Shelter (I) (2014) User Reviews

We love no matter who we are.

[kdavies-69347 · 7/10 · 4 February 2016]

This film moved me... or rather made me look at things a little differently I suppose. I normally give money to panhandlers, buy them a hot meal whenever I can. Where I live, homelessness is an issue that people don't concern themselves with as much as New York because the climate is warmer, and people generally survive easier I suppose. But this movie made me think about those individuals who are struggling in a deeper way.

Shelter takes place over the course of a few seasons in New York city. A tough place to be, and even tougher if you're homeless. It's hard to get by, and there is no shortage of people who are willing to take advantage of you. We are introduced to two such individuals played aptly by Jennifer Connelly and Anthony Mackie. Two different lives that simply interact one day, and forever changes their paths. Both are on the street for different reasons, and both have their own demons to deal with. Their paths intertwine and they begin to show real promise, as a couple just down on their luck, just looking for and hoping for any real opportunity to dig themselves out of the hole they are in.

What really sticks with you is how utterly believable the situations are. Most movies about homelessness, usually with a huge celebrity attached to it are much harder for me to believe, but with this cast and story it was so easy to fall into. Times are tough all over the world, and New York is probably more susceptible than most cities to find yourself in hard times and taken advantage of. I feel very grateful to not have been in any of the situations you witness in this film, but I promise you, it will make you think about those who are.

An excellent first story from writer/director Paul Bettany.

7/10

Wow!

[freshclean-66-318608 · 7/10 · 14 November 2016]

"Shelter" is remarkable piece of work that stared two great actors that performed brilliantly. I like Anthony Mackie and I love Jennifer Connelly. Both of them were great in this film. This is a heart breaking story of two homeless people that cross paths and fall in love and try to survive homeless in the streets. Their lives and their stories of how they got there are brought out dramatically in this film. This film does start out a little slow but then it picks up and goes on a dramatically intense journey. The way the plot unfolds in this film is simple but in a good story like this that's all that's needed. I learned that this is Paul Bettany's directorial debut. If this is, all I can say is wow! This film is set up perfectly and the writing is great. I wanted to see this film from the time I saw the trailer because I knew with Anthony Mackie and Jennifer Connelly that this film was going to be a good one. This film is a must see and I think anyone who loves drama and good chemistry between two wonderful actors should see this film.

"Shelter" will stick with you for a long time...

[paul_haakonsen · 7/10 · 9 June 2018]

I decided to sit down and watch "Shelter" solely because I noticed that Jennifer Connelly was in it, and I had no idea what the movie was about and had not heard about it prior to finding it on Netflix.

The story was a rather beautiful and heartfelt story, albeit a somewhat predictable one for sure.

What made the movie work was the acting performances by both Anthony Mackie and Jennifer Connelly. Man, was I impressed with the performance that Jennifer Connelly put on in this movie, and I dare say that this was actually one of her best performances in a long time easily matching the performance of "Requiem for a Dream".

"Shelter" is definitely well worth taking the time and effort to sit down and watch. And I will say that it actually does shed some light onto a world that I assume most of us just walk straight past without even throwing a second glance. So a big thumbs up to director and writer Paul Bettany for his achievement with this movie.

If you haven't already seen "Shelter", then I can only strongly recommend that you take the time to do so, if you have the chance. Because this is definitely a movie that will stick with you.

As Paul Bettany's directorial debut, Shelter misses the head but hits the heart thanks to the solid performance of real life spouse Jennifer Connelly.

[LloydBayer · 7/10 · 12 December 2014]

What's the first thing that comes to mind when you think of New York? A vibrant cityscape? Glitz and glam? Written, produced and directed by Paul Bettany, Shelter is a bleak reminder that even the greatest cities in the world can be extremely unforgiving if time and destiny dictates it.

So it is with Tahir (Anthony Mackie), a Nigerian Muslim with an expired visa, and Hannah (Jennifer Connelly), a suicidal heroin junkie. As an illegal immigrant, Tahir cannot seek communal shelter so makes do by scavenging through trash and busking on plastic buckets. When they meet and eventually fall in love, we learn that one is the victim of circumstance and the other by choice. They have different beliefs owing to different backgrounds but they find dependence and strength in each other. He will get her through her drug addiction and reconciled with her estranged family. She will become the only source of redemption for his violent past. Through drip-fed sympathy we feel their anguish, and just when we think it can't get any worse, Bettany settles for none less than a grim ending, but not before forcing Hannah and Tahir through increasingly stomach churning situations.

