I don’t often talk about dramas, so let’s discuss a serious topic that’s still relevant and might open up a new perspective on life. Well that’s a bit of a lie as the movie will tackle the heavy subject matter, while I will just critique the movie and give it a rating.
Hate Crime is an indie drama about people involved in or knowing of a hate crime. (Brilliant description!) This film is not available until next week, but TriCoast Worldwide emailed me an advanced copy of the movie. Not going to lie, it made me feel very privileged.
The main focus is around a young man beating a gay man to death. He receives the death penalty because it is seen as a hate crime. For the majority of the movie we follow the parents of the murderer and we occasionally jump to the victim’s parents. That’s about it, it’s a drama where you get to see all perspectives of the same story and it’s about everyone coming to a peaceful resolution.
I had a rocky start with this movie as I like to go in blind and that normally involves not watching any trailers and not reading a plot synopsis. With this movie though you have to read a plot synopsis or you’re going to be confused for the first 20 minutes as it’s one of those movies where the information slowly pours out. There is no bone to latch onto and everyone speaks in riddles, which is kind of annoying. It didn’t help that the opening scene felt extremely out of place. I also hated the music as it played over important scenes where it would have been better left out and it had a very generic feel.
Despite that, this movie is quite compelling. Once you learn more about the victim’s parents it gets way more interesting and the picture is alot more clear by this point. It’s here where I started to appreciate the incredible acting on display. Amy Redford and John Schneider I think gave the best performances in the movie. The best parts of this movie feature around the start of the third act as certain events happen that heighten the current situation. It’s all great stuff, though near the end it’s kind of ruined as one of the characters had this piece of important information that could have prevented the conflict from happening.
Overall Hate Crime was a mixed bag of treats. You eat all of the delicious chocolates and savour the rich flavors. Then the stuff you don’t like goes to dad or joins the bag in the trash. 6 ½ out of 10. Not a bad flick. If this type of movie grabs your fancy then go for it.
I should note this film is available to the public on the 24th of September and you can watch it on Amazon, InDemand, DIRECTV, FlixFling, FANDANGO, Hoopla, Vimeo on Demand, Vudu, AT&T, and Sling/Dish. I have been The Blog Complainer, signing out.
