An American Hate Crime

While I admire the powerful subject manner that is being tackled in this film, it's done completely wrong. It's amateurishly bad on all levels! The acting is terrible and the story is pretty weak. While I know this kinda of thing happens all the time it comes off unbelievable. This movie borders on ridiculous. There's better movies that tackle hate crimes. Do yourself a favor and Watch those. Avoid this and the fake family, friends and cast member reviews. This movie sucks!

I had mixed feelings watching this at first. As it began, I thought the acting was weak while the story moved slowly, and in what I thought was the wrong direction. Then it all changed. This isn't a glossed over big budget Hollywood movie. The actors realistically portrayed their characters drawing you in, and the story needed to be told. I cheered for Noah, then cringed when I realized where this was going, then...well no spoilers. I watched it again to ensure I fully connected with the strong message. We need more like this.

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.

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!