Shelter could have been set in any city but Bettany's story is juxtaposed between New York's opulence and rock bottom poverty. In some ways it is dedicated to the couple who lived outside their Manhattan residence but in many ways it is an eye opening account of a worst case scenario that could befall anyone. It's a dark shade of New York (or any other first world city) we either don't see or choose not to, and that's all the more reason why this story had to be told. But in doing so, Bettany's approach is depressing, repulsive and even melodramatic. If such is the intended effect, Shelter has a lot of it and that's largely due to Connelly's solid performance in portraying the plight of a woman who has nothing left, and because she has nothing left, will do anything to survive. Connelly also looks the part, with bones and veins sticking out of what looks like a malnourished frame. On the other hand, Mackie is either miscast or isn't given much to work with. Besides his faltering Nigerian accent, I can't imagine how his character is so well built for a hungry hobo; unless of course, the physique he has in this film is a fundamental requirement that runs alongside his characters in Marvel superhero films.

While there are other questions that go unanswered, including debatable motives from certain characters, a lot of energy is focused on the pathetic situation of a homeless individual. There's no doubt that this is the real world and that poverty can be as devastating as cancer. But even while Bettany's subject matter is loud and clear, his application of Murphy's Law gives away towards a predictable ending with even more melodrama. Overall, you could call it a sophomore effort but there is also every reason to believe that this isn't a directorial attempt for the heck of it. As a first attempt for an actor-turned-director, Bettany gives us a powerful film that hits the heart despite aiming for the head. I sincerely hope there's more where this came from.

Gimme

[rooee · 7/10 · 13 January 2016]

Avengers reunited! Anthony Mackie stars and Paul Bettany writes and directs – but this low-budget, lowdown indie couldn't be further from the world-saving antics of Falcon and Vision. It actually premiered in 2014, and has since been dismissed by many critics. Sure, it's overwrought. But despite some flaws this is a thought-provoking drama with little preaching.

It's a story from the bottom rung of Maslow's Hierarchy. Mackie plays Nigerian immigrant Tahir, homeless in New York, whom we meet repenting for a terrible crime from his past. When his stuff is stolen he notices that Hannah (Jennifer Connolly) is wearing his jacket. He follows her. They meet. They love.

Sounds simple because it is. It's a love story that happens to involve two people sleeping rough. It's episodic in structure because every day is an episode of pain, but it essentially follows the model of the classical Hollywood romance. Yet it does so largely without sugar-coating its characters' suffering.

The film is utterly driven by these two main characters. Every scene is from one of their perspectives. And they carry it brilliantly. We've known Connolly is capable of this quality for some time, but it still comes as a surprise to see her emaciated frame so brutally possessed and conflicted. Mackie, meanwhile, is the revelation. He's a ubiquitous presence on our screens – forever a stable buddy character – but I've never seen him so soulful, so internal.

Does it veer toward beautifully art-directed misery theatre at times? Yes it does. Occasionally it seems conspicuously designed to challenge expectations, more than coming across as a reflection of real life. But I figured that was the point: to find romance in desperation, like the lovers themselves. Also, there's the occasional clunky dialogue: "Never judge a book by its cover," Hannah tells one ignoramus.

Notably, the "System" is not demonised. When Tahir is discharged from hospital into the winter cold, Hannah asks the doctor if Tahir can stay – but she's asking the impossible. Moments like this highlight the hurdles of a universal welfare structure that cannot bend to individual circumstances.

As a test of empathy, Shelter makes you work hard. He's a mass-murdering African Muslim; she's a war widow who left her child to beg for heroin money. However bleak that sounds, the search for goodness is a consistent theme. We are the sum of all our deeds, not just our worst. Tahir and Hannah talk of God and death and cognitive dissonance like regular smart people. And they look out for each other in a way most regular people don't look out for them.

Shelter is worth seeking out. It's a tough, harrowing watch, but far from a thankless or hopeless one.

Realistic portrayal of homelessness, sometimes brutal, with a few laughs

[vchimpanzee · 20 July 2020]

If you can't handle the truth about his life, just avoid this movie. It's pretty hard to watch.

Want a happy ending? Hallmark has plenty of them. This may be taking place at Christmas but it has more in common with the stories of the Grinch and Scrooge (before their redemption) than what you might hope for.

