Loggerheads

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

First - let me say that I am not associated with the movie in any way and I paid $10.75 to see it. (I was reading the other comments and the only negative one I saw decided that all the other glowing comments were shills.)

I loved the way the stories intertwined. The acting was superb. Tess Harper and Bonnie Hunt were particular favorites for me. Like others have mentioned, I was very impressed by Ms. Hunt's dramatic work in this movie and hope she'll get to do more of it. The movie was quiet and thoughtful. Some might think it was slow, but I didn't feel that way. I was totally involved with the story and interested in the characters every step of the way.

A really wonderful film.

Kudos to Tim Kirkman for assembling a marvelous cast to tell the poignant story of "Loggerheads," a 2005 independent production filmed in North Carolina. "Loggerheads" (the title refers to large turtles as well as the normal meaning of the word) tells three different stories in three different time periods. The stories eventually intertwine. The first takes place in 1999 and stars Kip Pardue as Mark, an HIV-positive young man working to preserve the loggerheads. Kip is sleeping on Kure Beach in North Carolina until he is taken in by George (Michael Kelly), who lets him stay in the motel he manages.

In the second story, which takes place in 2000, an unhappy woman (Bonnie Hunt) who lives with her mother (Michael Learned) wants desperately to find the child she gave up for adoption but isn't having any luck until she meets a detective.

The third story is in 2001 and concerns a Christian couple, a minister (Chris Sarandon) and his wife (Tess Harper) who must come to grips with a sad family situation, but the minister's faith holds him back.

All three stories are beautifully told and acted. The normally funny Bonnie Hunt is here in a serious role, and she tears at the heart, with Learned offering down to earth, quiet support - they are an ideal mother and daughter. The juvenile-looking Pardue gives a sensitive performance as someone who seems totally alone, at odds with his world and has given up making sense of it. As the minister, Chris Sarandon is powerful as a good man who believes in a punishing God and of a different opinion than his normally acquiescent wife, Harper, who has a tough decision to make. There are two other standouts: Michael Kelly as George, who befriends Mark, and Ann Pierce, an Olympia Dukakis lookalike, as Harper and Sarandon's wise neighbor.

Though the pace of the film is a little slow, the stories are intriguing enough to hold the viewer, as are the performances. It's also very well photographed. One IMDb poster stated the ending was clichéd - perhaps it was, but it was nevertheless satisfying. This is a film from a director/writer who has something to say - catch it if you see it for rent or on the Sundance channel.

I caught this film at RiverRun Film Festival in NC. I enjoyed Kirkman's earlier film, "Dear Jesse," and I was amazed at how his filmaking had matured in such a short time. This is one gorgeous film, and it was well received at RiverRun. I love Kirkman's writing, and I was impressed with how he balanced the complexity of the three story lines. He could have dumbed down the script to spoon feed information to the audience, but instead he chose to use sound and dialogue to reveal the time line of the three story lines to the audience.

The cinematography was well done and showed the beauty of Asheville and the Carolina coastline. The performances by Kip Pardue, Bonnie Hunt, and Tess Harper were excellent. Most of the reviews I've read have emphasized Hunt, perhaps because of her name recognition and the fact that this is a first dramatic role for her, but Tess Harper's performance was equally riveting, and I hope she gets more attention for it.

I saw this film last night at the San Francisco Frameline Film Festival (6/20/05). This is a profound and moving filmgoing experience. I don't really want to say much about it but I encourage people to see it. One thing I particularly liked about it was the use of the Carolina locales. The film suggests that there's a whole world out there that Gay people have been deprived of. Yes, major cities like San Francisco and New York have been Gay turf for a long time. LOGGERHEADS dares to make the statement that we have to right to belong everywhere comfortably be it "the heartland" or the urban center. This film really is about "the heartland" -- a place where people have to grapple with their most personal issues and come out as better, stronger individuals. Between seeing LOGGERHEADS and Gregg Araki's MYSTERIOUS SKIN this week, I think the so-called "Gay Film" has really come of age.