One good lesson from “Shelter” is this: If you’re going to make yet another coming-of-age story, you can’t go wrong setting it by the sunny Southern California seaside.
Really, why not? You could set this story in Duluth in the dead of winter, I suppose, but you might as well give the potential audience a break.
“Shelter” is a coming-of-age story and a coming-out story, thus fitting securely into a particular niche of gay indie moviemaking.
The main character is Zach (Trevor Wright), a diner cook who works in a working-class neighborhood in San Pedro. He wants to go to art school, but is forced to be the grown-up in his family: His irresponsible older sister (Tina Holmes) is doing a lousy job of raising her 5-year-old son (Jackson Worth), so Zach’s the guy holding things together.
Zach is just ending an indifferent relationship with a longtime girlfriend. He’s never suspected he might be gay, which seems sort of convenient for the story line.
When an old friend named Shaun (Brad Rowe) returns to town (his folks have a mansion in the ritzy section), sparks fly between surfing expeditions.
This is a conventional story that would work about as well if the characters were straight. There aren’t any big surprises, but Trevor Wright is an amiable hero and Brad Rowe has enough breezy charm to make you wonder why he hasn’t become a bigger star in Hollywood after 10 years of bouncing around.
The director is Jonah Markowitz, a production designer making his debut feature. He deserves points for conjuring up a pleasant vibe overall, but the movie was so obviously shot in a bargain-basement way that it gets distracting at times.
But you can buy your way into better camera equipment; you can’t buy a good eye for locations and acting. Markowitz already has those, so he should be on his way.
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