As the main characters pretend they really live in a luxurious house they broke into, and wear the clothes and use the fine glassware and other items, we see most of the film's few humorous moments, and we learn more about these characters.

On the subject of humor, Hannah has fun with a helium balloon while things are still desperate.

If this were a foreign language film or had somehow been condensed into a short film, I think we would be talking Oscar. As it is, it's just not the type of film that is popular enough to get nominations,

But I think this film has the quality writing and acting to be noticed by the Oscar people, or at least the Golden Globe people. It doesn't shy away from reality and teaches us a lot about what is like on the streets. The characters are not stereotypes and you wonder how they couldn't make it in life.

If you have the courage to put your self through this, and get out of your comfort zone, it is worth it.

Good debut from Paul Bettany.

[deloudelouvain · 7/10 · 26 August 2018]

For his debut as a writer/director Paul Bettany did a good job with this drama. Shelter, where Jennifer Connelly as one of the two main characters is also the wife of Paul Bettany, tells the two different stories of a couple of homeless people. Jennifer Connelly (as Hannah) and Anthony Mackie (Tahir) are both living on the streets and that because of different reasons and they both cope differently with their unfortunate position. They both try to help the other getting away from the street life. It's a nice story, with alot of emotions and images that reflect perfectly how some homeless people are living daily. The acting and filming are both good, with an interesting and sometimes sad story.

Powerful & Emotional! 7/10

[leonblackwood · 7/10 · 21 February 2016]

Review: What an emotional movie! The acting from Jennifer Connelly, who plays Hannah and Anthony Mackie, Tahir, is superb and the deep story, about 2 homeless, lost souls who fall in love and struggle to live on the streets of New York, is brilliant. When Tahir becomes ill during a brutal winter, Hannah tries her hardest to find accommodation for them both, and she goes to the extreme to buy medication for Tahir. These 2 characters, really came from 2 different world's but when they join forces to find money, food and accommodation, there emotional journey goes from one extreme to another. The chemistry between Tahir and Hannah is excellent and very believable and the ending did bring a tear to my eye. Hannah is a heroin addict, who sadly lost her husband to a terrorist attack and she left her little boy with her father while she lives on the streets, finding ways to fund her habit. Tahir is a African immigrant who lives in America illegally and lost his wife and young boy, in a brutal way, in Africa. There are some different elements to the plot, which made this film quite enjoyable and the fact that many people are losing there houses and have to use food banks and shelter to live nowadays, gives this movie a truthful look into the extent that the homeless have to go to, just to make it through one day to the next. Anyway, I enjoyed this emotional drama but it's a shame that it didn't get the big distribution treatment that it deserved. Enjoyable!

Round-Up: This is the first movie, written and directed by Paul Bettany, 44, whose known for acting in some top class movies. He was brilliant in A Knights Tale and A Beautiful Mind in 2001 and quite scary as Silas in the Da Vinci Code. His voice became worldwide known when he starred in Iron Man as Jarvis and when he changed into human form in Avengers: Age of Ultron, it set a path for yet another superhero. For his directional debut, he really did pick a deep subject, which will touch many hearts and he done a great job by getting the most out of the top class actors. 

I recommend this movie to people who are into their dramas starring Jennifer Connelly, Anthony Mackie and Bruce Altman. 7/10

Difficult to watch, but really well done!

[WWJDWITHCA · 9/10 · 28 March 2016]

Bettany doesn't pull any punches with this film, so don't expect some feel-good love story, and expect to feel really good about yourself when the final credits roll. This is a really nice piece of work, that speaks to how people end-up on the street, and why they stay; even if they decide to leave.

This piece is intended to make you re-think your views on homeless street people, and in my book does a really nice job. The film doesn't try to place the blame on anyone, which I really think brings the authenticity through.

I personally have not seen another motion picture that brought such resolution in my mind about street addicts; why they do it, how they got there, and what really our their choices once they partake.

