Review of Hate Crime

A great story and some fine acting made this more than just a movie about an anti-gay hate crime. Seth Peterson gave an excellent performance as Robbie, struggling to find out the truth about who beat and killed Trey. Cindy Pickett's portrayal of Trey's mother Barbara is full of anger and pain, and Bruce Davison's as Pastor Boyd overflows with hellfire and venom; two of the best performances I've seen so far this year. Giancarlo Esposito's as Detective Esposito fell a bit flat. His character came across very one dimensional - both as it was written and acted - and his reasons behind his lack of action were never really explained. But perhaps that's just from my having seen so many episodes of CSI. Everything else about the movie was fantastic. Stovall's well-written story could have stuck with the melodrama of a family coping with their son's death but instead turns the plot towards revenge with the last 20 minutes of the film being completely riveting.

I usually don't comment much on how a movie is edited, but one scene in particular stands out to me: after Trey's death, two different church services are held, one at Trey's church and one at Pastor Boyd's. Trey's church is full of light, and Father Tim speaks of the love that God has for everyone; Boyd's church is decorated in dark woods, and pastor Boyd speaks of how God has decreed that two men laying together is an abomination. The two very different churches battle against one another thanks to fine editing from Darrin Navarro, showing how the same words can be interpreted in different ways.