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January is not a great time for new movies. While most of Hollywood takes time off to pick out their gowns and tuxedos for the next award ceremony, moviegoers are left with the movies that couldn’t really make it at any other time of the year—movies like the touching but melodramatic real-life indie Gimme Shelter (which, incidentally, has nothing to do with the Rolling Stones).
Vanessa Hudgens stars as Apple Bailey, a troubled teen who’s spent her life in the system, moving in and out of shelters and foster homes while her mother, June (Rosario Dawson), spent their welfare checks on drugs. One day, the 16-year-old decides that she’s had enough. She cuts off her hair, walks out the door, and sets out to find the father she’s never met.
Tom (Brendan Fraser) is a successful Wall Street businessman with a posh home and a family of his own. He reluctantly agrees to help his desperate daughter, but after Apple discovers that she’s pregnant, she ends up back on the streets—until a kindly old chaplain (James Earl Jones) helps her find the support that she and her baby need.
In a time when movie theaters are filled with cheesy action movies and comedies that just aren’t funny, Gimme Shelter is a relatively watchable release. It isn’t an award season drama by any stretch of the imagination; it’s heavy-handed and predictable, and it has a kind of Lifetime Original Movie feel to it. Still, there’s something heartwarming about this story of a troubled teen who finds love and acceptance where she least expects it. Despite the film’s flaws, it nevertheless tells a moving story—though, admittedly, it probably helps if you happen to be a mother.
Of course, there’s a lot to overlook before you can really get caught up in this film. Hudgens—in yet another attempt to distance herself from her High School Musical roots by taking on edgier roles—ranges from awkward to laughable as the street-smart tough girl from the wrong side of the tracks. And her character’s wild mood swings sometimes make it difficult to get attached to her. Brendan Fraser, meanwhile, is as pasty and uncomfortable as ever. And it’s hard not to feel just a little bit sorry for cast members like James Earl Jones (who deserves much better) and Rosario Dawson, whose outlandishly yellowed teeth are so distracting that you’ll barely notice anything that shares a scene with them.
The storytelling, meanwhile, lacks consistency. Though the film toys with some religious undertones, the persistent old chaplain’s biblical lessons never really leave his chapel. And when the film comes to an end, it leaves the audience with more than a few loose ends and unanswered questions. While many films that were inspired by a true story tackle these loose ends at the end of the film—or during the closing credits—that’s not the case here, resulting in a less than satisfying conclusion.
As far as January releases go, Gimme Shelter isn’t bad, but it isn’t exactly noteworthy, either. If you’re in the mood for a gritty tear-jerker, it’s a decent pick for a January Moms’ Night Out—but don’t bother venturing out in a snow storm to see it.
Listen to the review on Reel Discovery:
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