Purely Joyful Movie!

Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

At the beginning of the film, I really liked how the music was so eerie and had a feeling of fear because its telling us as an audience that its a proper gay crime film. We then see a little pug dog running away from danger. It also looked very sad to watch as if the dog was abandoned .We are then introduced by a gay couple of 6 years who are Robbie Levinson & Trey McCoy. Their life is wonderful because they are planning a wedding and planning a family together for the future. However, their lives have turned upside down when their new neighbor Chris Boyd starts threatening them with homophobic rants along with his evil ruthless father Pastor Boyd. We then hear the sad news that Trey has passed away by been beat to death, that was why the Pug dog ran away to get help as we could see from the beginning of the film. In the end, we discover Pastor Boyd killed Trey just because he was gay.I really enjoyed this movie because it sends out a message of what gay hate is about and it gives us the reality of how gay crime affects love ones and society. This is such a brilliant film, I recommend everyone to see this film. :)

Writer/director Tommy Stovall's first and only film is worth the time to watch for a very good story and some great characters.Brian J. Smith does his first film as Trey, partner of Robbie (Seth Peterson). Trey is the victim of a hate crime, presumably at the hands of the religious kook who just move in next door. Turns out this isn't his first hate crime, but no one locked him away after the last one.Cindy Pickett does an outstanding job as Trey's mother, and Bruce Davison is perfect as the pastor and the father of the kook. Granny Boone (Lin Shaye) is also present as a neighbor, and you just have to love her character.The police did not seem interested in finding the person who beat and killed Trey, so it was up to Robbie to find out what happened. Some secrets get exposed, and a killer is found and dealt with in a manner where it could be said that justice is served.

Tommy Stovall makes a stunning debut as a writer and director for the very insightful, sensitive, and courageous film HATE CRIME. It is difficult to believe that this is his first attempt at cinematic communication, the film just works that well.Robbie Levinson (Seth Peterson) and Trey McCoy (Brian J. Smith) have been in a successful relationship for six years, complete with home, cute and devoted dog, supportive parents and siblings, and especially funky supportive neighbor Kathleen Slansky (a major turn for veteran character actress Lin Shaye). They are approaching their commitment ceremony and even talking about adopting children when the sky darkens with the moving in of next door neighbor Chris Boyd (Chad Donella), a stormy right wing bible-thumping homophobe who catches a glimpse of Robbie's and Trey's affection. When Trey is walking their dog in the park one evening he is beaten severely with a baseball bat: the obvious suspect is neighbor Chris.Kathleen warns Robbie that justice will never be achieved in the hands of the law and sets of a sense of revenge in Robbie's mind. Trey lies in a coma in the hospital while his mother (a superb Cindy Pickett) is shaken not only form her only son's tenuous condition but also from her recovering alcoholic husband's (Sean Hennigan) flat affect and continued lack of communication. A fine young detective Elizabeth Fisher (Farah White) does what she can to attempt to gather the shaky facts of evidence of Chris' guilt, but is thwarted by the entry of Detective Esposito (Giancarlo Esposito) who has homophobic issues of his own.Chris' father, Pastor Boyd (Bruce Davison) rants from his pulpit that all sinners - especially fornicators - must be punished by God and Chris supports his father's preachings and actions, as does his beautiful bimbo mother Martha (Susan Blakely). As facts are found and everyone surrounding Trey's beating is suspect, the story gathers momentum in the true fashion of the best detective mysteries. Dark secrets appear from every corner and eventually the crime is 'resolved', but not without many surprises as to the perpetrator and the motivation.The entire cast is excellent from the leading roles to the cameos and Stovall keeps the pace at a breathtaking speed. Yes, there are some gaping holes in the script, giving us the feeling that Stovall had to pare down his story to the 104 minutes it takes. But what he does accomplish is a masterly look at strident right wing religious views of gays while balancing those with compassionate religious views by the more moderate and love-oriented factions. He raises a lot of issues, leaves many concepts unresolved intentionally, and draws performances from his committed cast that rank with the finest. This is a film that SHOULD be viewed by a wide audience. Highly recommended. Grady Harp

I wasn't sure what to expect when I picked this movie up at my local vid outlet. I must admit that I'm not a fan of most "gay cinema" (even though I'm a 37 y/o gay male), and find it to be mostly filled with bad acting, bad production and too many political/social agendas preaching about "equality and blah blah blah" and overloaded with cheesy stereotypes. Fortunately that was NOT the case with this incredible film. The acting, production, cinematography, storyline and casting were all dead-on. No stereotypes here. No disco dollies, no exstacy queens, no group of bar hopping, sex seeking lushes with gym buffed bodies on display. This was a film dealing with people in the 2000's, living in a world with a supposedly increased tolerance level and how even though the majority may speak loudly, sometimes even the smallest kink can cause the most damage. I was riveted and moved to tears, taken on an emotional roller-coaster ride that left me angry in some parts, crying in others and shouting in support of what was happening in others. I rarely (if ever) have found many movies to move me the way this one did. Not a pity story. Not a "Gay" story. This is a human drama, a thriller with twists you can't see coming and an ending that leaves you with the NEED to talk to someone about it. SEE THIS FILM, and tell someone else to see it. With all the empty Hollywood blockbusters coming out, this film stands above them all by having a cast of fine actors, fully realized, 3 dimensional characters, and a storyline that's completely believable. Lose yourself for 90 minutes and let this edge of your seat movie take you away..... Just have some Kleenex handy. You'll need it.