Rock Haven

The story is not too usually talked about. This Christian boy learning who he was and falling in love.

It is another quiet indy film that looks with a calm beauty a subject not talked about. Yes, films with conversion therapy and hell and brimstorm are common, but this queue reflection and sweet young man who falls head over heels for a nonchtristian neighbor moves with reverence and calm.

The v two leads are adorable and play their fears and confusion with heart.

The mothers are both freaky in their strangeness one so hippy, one buttoned right wing Christian. Father's are out of the picture, so it v is young men and moms.

Note there is nudity but it is handled with care.

The plot of "Rock Haven" (2007) is simple and realistic, though far from original: is being gay an impossibility if you consider yourself a Christian as well?

Brady is a shy, introspective 18 year old spending the summer before going away to college in a small coast town in Northern California. He is there with his widowed mother, who is a devout Christian in the process of establishing a religious school for the local pastor. Brady spends most of his time either reading the bible or staring off at the waves crashing on shore, until he meets a neighbor's free- spirited visiting son, 19 year old Clifford. While we later find out that Brady had some early inklings that he was somewhat attracted to other boys, he never before felt drawn to anyone as he feels to Clifford, and the other boy makes it clear that the feeling is mutual. Sensing his apprehensions and inexperience, Clifford lets their relationship develop slowly over the course of the summer, and, although he kids Brady about being a "nerd" in many of his interests, is careful not to express a conflict with his religious upbringing and convictions.

A beautifully written story by director/writer David Lewis ("Under One Roof"), capably acted by a talented Bay Area cast. While the basic plot is not original, and the story development somewhat predictable, it is told in a well-paced, sweet and romantic manner that lets the viewer feel the emotions experienced by the characters. The one negative I must point out is Lewis' seeming obsession with numerous extended scenes of waves crashing on the beach (Waves wash out like past experiences, wash back to erase what was on the sand before, metaphor for life going on, new beginnings, yadda yadda yadda ... WE GET IT! The ocean should not have more screen time than the actors!) Other than that, I enjoyed the film and recommend it, especially for those who may be going through a similar dilemma.

DVD has deleted scenes, production stills and trailer. No director commentary, which would have been nice (I'd have loved to hear what he says about the ocean scenes. :)

ROCK HAVEN seems to have its heart in the right place, showing the conflict between the religious right and human sexuality that occurs between two young teenagers, but the script is minimal, uncomfortable in saying what it really wants to say, and in the end the resulting film is a long drawn out series of a few sentences followed by lengthy views of the ocean and the wild flowers at coastline (even though Bodega Bay is stunningly beautiful to watch!).

Brady (Sean Hoagland) lives at the beach with his mother (Laura Jane Coles) preparing to go to Bible college at summer's end: the two are strongly right wing religious people. Into this rather rigid atmosphere steps Clifford (Owen Alabado) and there is an immediate chemistry between the two young lads - Clifford being openly gay while Brady is so far back in the dark closet that Clifford's mere presence terrifies him. Clifford's mother (Katheryn Hecht) is a free spirit who deals comfortably with her son's feelings and tries to support Brady in his fear of sinning. Brady's mother 'can't change the way she believes' (gay relationships are sinful) and tries to 'change' Brady by encouraging his attraction to a sweet well-meaning girl (Erin Daly) who just happens to understand Brady's needs more than he does! The manner in which this conflict is approached and quasi-resolved is weak as written and directed by David Lewis (who also plays the role of the minister...), and the ending is unsatisfactory at best.

The quality of acting is low on the scale but the sincerity is palpable. The viewer wants to care for these young lads confronting love for the first time, but the situation posed by the meager dialog and the ending keep it from becoming the nice little wisp of a film it could have been. The scenery is the star, but it is hardly the 'haven' for this dilemma that the title suggests. Grady Harp

So, I gave this movie a 5. Mostly I have to say that the cinematography was actually pretty good. I really liked the quality of the film when it came to how it was shot. However, I would have to agree that the script had much to be desired. Mostly I think they just wanted to capture a really big problem within a very short amount of time. But, the idea for the movie was good. Unfortunately this happens a lot in real life. The problem is that while I knew the sex scene was coming--- it felt like that was all the movie was working up to, and then the writer said, okay now they had the worst sex scene in the world, and now we have to end the movie. Then what I thought would actually be the climax, had I made the movie, the whole mom issue was just pressed into maybe ten minutes. I think that if they wanted to get what they had wanted out of the movie, the fight for love, they should have made that more of a problem. Meaning, what his mom thinks about homosexuality, and how Christian he is--- it could have been done better.

However, i can't help liking the movie just because I really think my generation needs more movies that expose the fact that there are TONS of Christians who are really gay, but are so afraid to tell anyone, or to do anything, and hate themselves for it.

It was just that this movie, while a nice attempt, never really satisfies the pallet. (And this is from someone how has been in the same situation).

I also agree with what another person wrote saying,I wish I was younger viewing this movie because in my teens there wasn't any movies like this and I wish there were because it also would have been useful.It's a nice drama and also has a good message attached to it whether the director intended it or not.It gives gay Christians some kind of hope.Unfortunately I am sure there will still be some who will be brainwashed by fanatics thinking it's a sin to be gay and all that other stuff. The movie was realistic, simple and sort of believable and very scenic.The beach and other shots where the film was made were very breathtaking.It makes you want to visit or vacation there.It was also extremely funny and the humor had me laughing, especially in some of the scenes where the characters felt awkward around each other.One scene in particular had me roaring with laughter.The scene where Brady(Sean Hoagland) and Clifford(Owen Alabado) had their first close encounter in Cliff's bedroom and Brady unintentionally got aroused and then embarrassed and stormed out.This movie was nicely acted by everyone and it was good to see talented newcomers. I think my only complaint about this movie was seeing all the deleted scenes afterwords.I thoroughly enjoyed them and strongly felt most of them would have added to the story and needed to be in the film.I really don't know why they were deleted.It can't be because the movie was too long,hell it could have been longer! A few of the extended/deleted scenes made more sense and explained stuff better. In a way I wish I never saw these deleted scenes because then I wouldn't be thinking the movie was missing something. This is why I gave it an 8 out of 10.