Shelter

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.

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..

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.

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.

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.