Dubious choices, bland characters

[aceofspeeds · 6/10 · 1 March 2021]

I liked this movie, but for the most part, I hated it. Why? Well, first of all I've been homeless myself (in a very similar situation as Hannah, actually), but I managed to fare much better than her. I am not bragging, I just couldn't understand some of the choices she has made during the course of the movie. First of all, there is more than one food pantry in NYC, plus she and Tahir made some OK money busking and panhandling, but she chooses to steal produce. Fine, stuff happens so to say, but then they squat at this ultra rich house, use the wine, the water, put on the owners' clothes and hang out for quite awhile (long enough for Hannah to kick her heroin habit!) and yet they never consider taking just a couple of the gold chains or some other small valuables, sell them and actually get a little place of their own, or a car? And don't give me the "morals" crap, because a) they were not above stealing per se, and b) this was a RICH household, a couple small items wouldn't have made any difference to them.

Then Tahir and Hannah choose to bum around (no pun intended) the NYC all fall and winter, acquiring no useful possessions (not even a pair of warm sleeping bags?), finding no jobs or gigs, and staying at the mercy of shelters. They also never consider getting married, even though that would've given Tahir more rights in the USA. They also don't even discuss traveling elsewhere, perhaps down south, for example, for the winter. Then when Tahir gets sick, Hannah tries halfheartedly to get money for his meds from her father, and when he rightfully refuses to believe her, that's the end of the conversation. She could've have him contact the pharmacy or the hospital and see for himself, or take him up on the offer of taking the next flight down to NYC, especially now that she was clean and had nothing to hide- but she didn't. Instead she got money from the security guard for some demeaning sex. Perhaps she was desperate- but even after getting the meds, she turned to the same source for more money- for two train tickets out west! Why couldn't she call her father then and have him come pick them up? As a result of all these dubious choices, Tahir dies, and Hannah is lonely and heartbroken once again (but clean, except for how long this time? Who knows.)

Yes, I did feel sad at the end, but the more I analyzed the film, the angrier I got. These people made their (cardboard) bed, now they better lie in it and not complain. Or else shut up and try harder. Like I said, I used to be homeless, but I made it through, together with my boyfriend. It is possible, and without unnecessary sacrifices!

Not sure what I just watched...

[thebogofeternalstench · 1/10 · 15 November 2015]

Shelter starts off badly with mumbling dialogue, most of which I found incredibly hard to hear throughout the film. Badly cut, shaky scenes with little meaning and I found Jennifer Connelly's character really irritating.

She's a heroin addict who's ditched her child and fallen into a homeless drug addicted slump because her husband died. "I used to be someone" is the cardboard sign she puts out when asking for money. The other ways she gets it is letting a morally bankrupt security guard have sex with her, even asking for oral sex for just letting her sleep in the boiler room on the first night.

I found both characters unlikeable in certain ways but despite the personal history they tell one another, its understandable why they have ended up the way they have.

Its a miserable film but thats what it is to be homeless and treated like you don't exist, like you are nothing.

Its just that Shelter fails to draw me into the story, and it dreary beyond belief. I love dramas but there was something lacking with Shelter. You could say it was boring.

I'm also sad to see Jennifer Connelly, once a voluptuous beauty reduced to a wrinkled skeleton by her own doing. she was already gaunt way before she made Shelter.

speechless......!

[eleventh-warrior · 8/10 · 16 November 2015]

I have no words for this beautiful and unexpected piece of gem...i watched it and not sure what is all about ...but after watching it i was speechless....great topic and sure an eye opening subject ...Jennifer Connelly and Anthony Mackie did a well job with their role...and i am surprised why its not well rated.i don't know why the junk movies are well rated that the producers are making and remaking it again and again...Paul Bettany is clearly sending a message with his debut direction and writing ..that he can do something with a topic that no other famous directors even bother to see.. its a powerful drama and worth watching... i think it deserve more than the average stars ...Go see it with your heart ...i am sure you will not regret it..

Everyone has a story

[GingeryPsychNP · 7/10 · 3 October 2020]

Hannah's cardboard sign with "I USED TO BE SOMEONE" says everything that needs to be said. Everyone has a story.

What would you be willing to do for someone you love? To get them something they needed to stay alive. Put yourself in their shoes. This might be any one of us.

No chemistry at all

[deanocware · 4/10 · 16 May 2021]

I'm sorry but Mackie and Connor have absolutely no chemistry in this movie and for what it's supposed to be - an expose on homelessness and human redemption - it turns out to be a rushed loved story set against a depressing back drop of homelessness in New York. If that sounds interesting to you then watch it - otherwise just watch a documentary on homelessness.

A family affair, Bettany writes and directs Connelly, a tale of two homeless souls.

