Hate Crime (2005)

6% of critics liked it
(17 reviews)
61% of users liked it
(959 ratings)

A quiet community reveals an ugly underside in the wake of a horrible crime in this independent drama. Robbie Levinson (Seth Peterson) and Trey McCoy (Brian J. Smith) are a gay couple who've been together for six years; they've been sharing a comfortable home in suburban Dallas most of that time,… More A quiet community reveals an ugly underside in the wake of a horrible crime in this independent drama. Robbie Levinson (Seth Peterson) and Trey McCoy (Brian J. Smith) are a gay couple who've been together for six years; they've been sharing a comfortable home in suburban Dallas most of that time, and are planning to get married once the legalities work themselves. Robbie and Trey are good neighbors who get along well with the other folks in the community until Chris Boyd (Chad Donella) moves in next door. Chris is a youth pastor at a church run by his father (Bruce Davison), a fundamentalist Christian who preaches often and with great vehemence about the evils of homosexuality. Chris doesn't keep his feelings about gays to himself, and when Trey is found dead in a nearby park, the victim of a sadistic beating with a baseball bat, Robbie believes Chris may be involved. However, Chris' father and mother provide an alibi for him, and the police hand the case from Detective Fisher (Farah White), who investigates hate crimes, to Sgt. Esposito (Giancarlo Esposito) in the homicide department. Robbie is appalled to discover he's now the leading suspect in the murder, and begins making his own investigation into Trey's death. Hate Crime was the first feature film from writer and director Tommy Stovall. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: R, 1 hr. 43 min.
Directed By: Tommy Stovall
Genres: Mystery & Suspense, Drama

In Theaters: Jan 14, 2005 Wide
On DVD: Nov 14, 2006
Studio: Pasidg Productions

Critic Reviews

Geoff Pevere, Toronto Star
First-time director Stovall renders all with the kitchen-lit, squarely composed aesthetic of timid prime-time TV, and his moral schema is no less ordinary.
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
The portrait of the Boyds is painted by Tommy Stovall, the film's writer and director, with such broad and venomous strokes that if the gay characters had been portrayed in the same way, the film would rightly be seen as bigoted.
Mario Tarradell, Dallas Morning News
... a flawed film that frequently tries to rise above standard TV dramas of the week.
Frank Scheck, Hollywood Reporter
A well-meaning but hopelessly stilted melodrama, Hate Crime sacrifices good intentions with its mediocrity of execution.
Lael Loewenstein, Variety
What is not entirely clear is what Hate Crime adds to the equation that hasn't been done before.
Jeannette Catsoulis, New York Times
On the surface, Hate Crime may seem like a movie about violence rooted in religious bigotry, but underneath it's a poorly disguised argument for vigilantism.
David Noh, Film Journal International
Call it too much fuel to the fire in a misguided effort to bring home the tragedy of gay hate crimes.
Don Willmott, Filmcritic.com
deserves praise, even the political viewpoints lack any subtlety whatsoever.
Bruce Kirkland, Jam! Movies
An intelligent, well-acted, tense drama that is challenging in its moral complexity.
Luke Y. Thompson, New Times
One day, a truly original screenplay will be written in which churchgoing, beer-drinking Southerners will be portrayed as something other than evil hypocrites.
Peter Sobczynski, eFilmCritic.com
Well-meaning but deeply flawed.
Ernest Hardy, L.A. Weekly
The film never rises above its cry now-avenge later Lifetime Channel sensibilities.
Cherryl Dawson and Leigh Ann Palone, TheMovieChicks.com
It takes a turn toward vigilante justice, Texas-style, where everybody has a gun. They trade a hate crime for a crime of hate, and that mixed message overshadows the potential of this film.
Ken Fox, TV Guide's Movie Guide
Well-intentioned but convoluted thriller.
Felix Vasquez Jr., Film Threat
While Stovall's study of hate crimes is well acted, and with the right intentions, it can never get off the ground and feel like a unique dissection, and still comes off as an episode of a cop show in the end.

Read all 15 critic reviews

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The movie tries to make a point and send out a message. While the intentions might have been good, what I got to see in the form of a thriller wasn't quite so. Its predictability and preachy parts didn't bother me as much as its story so filled with loopholes. And if the… More
The movie tries to make a point and send out a message. While the intentions might have been good, what I got to see in the form of a thriller wasn't quite so. Its predictability and preachy parts didn't bother me as much as its story so filled with loopholes. And if the director has the same excuse that the Sergeant makes towards the end, I'd have a hard time pardoning him. Many of the significant twists and turns simply don't add up to. I'd have readily ignored one or two, but here we've got enough at hand to make the movie lame. Tolerable, but not recommended from my end.

Cast

Seth Peterson
as Robbie Levinson
Chad E. Donella
as Chris Boyd
Brian J. Smith
as Trey McCoy

Bruce Davison
as Pastor Boyd
Susan Blakely
as Martha Boyd
Giancarlo Esposito
as Sgt. Esposito

See full cast

Hate Crime (2005)

Critic Reviews

Featured Audience Ratings

familiar s

Cast