This one falls into that darker corner of gay cinema. There was real potential buried in here, but the execution feels so flat that at points it plays out more like a filmed stage play than an actual movie. It's a dark psychological drama built around a street hustler confessing to a brutal, confusing murder of his own lover. Black and white flashback sequences do a solid job laying out the details of what happened, but the real focus stays on the dialogue and the writing itself. Right at the start, a young hustler has already killed his male lover Claude. Three days go by before he calls the police to turn himself in for the murder. But instead of just reporting it somewhere ordinary, he actually summons the police and the local press directly into a judge's private chambers. Yves has keys to the place, which tracks given what he does for a living, but having the press waiting right outside makes the whole scene look like some elaborate blackmail scheme against the judge. The ...
Rock Haven is a simple story of a young boy having to rectify his religious beliefs with his sexuality. There isn't much of a subplot, plot twist, or surprise in the entire movie, just a simple story well told. Had this movie been made a little earlier when people were just coming to terms with accepting homosexuality in the society, it would have had much more impact.Brady is a shy, introspective 18 year old spending the summer before going away to college in a small coast town in Northern California. He is there with his widowed mother, who is a devout Christian. Brady spends most time either reading Bible or watching the ocean until he meets a neighbor's free-spirited visiting son, 19 year old Clifford. Brady never before felt drawn to anyone as he feels to Clifford, and the other boy makes it clear that the feeling is mutual. Sensing his apprehensions and inexperience, Clifford lets their relationship develop slowly over the course of the summer, and, although he kids Brady about being a "nerd" in many of his interests, is careful not to express a conflict with his religious upbringing and convictions. Soon Brady's mother finds out and decides to send him away to college. Brady starts avoiding Clifford. Clifford feels responsible for turning Brady away from his faith so he decides to move away from US to his father. Brady ultimately realizes that he is what he is, he confronts his mother and goes to meet Clifford. He meets but the decision has been taken and the boys who could have been together forever just separate from each other.
The film moves very slow but considering there are only 4 main characters. It was good that both Brady and Clifford had some story backing them up. Clifford was just not a hot body. Both the moms also acted well but I personally could not digest the strong reactions that Brady's mother would show. If you get past the religious message, there is a nice love story in there of two people drawn to one another for different reasons and trying to work out their differences to achieve something they both want.
Decent watch if you don't get bored with the pace of the film. (5/10)
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