[TxMike · 22 July 2016]

I found this on Netflix streaming. At the end is a very short dedication to a homeless couple who lived outside the Bettany and Connelly home.

Set in New York, Anthony Mackie is Tahir, homeless and plays makeshift drums on the street to earn spending money, mostly for food. He is an undocumented immigrant from Nigeria and seems very nice and kind.

Also homeless in the New York streets is Jennifer Connelly as Hannah, who also appears to be a drug addict. (She is very thin in this movie, making me wonder if she lost weight for the role.) Their lives intersect.

One several days we see him sort of following her around, not sure why. When she confronts him he says it is because she has his jacket tied around her waist, and he wanted it back. He had just spent a short time locked up and much of his stuff was stolen while he was gone from his nighttime alley.

So the two become friends of sorts, then later start to refer to each other as boyfriend-girlfriend. They seem to make a genuine connection.

The movie is well-written and well-acted but is never a fun or entertaining movie. The topic is too bleak, homeless in New York during a winter. However I am glad I took the time to watch it.

SPOILERS: Hannah's husband was killed and she left home, abandoning her young son, I believe in Dallas (the dialog was unclear), and he dad makes occasional trips to New York to try to find her. As the movie is ending we see her on a bus, presumably finally kicking her habit and going home to her son. Tahir, it turns out, had joined Boko Haram and finally realized that was wrong and sought to clean up his life in New York. He gets sick and dies, perhaps of pneumonia. Hannah wraps his body and straps it to a makeshift raft, sending it out into the Hudson.

Appreciate the things you have

[vijaychandrank · 7/10 · 21 June 2018]

Well this movie just had its moments here and there. Jennifer Connelly is pretty good in the movie.There are various sacrifices she makes for her boyfriend, which gets conveyed mostly through her facial expressions and still makes you feel the pain. Anthony mackie is equally good too, but I felt his character was a little under developed and makes you question why Jennifer Connelly would go to that extent to protect him. Paul bettany has a good debut in my opinion and I am interested to see his directorial venture. Movie hits you with reality of life and how we don't appreciate the things we have.

Slight above average film about the trials of America's homeless

[rapid_randy · 6/10 · 24 February 2016]

I'm very surprised to see none of the reviews containing the beginning of the credits at the end. "To the couple who lived outside my building" pretty much sums up the entire problem of the homeless problem. It's a great story for a movie but how many people actually go out of their way to help those in need? As noted in other reviews, the characters weren't likable enough to pull you in and failed to start the rain works at it's most sad moments. It's worth watching if you're a huge fan of the actors who tried their best to make a good film out of a not so great written story. Overall it was refreshing to see attention given to a subject that's forgotten and looked over every day. If anything good comes from this, let it be that we all take care of our fellow man and treat others as we'd like to be treated, no matter what religion, race, or sex they are.

Well-meaning BUT....

[bluuzman · 6/10 · 28 April 2019]

This movie tries and the acting is good as you would expect, but the plot is far-fetched to say the least. The main thing that I couldn't get past is you can tell the movie was shot in a warm environment. The entire movie is literally set in the Storm Of The Century but no frost from anyone's breath, no shivering, not even a rosy cheek. The actors forgot to act like they were cold. Well-meaning and has it's moments, but overall not believable in major spots for me.

I used to be someone

[nogodnomasters · 8/10 · 19 April 2018]

This is the story of two NYC homeless people. Tahir (Anthony Mackie) is from an African Nation that politically correct word checks don't allow. He has overstayed his VISA, but they won't ship him back. He is living on the streets playing plastic buckets as drums for donations. He espies Hanna (Jennifer Connelly) another homeless person with a heroin addiction. They do well apart, and their troubles begin when these two people worlds apart come together and try to live as a couple with semi-deep theological discussions.

The film shows a little bit about the shelter system, but not enough to be an exposé, just a sad drama. The film is well done and acted, although it does jump a couple of times. For those that like sad slow moving realistic dramas to make their life feel better, this is the one.

Guide: F-bomb, implied sex, brief nudity.

I can hardly remember...

[ballouvince · 3/10 · 23 April 2021]

When a mixed couple of this variation didn't get this treatment. It seems to be Hollywood distributors' minimum daily requirement. And that's sad. The strong story is tainted by this consistency. They are hard to find and only one percent end different. The actor has to have considerable clout for that one percent.

