but he rejects her when he learns that she's pregnant.

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Reviews

Kailansorac
2013/10/17

Clever, believable, and super fun to watch. It totally has replay value.

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Gurlyndrobb
2013/10/18

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

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Philippa
2013/10/19

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

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Billy Ollie
2013/10/20

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

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Claudia Puig
2013/10/21

"Gimme Shelter" is a clunkily-made, bat -crazy parable that hammers you over the head with its Christian, anti-abortion message. An after-school special blown up on the big screen, it stridently aims to inspire you. More likely, it'll make you cringe. Vanessa Hudgens does deserve credit, though, for further shedding her Disney Channel packaging. Following increasingly daring roles in films including "Sucker Punch" and "Spring Breakers," Hudgens continues to bludgeon her good-girl image. Here, she plays an abused, pregnant teen who runs away from her volatile, drug-addicted mother (a feral Rosario Dawson). Covered in tats, piercings and 15 pounds of extra body weight, with shorn locks and smudges of dark eyeliner, Hudgens is unrecognizable. Just look at the picture up there: If you didn't know that was the adorably perky star of the "High School Musical" movies, who would you think it was? It's hard not to admire the intention, the dedication, the almost animalistic demeanor she's achieved. But then she opens her mouth, and her stiff line readings of awkward dialog make it impossible to become emotionally engaged by her character's journey. Clearly, writer-director Ronald Krauss means well, too. He spent a great deal of time with real-life pregnant teens in hopes of infusing his film with a feeling of authenticity. But the total lack of artistry, nuance and sometimes even basic competence is so distracting as to be destructive. He's also preaching to the choir — sometimes literally, given the crucial role the church has in his film. "Gimme Shelter" finds no room for debate; it reaffirms what like- minded viewers already believe about a divisive and emotional topic. In that regard, it actually does a disservice to young women who might find themselves in the same difficult state. At the film's start, Hudgens' Agnes Bailey — who prefers to be called Apple — dares to flee the clutches of her junkie, welfare-leeching mom to find the biological father she never knew. Turns out that the man who fathered her in a youthful fit of unprotected sex, Tom Fitzpatrick (Brendan Fraser), is now a wealthy Wall Street financier living in a McMansion in leafy New Jersey. His prim, thin wife (Stephanie Szostak) and their two perfect children are appalled at the sight of her gruff and grimy appearance. But soon, it become obvious that Apple is pregnant (although the identity of the father and the circumstances surrounding her conception are strangely irrelevant here). While the uptight stepmom makes the logical suggestion that perhaps Apple is not prepared to become a mother under these circumstances at age 16, Apple has made up her mind — she's keeping her baby — likely out of an innate sense of rebellion rather than any maternal instinct. Tom and his wife are depicted as moneyed, distant and soulless for arranging an appointment for her at a local clinic (no one actually says the word "abortion," by the way) but it doesn't matter. Once again, Apple dashes back out onto the streets, alone. Eventually, she ends up crossing paths with a kindly but firm priest played by James Earl Jones. When James Earl Jones tells you to go to church, you go to church. When James Earl Jones tells you to pray, you pray. And when he arranges a bed for you a nearby shelter for pregnant teens, that's clearly where you must go. While Apple is at the core of "Gimme Shelter," the fundamental story is about Kathy DiFiore, the real-life shelter founder who was once homeless herself. (She's played by Ann Dowd, who gave such a startling performance as a fast-food manager in "Compliance." Now THERE'S a film that sparks debate.) Apple's interactions with the other young mothers at DiFiore's home — which is cluttered with photographs of Ronald Reagan and Mother Teresa and posters of inspirational religious messages — feel uncomfortably forced. Her eventual softening into a proper young lady — complete with flowered sundresses, cardigan sweaters and clean, pretty air — comes out of nowhere. And the stunning 180-degree turn on the part of key characters (that's not really a spoiler now, is it?) is thoroughly unconvincing. The emotional catharsis the film strives for is unearned, rendering its ultimate uplift not just hollow but laughable.

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admarn24
2013/10/22

One of the poorer films I've watched this year. From the out-of-place soundtrack, to the nonsense decisions of the main character, and finally the ham-fisted 'emotional impact' the movie so desperately wants you to feel, I did not have any fun watching this movie. They would have had to have added an 'aww' track to make this movie any more obvious. The only saving grace was Brendan Fraser's surprising performance. If the movie had been about his characters conflict with his estranged former family, I'm sure this would have been a recommended movie. Instead you see a good fifteen minutes of him, and close to two hours of a pregnant hobo crying.

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monstermayhem32
2013/10/23

I would have to say that this film is awesome since it is one of Vanessa Huygens best performances playing 16 year old Agnes apple bailey who is suddenly pregnant and deals with her drug addicted mother June played by Rosario Dawson who is rather scary in this film. Agnes ends up going to her father Tom played by Brendan Fraser who left when she was rather young and gets a chance to bond with his daughter. At first her father forces her out of the house when Agnes refuses to go through with the abortion and keeps the baby, however throughout the film Agnes starts to find a place of belonging and her own identity when she ends up in a group home for pregnant mothers,

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nofyvm-2
2013/10/24

Initially, I wasn't sure what to expect from this feature... Talk about deeply moved, and emotionally rocked!!! Rosario Dawson was showing some of her finest work, as a drug addict, prostitute, and unfortunately a supposed mother. Then Brendan Fraser playing the father from opposite ends of the spectrum, excellent!!! I had to add a review because I choose a lot of what I watch from reviews that I read on IMDb, including this movie.What can I say about Vanessa Hudgens? Bravo!!! At points you could just see the flower blooming, with what will be a solid acting career. I was also pleased with the young supporting cast that came in a later stages in the movie.Go out and rent this movie! Especially if you are a fan of quality, real life drama.

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