Well, yes, Actors from the USA are deplorably bad kissers in gay movies (we do forgive Jack and Heath, but REALLY! What are you afraid of????) I've seen dozens of gay films made with "straight" actors on every continent but NA, and THEY are not afraid of real open mouthed, tongue involved, passionate kissing playing gay men, but actors of the USA are deplorably bad at expressing passion and deflate the film no-end.That aside, this is one of the truly GREAT GAY LOVE STORIES on film. This now from the perspective of a battle well fought and won. I've seen ad nauseum so many films of gay lust, desire, obsession - well, all fine until we got our rights. Now they seem rather trite and immature. The great gay love films, about true love and affection and devotion, are rare and this is one of them.I'll add RED DIRT, LILIES, LILTING and THE NORMAL HEART to that short list of great gay love films.Brad Rowe is just the most down to earth, decent, loving, patient man in love and Trevor Wright gives an Oscar-nom worthy performance as the confused artist, coming to grips with practically everything in his life all at once.Kudos to the director, to both actors and gratitude to you all. I have shown this film to friends and family and it has literally changed their thoughts and beliefs, so bravo to the film-makers, you have WON!

It would be easy to see this as just a film about love of two gay men but it has a deeper story of the struggles of love between partner but also family and friends. A Beautiful story of the many kinds of love, the love of two man, the first love, the love between best friends and the love of an less than perfect family. A beautiful story of the struggle and acceptance of love. It has showed the struggle of sexuality without just focusing on the persons struggle to come to turns with ones preference but also the struggle the family put the person through Nice to see a film take on the story of the love of two men, without making light of it, perfect serious story of pure love.A great film, beautiful story with amazing soundtrack.

Although this is called a surfer movie, the surfing here was treated as an incidental. I think one of the surfing scenes, maybe the first one, should have been longer and shown the two leads riding the same wave. But aside from such artistic flaws here and there, the situation and plot grab you and carry you along to a memorable finale. It was so refreshing to have a gay-themed movie set in an ordinary town and with an ordinary blue-collar family, with not a single nightclub scene. It was also enjoyable to see gay characters allowed to interact with a young boy and play the Best Uncle role that so many of us carry in real life. The female roles were murkier, and it was hard to fathom what was going through their minds. But the guy/guy romance of the film was stunning. I particularly enjoyed the early scenes when Brad is mystified by the male attraction he's starting to feel. With a cipher of a father, it's obvious Brad needed and found an older brother figure in Shaun. Both guys are good-looking but not Hollywood perfect, which also made the film more credible. If we examined the plot with brutal realism, we might say it would be far-fetched for Brad to be admitted to art school a second time with a full scholarship, or that Shaun would be ready to take on both a partner and a toddler. But I think gay people are entitled to an escapist happy ending once in a while, and Shelter fills the bill quite nicely.

I only recently found out about this movie and I'm so glad I did! The movie is so amazing and inspiring to watch. It is a great film and I would urge people to watch it if they have no already. However, if you like huge box office smashers with plenty of action, this movie is not for you. It's so true to real life and has the ability to inspire others. The storyline is very simple yet so interesting and moving. It's a simple movie with a beautiful meaning behind it and I'm so happy I got to see it. It is now definitely one of my best movies and I wish more people would make movies like this, instead of all the non meaningful rubbish thats out there today. I really do recommend people to watch it, especially if you are thinking about it, it is worth it and you will hopefully enjoy it as much as I did!