Unexpected

[chungs69 · 9/10 · 20 September 2014]

This is Paul Bettany's debut as a director and a writer and what a debut. This movie captures one's attention from the very beginning. The movie has many twists and turns while telling a story about an ignored group of people in today's society. It plays on the emotions of the audience from high to low. Jennifer Connelly and Anthony Mackie display good screen chemistry and play off each other really well throughout the movie. Jennifer Connelly was really believable and this is perhaps her best role to date. Anthony Mackie is equally mesmerizing in his performance. This is a well written and directed movie with wonderful acting. I would recommend this as a must see.

Just porn

[arclinecreative · 1/10 · 24 January 2020]

I have to question a "writer/director" (if you can call Paul Bettany that) who writes porn as an excuse to see his wife in films like this and try to pass it off as art.

Beautiful shot and performed but hard to watch

[robertemerald · 8/10 · 12 April 2019]

Sometimes you watch a movie and the material presented is so realistic, so filled with gravity and so sad that you almost walk away. You exclaim, 'What a movie!' but it's so real that you are disturbed and it crosses the line, no longer interest and entertainment but something you find too graphic to watch. This, for me, usually happens with 'better' horror movies. But it happened with this one. Recently I saw Incendies. The experience here is almost the same. At its heart it is a beautiful love story, but when it showed how vulnerable the protagonists were it was shocking on several levels, not least because previously one imagined these were two of the strongest people in the world and more than capable to deal with contingencies. I say on several levels, for example, the efforts of the State also come into focus, and it's odd because actually the State here is seen in a positive light. Shelter is beautifully filmed, directed, edited and acted. I got through to the end, but I was deeply moved, and just a tad unsettled.

Humanist but totally disconnected from reality (web)

[leplatypus · 11 November 2016]

For one time, there is an American movie dealing with hobos, Muslim faith so about the invisible, the forgotten ones, the unloved so i can't blame it for that. However having the courage and heart to speak about those issues and fellows should not excuse the big nonsense and the lack to talent! Sadly this movie is filled with that !

As a typical American production, the first scene is about reading for a big, lost minute the logos of all producers in black and white ! Then, when the movies really begins, it's a repeat but this time with the names repeated in the frames ! For sure, nobody will tell that it's useless, irritating, that we don't give a s..t about them and that's maybe inappropriate with the content of the movie !

Next, as a typical American production, the cinematography is just awful : again this dreadful orange / blue filtering that makes people highly tanned in daylight and smurfs by night ! Once again, nobody to tell that movies looked better years ago, that the real world is also green, red, white. Jenny has a long career and should realize that her early movies had a more vivid, colored look than this actual poor two colors !

Next, I expected the story to tell the painful, atrocious lives of hobos but instead the movie manages to tell us about the life of privileged ones ! Having Jenny and her boyfriend crash a luxurious penthouse and benefit with this cool place is just dumb ! When they are in the streets, the story is pitiful : drugs, asthma, snow storm, sexual advances, accidents… well, it's too much, not very real, adding useless drama to already dramatic lives… The directing is stupid : we can see syringes but not inter-courses ! So it's like some events are too hard to show while it's the point of making such movies ! In addition, instead of giving it without make-up, fresh, clear and true in documentary style, the choice is to embellish with useless and stupid pathos : long scenes without dialogues, characters thinking or sinking and little tearful music !

For sure, the ending credits with the dedication caption to the homeless couple in front of his building is stupid because you really wonder what he did with them to have such a poor inspiration ! And he took us for idiots as his (my) building is surely Jenny's (our) building as well!

So what's left is a courageous Jenny who is faithful to her challenging choices and who stunned me with her cute, perfect fluency in french, some good dialogues about faith but at the end, you would prefer Needle Park with Pacino for a better, documented, gripping tale of urban desolation !

Nonsensical Garbage Of The Worst Kind

[mcjensen-05924 · 1/10 · 25 August 2023]

Geez what a steaming pile of filth this was. Another Jennifer C. Swing and a miss. Only reason it's rated this high is because of the subject matter and the interracial component. Not brave at all just simple minded pandering. There's zero chemistry between the two leads and their homeless predicament fails to be convincing. It's pretentious and preachy at times and never ceases to be annoying. Not to mention Islam is completely misrepresented, although that's just a minor issue in a sea of faults and flaws. It'e eye rolling garbage from start to finish. I cannot stress how sickeningly morose and mundane this thing is......