Hate Crime
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DVD details
Actor: Brian J. Smith (II), Bruce Davison, Chad Donella, Cindy Pickett, Seth PetersonBrand: Image Entertainment
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo; English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
Format: Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.78:1
Running Time: 103 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2006-11-14
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Model: ID3439HCDVD
Studio: Image Entertainment
DVD Reviews of Hate Crime
DVD Review: "...And their blood shall be upon them..." - Leviticus
Summary: 5 Stars
It is so seldom that a film tears directly at your gut that you forget from one such experience to the next just how involving and emotionally gripping a movie can really be. At the same time, it is unusual to find a suspense film that manages to keep you guessing and maintain your interest up to the conclusion of whatever puzzle a filmmaker has set up, especially when you've seen as many suspense films as I have. And it is genuinely thrilling to find a motion picture that can make you question your own values, or even incite you to approve of things you might not ordinarily condone.
Normally, I would be happy to find a movie that presents any of these merits, but for a film to embody all of these characteristics? I thought such a movie couldn't exist. Then I watched Hate Crime, and was utterly blown away.
Perhaps it's because, as a gay man, I identified wholly with the young, amiable same-sex couple in this film. Perhaps it's because I am sick of arguing with "well-intentioned" people of "faith", who think they know better than I do what course my life should take. Or perhaps it is because, I must admit, I think that fanatic religious fundamentalists - of whatever persuasion - are just about the most wholly evil and hypocritical people on the face of the earth. Whatever. All I know is, this picture hit me right in the chops, and kept right on hitting me until I thought couldn't take any more.
Robbie and Trey are a gay couple who have all the pluses. They live in a comfortable home, their union is accepted by their parents, their neighbors and family love them, and they are about to have a commitment ceremony. Suddenly, into their lives comes a new neighbor. The son of a Fundamentalist preacher moves in next door, and makes it plain that he does not approve of gay men. Within a few weeks, Trey is assaulted with a baseball bat while walking their dog, and abruptly their picture-perfect lives are shattered by the full force of unadulterated bigotry.
What happens next had me alternately crying, cringing, guessing at the next plot turn and sitting on the edge of my seat or applauding. I found myself doing all of these things several times, while being amazed that these emotions and reactions were all prompted by scenes in the same film, and sometimes within moments of each other. As this is a "suspense" film, I do not want to reveal too many details, but let me comment on just a few aspects of Hate Crime that I especially liked.
Although predictable to a point, the plot does not unfold as neatly as you would think. The narrative twists several ways, and I marveled at writer / director Tommy Stovall's ability to make me shake with fury one moment and feel supremely satisfied the next, only to find the story moving in places I wasn't sure I wanted it to go. The acting was all first rate, the direction taut and crisp and the details credible and as up to the minute as the lead story on the ten o'clock news. Even better, there were two or three scenes that I, as a gay man, found so wholly satisfying, that I was amazed the film dared to go there. One in particular was a scene where the screen alternates between a fire-and-brimstone sermon by Bruce Davison as the father of the lead homophobe, and a loving, life-affirming prayer service by a congregation devastated by the unspeakable violence in their midst. The contrast was there for all to see; the loving, forgiving healing God of the moderates versus the punishing, vindictive, fire-and-brimstone God of the hypocrites. Undeniable in its candor, I wish I could show that scene to everyone, everywhere.
Even more satisfying was a literal "slap in the face" to the wife of the preacher, who suggests that the hate crime victim made himself a target by his "lifestyle choice". Again, I've never seen a film quite go to the places this one did, and I have to admit it was a guilty pleasure.
Certain details were very hard to digest, not because they weren't plausible (and there were some stretches, I admit), but because I found myself feeling uncomfortable with the emotions and conflicts they evoked. Particularly difficult for me was the "revenge" aspect. I have always been against "vigilante" justice; no matter what cause or reason, I don't believe anyone can take the law into their own hands. In Hate Crime, the victim tries desperately to gain some satisfaction through legal means, and finding none, goes to great lengths to entrap the perpetrator into confessing, and only after all else fails, the guilty party is punished in a manner that is justly fitting. Hate Crime leaves no doubt that the murderer is guilty of a heinous, capitol crime, for which he may never otherwise be brought to justice. Even though I still do not approve of vigilantism, I must admit the revenge aspect of Hate Crime felt damn good. In order to underscore the justice of the climax, the hate crime is shown in a graphic, bloody scene that many will find hard to take, and the depravity of the killer is such that I found myself rooting for the exact conclusion proffered by the filmmaker, even against my own instincts and values. At the end, I was exhausted and shaken, and knocked over by the sheer, stomach-retching drama of it all.
There are those who will not like this film. It is of course "controversial" to suggest that a person who is a "servant of God" could be a liar and a hypocrite and a murderer. There are probably those who will decry it as mockery of "True Believers" and a few who will claim this film is a veritable tool of the devil.
Let them think what they want. I haven't been so entertained, so moved, so outraged or so satisfied by a film in a long, long time. This picture gets my vote, all the way.
Description of Hate Crime
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