Fair Haven

This little movie is quite good. Tom Wopat does a wonderful job as the farmer father who sent his son to a "Christian" gay reparative therapy farm. He wants what he thinks is best for his son, but the son's dreams for this future as well as his sexual orientation are at odds with the father's vision. Michael Grant as the son turns in a wonderful performance--as good an actor as he seems to be a pianist. His estranged boyfriend of the past is played by the lovely Josh Green, who radiates good will and sweetness, even in the early scenes when Grant is cruel to him. There is a wonderful mood to this film. It's pretty and takes good advantage of the farm setting. The big turn of events that sets the story in a new direction--all for the better--happens a bit too quickly and the final wrap up comes at a pace much faster that the first half of the film. However, this is a small fault in an otherwise excellent story about a gay youth growing up and owning his own life despite powers against him. So many gay films I see are trite, silly or simply badly made. This film stands out as beautifully made with sensitivity and class.

100% accurate and dead on. I am a Christian, true to my faith, and yet tormented by my sexual attraction to the same sex. This movie hit the mark! What James went through in the movie, was very accurate. His feelings, True feelings, from his heart, and, from his hormones. Yet, Christian ministers that were in his life, who have no concept of what it is like to be a male attracted to males, who believe in their faith and the Word of God, trying to convince you of 'TRUTH', ignorant of the fact that their can be anything different, to the fact of a male attracted to another male, will ram their faith down your throat. I believe in the Word of God, the Bible, 100%, yet I am attracted to the same sex. That puts me into a delimna. I deal with this struggle every day. and so did the characters of this movie. and on top of all this, the man of the family, the father, driving to pressure his son into doing what is right, or else. Again, same struggles that I go through every day. Movie, gets 5 stars. 100% on the mark. Very well done. Good acting. by all. Highly recommended.

Kid and father live in what looks like a great farmhouse. There should have been at least a couple of other characters on the orchard to flesh out the background. Grant and Green are both excellent as the boys trying to find their way back to each other after one of them undergoes psychological torture while incarcerated in a Christian gay conversion therapy operation. Wopat and Harrison do well enough with the sort of stereotypical adult characters they're given to play. Eliminate the creepy minister's daughter subplot, and trim a little of almost every other scene in the movie and this could have been even better.(Also wanted to note the homage to a very different, much better gay coming-of-age story; the woods running scene near the end when the boys finally reunite. The scene is copied more-or-less directly from the 1996 British movie Beautiful Thing, one of the best gay movies of all time. No Cass Elliot soundtrack in Fair Haven, but otherwise it's exactly the same scene, and almost as sweet as the original.)

Not sure which movie the less than 4 star-raters watched but this movie is remarkable on so many levels. Its a story that has not been told and unless you have walked even a few steps in these characters shoes then you would think it mediocre. As Roberta Flack sang, "Telling my whole life with your words...". Absolutely amazing movie - great acting and not sure about the complaints about the music - its a key part of the story. More interesting this story doesnt take place in the south as so many would think such close mindedness could exist. Worth every minute and then some.

A poignant coming of age film which suffers from a mediocre script and a less than stellar supporting cast. Actor (Michael Grant) plays 19 year old James Grant whose mom has recently died and his father is attempting to raise him on his own. James does a lot of staring into space with his sad puppy dog eyes but overall he's believable as our main character who's a troubled teen. His father is played to a delusional perfection by the former "Dukes of Hazzard" star (Tom Wopat). He's hardly recognizable in the fatherly role. The same goes for fellow 1970's hunk (Gregory Harrison) from "Trapper John MD", who also appears in this film as well playing the well intentioned therapist. Overall, the premise here in the movie is that when dad eventually retires James is supposed to inherit the family apple farm fondly known hereafter as Fair Haven. It's a family owned farm if not a legacy, which has been passed down from generation to generation for likely over the last 150 crop growing seasons. However, James who's only interest is studying music at Berkley where he's proudly been accepted, want's absolutely no part of it and professes his future plans to sell it. James in the meantime is wrestling with his own sexual identity and his father sends him off to a religious based conversion camp led by Dr. Gallagher(Gregory Harrison) to hopefully set him straight on the divine path to heterosexuality immortality. Although this film means well in its message. It's heavily weighted down by cliched dialogue and an overall weak supporting cast. James love interest is his boyfriend Charlie who slurs his words together so badly you'll have to play back the video several times to ever comprehend what he's actually saying. Sadly James female love interest counterpart Suzy, who's portrayed as a dizzy blonde, suffers from Charlie's same annoying speech impediment as well. Suzy also proudly wears a promise ring on her marriage finger to pledge her virginity to the world until she's properly wed. In the meantime, she more interested in hearing about juicy gossip about her former high school mates, while her minister father who's played by (Tom Malloy) is blind to see little Suzy's own wicked ways when she's away at college or even home on Spring break. The musical soundtrack to finish it off is also really uninspiring.. It drastically hurts the overall atmosphere of the movie and fails to transcend the mood of the film beyond the mundane setting we already find ourselves in. A more impressive soundtrack could have at least helped during the weaker moments during the film. The film's climatic ending is also totally predictable from the first 30 minutes after when you see the opening credits. Ultimately when the film comes to it's final conclusion. James father has a not too surprising revelation that it's not actually the family farm itself which makes him and his son a true family in the end. In reality, it's the love they share between each other which really ultimately makes the difference. Knowing that love though challenged at times, still remains constant whether they agree with each other necessarily or not. Actor Tom Wopat playing James widowed father is the real shining star in this overall earnest film. Many gay sons with narrow minded fathers, watching this film, will see a part of their own father honestly portrayed in the dialogue of Wopat's character. Although this film definitely has it's moments. I really wish I could have liked this film a lot more. I honestly really do.

I absolutely loved this film. It's a beautiful story of two young American country boys, James and Charlie, in love. After the death of his mother, James is sent off by his father to a ghastly fundamentalist Christian establishment for conversion therapy. And the film is about what happens when he comes back from the course. Is he cured or not? - But that is not all. There is a parallel conflict with his father about James's plans for the future. His father wants him to take over the apple farm which has been in the family for generations, but James wants to go off to a prestigious but expensive music school to train to be a concert pianist. This conflict has to be resolved by the film too. It is beautifully acted by all the main characters, but especially by the two young lads, who are absolute heartthrobs. A MUST BUY !!!

I gave it three stars when it probably deserved 2. Nothing wrong with the film, but it would have been nice if it had anything new, fresh and original to say. You could predict where every scene was going to end up next. The dinner at the girl's house. The kiss in the car. It's all been done before. The actors did their best. I can't say I care for 'feel good' movies, and this one was cliché after cliché.

A perfect example of a 'feel-good-movie'. Al doh the movie doesn't actually have a storyline It's very pleasing to watch. The actors managed to make a good performance to show the difficult of living in a community were gay-people are not accepted. Stand up for each other, you can see the love and chemistry between the (main)characters.

A great movie, and it's in English !!! which is a rare with this genre of film. Well worth watching.

Enjoyed the movie, and it final message. I understood the need to simplify and soften the conflict in order to remark the core message. Even in the dark places there is hope.