Fri, 31 Jan 2014 | Cover | Page 05

A Remnant Film Review…

"Gimme

Shelter"

by Raphael Winters www.raphaelwinters.com

Ron Krauss's film "Gimme Shelter" made me feel elation, sympathy, and then finally empathy. It is a composite story about a teenager facing a crisis pregnancy, and of the failure of her parents and social services to protect her. Vanessa Hudgens stars in a powerful dramatic role as Agnes "Apple" Bailey whose search for a home takes her through the highs and lows of American society.

The issue that Apple confronts is that she has no safe place to live. Her mother June Bailey (Rosario Dawson) is abusive and living out of a fleabag motel. Her father Tom Fitzpatrick (Brendan Fraser) abandoned her at birth and now has his own wife and children.

Social Services have thoughtlessly passed Apple through foster care where she was sexually assaulted. Kathy (Ann Dowd) who runs a woman’s shelter is initially neutral to Apple’s plea for refuge.

Ron Kraus has made a straight forward dramatic film about a woman dealing with real life issues during a season when it is snowing flurries of man-boy wish fulfillment fantasy flicks.

This is Ron Krauss's first feature film but it not his first production to deal with themes of human dignity at the intersection of issues of families and poverty. He has paid his dues with short films such as "Puppies for Sale," "Saving Angelo," and "Amerixica." This film was based on a story that Ron Krauss formed while at the woman's shelter Several Sources and is inspired by several women's experiences while dramatizing, inventing, and fictionalizing the sources. Kathy DiFiore is the founder of the women’s shelter Several Sources and she has recently published her first book "Gimme Love, Gimme Hope, Gimme Shelter." Kathy has been performing this heroic work for several decades.

Vanessa Hudgens plays Apple who is indefatigably stoic. She reacts to the petty mediocre betrayals of her parents and authorities with a realistically limited emotional range. This role is a bold move for Vanessa Hudgens who thus far has limited herself to saccharine family-friendly fare such as the High School Musical trilogy or upscale grindhouse films such as Sucker Punch and Machete Kills.

The most standout performance is the supporting actress Ann Dowd. Her performance as the neutral, orderly, and calm Kathy feels less like acting and more like a manifestation of an actual person. The small role of Cassandra (Emily Meade) is a riveting wild spirit of a character with a loose cannon role that receives a few scenes before vanishing from the story. The character of Nicky ‘Pink Friday’ may be more memorable in this film for her hairstyle then for dialogue however the performance shows that the actress Rachel Mattila Amberson has the prospect of a long career ahead of her. The supporting cast is excellent.

Rosario Dawson has given her character of June Bailey a power that only increases as she turns the emotions of the character up to eleven. James Earl Jones plays the affable faith friendly Fr.

Frank McCarthy who gives Apple the gift of a pinwheel. Joanna Fitzpatrick (Stephanie Szostak) feels authentically passive aggressive as she deals with the unwanted presence of Apple in her home. Brendan Fraser endows the requirements of his role with the perfect blend of chub, schlep, self-justification, and awkwardness.

This drama has both expected dramatic conclusions and unexpected moments of humor. We may start hoping that the story of Apple has a happy ending but how this unfolds is

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the strength of the film. Chaos comes into her life but finally she is able to find her own life and dignity like a pinwheel turning in the wind.