An American Hate Crime

I was so excited to see this film and it blew away my expectations. The movie starts off with some audio issues and I was afraid to eat my popcorn as the crunch would overtake the volume of the speaking parts. After the first scene though, my concerns went away and the rest of the film was truly amazing. The fact that the budget was only $13k and the director this great of job with the limited resources he had, shows me that the sky is the limit for this young director.

I found myself filled up with so many emotions. From laughing in one scene, to balling my eyes out at the next. I cant remember crying this much in a movie since shadow couldn't get out of the mud in homeward bound. The subject is real and it was so easy to connect to the characters and their stories. And as much as i love watching football on sundays, seeing this film instead was well worth it.

I got to meet some of the actors and actresses after the premier and they are all genuine, humble people. This movie was so well done that I'm looking forward to watching this film multiple times which is something out of the norm for myself.

Take the time and watch An American Hate Crime. You will not be disappointed. A low budget film that was anything but that. I know that the director has something special in him and I'm excited to see his next film.

Having watched a lot of low-budget indie films with LGBTQ+ storylines over the years, I know better than to have unrealistically high expectations. Most such films have obvious shortcomings, but there are usually redeeming aspects as well. Unfortunately, this film's flaws are so glaring that it's pretty much beyond redemption. The topic is an important one and deserves more than the wildly melodramatic treatment it receives here. None of the characters is remotely believable; the protagonists are syrupy sweet paragons, the antagonists cartoonish villains. (To describe them as two-dimensional would be generous.) Though potentially intriguing in places, the story arc fails to overcome its many implausible aspects. The script reads like a cheesy 1970s after-school TV special, but one that a young middle-schooler might have written: there's no subtlety, no complexity of character, and the dialog is stilted, often preachy and almost entirely unconvincing. The acting is mostly amateurish and wooden. The best performances come from Dylan Hartman as Noah and Brian Cain as Parker. (Perhaps that's because melodramatic dialog seems less unconvincing when spoken by adolescent characters?) Daniel Byrne as Jake has some good moments as well, managing at least occasionally to overcome the encumbrances of the heavy-handed scriptwriting.

This was very well done. It was incredibly moving and sad. I just can't comprehend way there is so much ignorance and hate in our world. We are all created equally and we all bleed the same. Kudos. I hope this movie and story goes big!

As a gay man watching this - and let's overlook the poor acting - it's been dumped with every possible cliche in the dialogue and storyline. There's no argument from me that the message in this story is relevant and powerful however as a film, it falls short on too many levels which leaves it, in my very humble position, as a poor execution of a very real issue.

Extremely well crafted film delivering a powerful and both heartfelt yet heartbreaking message about equality and acceptance in the United States. I look forward to further films from this director.