1/23/14

Gimme Shelter

The shelter would be for a runaway girl who has become homeless and now finds herself pregnant. She had left home hoping that she could find her successful father but now it looks as though she may be repeating her unwed mother's turbulent story.

Writer/director Ron Kraus ("Amexica") inspires his actors, both with his words and his direction. There were several long, single-take scenes that were notable. Watch for the one at the front door with Dawson and Dowd. I'll keep an eye out for this guy.

Here is some of the cast:
  • Vanessa Hudgens ("Machete Kills") is Apple, our desperate runaway; her mother is a drug addict; her foster families don't work out; she has no job, no life skills, and no resources; now her new-found father wants her to have an abortion.
  • Brendan Fraser ("Inkheart") is her father, Tom Fitzpatrick, a successful Wall Street businessman. He was only 19 when he fathered our heroine and bailed out on her mother because his parents wanted him to go to college.
  • Rosario Dawson ("Zookeeper") is the reason our gal ran away: Mom is a drug addict and a prostitute...reason enough, don't you think? Her actions are chilling; our screening audience gasped during one scene.
  • James Earl Jones ("Jack and the Beanstalk" voice) brings hope with his role as the white knight who comes galloping into our wounded girl's broken life, insisting that things CAN be better.
  • Ann Dowd ("Side Effects") is Kathy, the practical and loving woman who provides that much-needed shelter.
This PG-13 story is based on true incidents in the life of a pregnant runaway, with some very welcome photos of the real people during the final credits. I LOVE it when that happens!
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Take a peek:
http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi1831512089/
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