Gimme Shelter Movie Screening Review

As you may already imagine, date night is a rare commodity in our household, but that didn’t start when our sweet baby was born. Our first date was on Valentine’s Day, 2012 (it’s scary that it hasn’t even been two years ) and on that day I was joking with someone trying to freak him out a bit, and I informed him of my prediction: he would propose on the third date!!!. LOL And he did…and we just had our 6th date (ever) on January 8th… and it was fun!

I had been invited to a movie screening, and we felt very VIP, and were excited…and intrigued. I’m going to be all praises on my Gimme Shelter movie screening review, because it’s in theaters today, and because I LOVE it. A positive review by The Positive MOM… Too wild, I know!

To give you a no-spoiler summary, Apple is a pregnant teenage girl who flees from home to escape from her mother’s drug addiction, abuse, and unhealthy co-dependency. She ends up living on the street and has to face horrible challenges that no one any age should face, and especially not while they’re pregnant! In the movie, you will learn that to Apple, being abused and neglected has been a way of life… one that she does not tolerate any longer.

I was in tears the entire time… well, except when I was terrified and tormented thinking this was based on true story! It was refreshing and commendable that award-winner Ronald Krauss (Writer, Producer and Director) portrayed the horrors some kids and teens have to go through just because of their parents’s ways without the need for gory profanity. The rating is PG-13. “The horror is in their circumstances themselves” he says of the screenplay he wrote while spending a year in Several Sources, Kathy DiFiore’s suburban shelters for pregnant teens and their precious babies. Vanessa Hudgens (Apple) also spent time at the shelter with the amazing teen moms that inspired the story – and some of them became actresses (and so did their babies!). She admits that this experience shifted her, making her more sensitive and less judgmental of others. I think she’s not the exception here!

Gimme Shelter  is a great story of the amazing courage it takes to break free from an unhealthy past, to break cycles, to trust again, to reach within and find the discipline to take personal responsibility when it was a foreign concept to you, to find safety and hope, to find a family… even away from home.

Whenever I review movies, I admit that I’m not a movie expert and I watch them with my heart rather than with a critic’s eye. However, the performances by Vanessa Hudgens, Rosario Dawson (mom) , and Brendan Fraser (dad), were truly remarkable to me. During the panel interview (on the photo above), Vanessa said it was easy to gain the weight, but she really underwent a transformation “I didn’t see myself when I looked at the mirror,” she said of the first scene you will see.

Kathy DiFiore expressed her gratitude to Ann Dowd for becoming her: her tough loving ways, her direct communication, her love of God. We really connected at that level “Always Keep God In Your Heart,” she wrote to me after we hugged and cried. She said it had been a while since she was compelled to write that message… and it’s written in my heart!

I really enjoyed my night out with my handsome prince. He held me through some scenes that, while not particularly hard for many, were a reminder of my own pain. He was my chauffeur and oh how I appreciate him driving our little car for me. Which reminds me, you can connect with  Gimme Shelter  by following on Facebook and Twitter, and by using the hashtags  #GimmeShelter and #IAppreciate. #IAppreciate that my hubby enjoyed it so much, even as high-maintenance about movies as he is. LOL It’s probably “a guy thing,” so it’s probably “a guy movie.” [wink]

I am looking forward to your comments about  Gimme Shelter and to go see it again… maybe on a girls’ night out (which is also a rarity!). Whether it is rare for you or not to go see a good flick, I invite you to treat yourself to this one. It will be well worth it.

[ela]