Audience Member
While the story is simplistic and the characters are a bit shallow, this film is not as bad as the critics say. They seemed to have more of a problem with the good, fundamentalist, Christian people being portrayed on a bad light. As someone with firsthand experience with them, there are some that are just as bad as portrayed.
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
02/10/23
Full Review
Audience Member
One of the most hyped film was it had totally unconvincing story and one of the worst acting I've seen, if not for Brian J. Smith, I wouldn't have watched this.
Rated 1/5 Stars •
Rated 1 out of 5 stars
02/01/23
Full Review
Audience Member
Powerful and thought provoking drama, exceedingly well acted, unfussily shot and put through with a bare minimum of preachiness as it begs the question whether religion should be used as a decoy and a smoke cloud to excuse plain hatred and fear of something deemed evil and wrong to be evil and wrong! Shades of 'Blood Simple', 'In The Bedroom', 'Eye For An Eye'-even Agatha Christie's classic book 'And Then There Were None' glisten through as we find Seth Peterson's Robbie and his future mother-in-law, plus Lin Shaye as his neighbour reeling from the shock of a horrible death of a loved one and then even worse pain when the law seems to want to fail them; leading to what they feel they must do if justice isn't forthcoming.
Seth Peterson and the guy who plays Brian make a lovely suburban couple and their dog is cute too. Farah White as a fair and probing cop is on brilliant form, where is the girl now, and why isn't she given her dues. Bruce Davison is a manic and demonic-like Pastor preaching hate and hypocrisy is suitably vile, and his dense wife, played well by Susan Blakely shows exactly the kind of fearful ignorance that their beleaguered son is rallying against, and Chad E Donella does well with rather clunky but expectant biblical posturing, and quite sad too, as he is pulled this way and that with his feelings.
Cindy Pickett is on fine form as the loving mother whose naturalistic acceptance of only son's homosexuality is a complete given it's simply freshly authentic, and her heartbreaking, raw and understated show of massive grief at her son's loss balances beautifully with a very deep affection for the man who's been happily with her son for six years, and now they are even more united, declaring that evil will not beat them. Their clear unwavering support and trust of each other is charming, and Lin Shaye is great fun as an equally supportive neighbour, but quite nasty is the misogynistic and arrogant homicide detective played with bile by Giancarlo Esposisto, clearly the typical US figure of police doubt over what would be otherwise described as a hate crime, which 'Hate Crime' signals clearly with its title.
A film like this couldn't have been done early enough, there's nothing like trying to show the rivers of undiluted homophobia traipsing all over America, and how religious based propaganda has plenty to do with it, but the film stresses it ultimately comes down to what is right and wrong-and taking away someone's life in the pursuit of "plague clearing" is about as wrong as you can get.
Some have moaned that this film only got made because it's showing pretty suburban white couples, because no other critically acclaimed overegged films have ever done that, have they? A stupid, pitiful little lament, surely we should pleased a movie like this got made in the first place. Maybe once gay couples become more the norm in film and television (at any rate more than they are now), there WILL be more chances to see less chocolate-boxy people on show, but come on. It's not exactly a catwalk show set around a murder scene, and anyone failing to be moved by this-one of the best films 2005 had to offer, clearly has no heart.. 16 Rotten Reviews? Clearly 16 people are rotten!
Rated 5/5 Stars •
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
01/18/23
Full Review
Audience Member
I really enjoyed it!
Rated 4/5 Stars •
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
01/18/23
Full Review
Audience Member
Excellent movie, could happen anwhere uneducated religious brainwashing happens.
Rated 5/5 Stars •
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
02/02/23
Full Review
Audience Member
not too predictable ending, though an overall typical story line. worth a watch. shows the evil of religion, but also the total love that it can bring.
Rated 4/5 Stars •
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
01/15/23
Full Review
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