Loggerheads are turtles, found along the coast of North Carolina, whose lives are unique in that the females always return to the beach where they were born to lay their eggs, hatch their young who in turn by moonlight go out to sea only to return to their origin to repeat the life cycle. The film by the name LOGGERHEADS relies heavily on this phenomenon: it is set in North Carolina and is guided by the young man Mark (Kip Pardue) who opens the story sleeping on the beach in Kure Beach, NC where he studies and protects the loggerheads.
A complex and challenging film, writer/director Tim Kirkman (The Night Larry Kramer Kissed Me, Dear Jesse) calls upon a true story to bring up questions of adoption in all the permutations of the triad, homosexuality, religious intolerance, bigotry, AIDS, and the longing for love and forgiveness. Kirkman sets his story in three years - 1999, 2000, 2001 - a fact that can be disconcerting until the flow of the film reveals the need to separate the events in time.
Mark is befriended by George (Michael Kelly) who is a kind young man, owning a motel, and who provides a room for the beach sleeper Mark. Mark quickly informs George that he has AIDS, thinking that George's kindness is a barter. But George is a true friend and their relationship grows slowly and with mutual trust as they learn the secrets of their pasts: George's lover 'drowned' in a mysterious accident; Mark ran away from his adoptive parents when they discovered he was gay; both men are tender and vulnerable souls afraid of further commitment.
Simultaneously we are introduced to Grace (Bonnie Hunt), recently recovering from a suicide attempt who longs to connect with the son she was forced to give up for adoption at age 17, and who lives with her rather rigid mother Sheridan (Michael Learned) who believes Grace should not try to discover the son she never knew. We also meet the minister Rev. Robert (Chris Sarandon) and his wife Elizabeth (Tess Harper) who are fanatics about gay people and even resent their neighbor Ruth (Ann Pierce) who places a nude statue of David on her lawn. The couple's son Mark is never discussed and the adoptive parents never communicate with him - but Ruth does. Ruth finally confides that Mark is ill and the wounds of separation open for Elizabeth. Meanwhile Grace has paid a 'finder' to locate Mark but the finder gives her a sad report. The three years of the story line make exquisite sense at this point as we realize that Kirkman has allowed us to be voyeurs into a human drama of immense substance, one that inexorably binds these disparate characters.
The cast is genuinely fine, with Kip Pardue, Michael Kelly, Bonnie Hunt, Tess Harper all giving highly sophisticated performances. But the credit for the impact of this stunning film goes to the writing and directing of Tim Kirkman. He has a way with film that is unique: we can only hope he will continue to make films of this quality, films that tackle difficult issues and are molded into realistic, non-manipulated dramas. Highly Recommended. Grady Harp
