Written and directed by Ronald Krausse, "Gimme Shelter" proves that good intentions and earnestness alone can't guarantee the quality of a film.
The screenplay is based on the true story of a 16-year-old girl who goes by the name Apple (the talented Vanessa Hudgens) whose life could easily have served as the basis for a Dickens novel had it been set a century- and-a-half in the past. Born to an abusive, drug-addicted single mother (an uglied-up Rosario Dawson) who wants her daughter around only for the welfare checks she brings in, Apple has been kicked around from one foster home to the next, when she isn't trying to re-connect with her uber-rich biological father (Brendan Fraser) or living on the streets, that is.
Krausse sure pours on the pathos and the suffering, but the movie as a whole isn't as compelling as it should be, partly because, while there is a certain grittiness in the look and feel of the picture, the episodic nature of the tale doesn't allow for any real development of the secondary characters, leaving them stereotypical and flat. They simply remain off-screen for too long a time to register much of an impact on the audience. Apple's absurdly callous "step-mother" (Stephanie Szostak) and a kindly priest (James Earl Jones), who offers the hand of friendship to Apple in her time of greatest need, feel particularly two-dimensional and under-developed. Moreover, the dialogue frequently undercuts the naturalism of the piece by having the characters spell out in words rather than through indirection and action what it is we're supposed to be taking away with us from the movie.
All those who made "Gimme Shelter" definitely had their hearts in the right place, but I think this is one of those instances where a little less fidelity to the actual story and a little more focus might have resulted in a more effective drama.
The screenplay is based on the true story of a 16-year-old girl who goes by the name Apple (the talented Vanessa Hudgens) whose life could easily have served as the basis for a Dickens novel had it been set a century- and-a-half in the past. Born to an abusive, drug-addicted single mother (an uglied-up Rosario Dawson) who wants her daughter around only for the welfare checks she brings in, Apple has been kicked around from one foster home to the next, when she isn't trying to re-connect with her uber-rich biological father (Brendan Fraser) or living on the streets, that is.
Krausse sure pours on the pathos and the suffering, but the movie as a whole isn't as compelling as it should be, partly because, while there is a certain grittiness in the look and feel of the picture, the episodic nature of the tale doesn't allow for any real development of the secondary characters, leaving them stereotypical and flat. They simply remain off-screen for too long a time to register much of an impact on the audience. Apple's absurdly callous "step-mother" (Stephanie Szostak) and a kindly priest (James Earl Jones), who offers the hand of friendship to Apple in her time of greatest need, feel particularly two-dimensional and under-developed. Moreover, the dialogue frequently undercuts the naturalism of the piece by having the characters spell out in words rather than through indirection and action what it is we're supposed to be taking away with us from the movie.
All those who made "Gimme Shelter" definitely had their hearts in the right place, but I think this is one of those instances where a little less fidelity to the actual story and a little more focus might have resulted in a more effective drama.