Gimme Shelter | Review

Gimme Gimme: Krauss Returns to Human Interest Woes in Latest Effort

Writer/director Ron Krauss returns to the human interest vein that defined his last outing as director, 2010’s Amexica with a based on a true tale of woe, Gimme Shelter. Working with a notably high profile cast this time around, there’s certainly a genuine sincerity with the presentation at hand, which unfortunately can’t gracefully override its more manipulative moments in a tale that surely inspires empathy but works only because it is granted the ability to conclude with a rosy-tinted fairy tale glow.

Agnes “Apple” Bailey (Vanessa Hudgens) is a homeless, pregnant teenager on the run from her drug addicted and abusive mother (Rosario Dawson). With no one to turn to, she seeks out the assistance of her estranged father (Brendan Fraser), who is now raising a second family with his new wife (Stephanie Szostak) and has a lucrative position on Wall Street. Her presence in her father’s home causes considerable friction with her stepmother, and soon Apple is on the streets again. An accident lands her in the hospital where she meets a kindly priest (James Earl Jones), who introduces Apple to Kathy DiFiore (Ann Dowd), a kindly Christian woman who runs a shelter out of her own designed specifically to help teenage moms that wish to keep their babies.

What’s most unfortunate is that Gimme Shelter will be reaching theatrical release well after something like Short Term 12, which mines similar territory but with much more aplomb. True, there are more dissimilarities between these titles, but by the time Krauss and Apple get to the shelter, the film coasts into sanitized hyper drive, mostly because time can’t quite afford the depiction of any realistic tics to any of the other adolescent females outside of our main protagonist.

This is only further exacerbated by the fact that the only reason we’re seeing Apple’s story in the first place is because her moneyed biological father had the means (and emotional capacity) to rescue her from a similar trajectory. A final decision would seem to indicate otherwise, but once we’re aware of an invisible cushion in our personal lives, we can’t ignore the fact that this severely changes our circumstances. Despite these reality based squabbles, Gimme Shelter is another showcase for the talented Miss Hudgens, who seems to be Shirley Jones-ing her career. A supporting role in Spring Breakers as a murderous fun-time gal, and a similarly calibrated role as an affronted prostitute in The Frozen Ground all feature Hudgens as tarnished or fallen women and she’s able to imbue these characters with emotional, realistic depth that is not only impressive, but utterly engaging.

Even as co-stars and narratives turn to mush around her, Hudgens is a driving force, and so it is that Gimme Shelter is extremely worthwhile to see for her work here, especially if you’ve not seen some of her similarly themed roles. The supporting cast, on the other hand, tends to be distracting. Brendan Fraser is playing the same character as he does in Crash (2005), while Rosario Dawson’s crack head at first seems to exist in the subtle, nightmarish edges of the film, until mid-way through, she severely overplays her hand, snarling and gnashing her Jeri Blank grill for all its glorious worth. In direct opposition is a very warm and moving bit for the lovely Ann Dowd.

While it’s being marketed as an ‘inspiring’ true story, this distinction will be based entirely on your own views of the world. Apple’s endeavor is indeed gripping, and certainly distressing, but the film unfortunately demonizes the common sense of the Fitzpatrick family (true, the uber bitch stepmom played by Szostak does terrible things), who come to the logical conclusion that Apple is not prepared to take care of her progeny.

And so, Gimme Shelter becomes one of those “life at all costs” message films that insists that the best possible choice has to be bringing each and every baby into the world. And for Apple, perhaps she did make the best choice. But Apple has a chance to end the cycle of abuse and degradation because she has a father that can afford to and is willing to assist her. At the conclusion of Gimme Shelter we can’t help but wonder how her life will compare to the other teenage mothers in the pregnancy shelter.

★★/☆☆☆☆☆