I hate to disagree with most of the other reviews, but I didn't care for this film. The couple the film focuses on seems very likable. The story is very sad. It goes nowhere.
Shane grows up in a rural town where he is subjected to bullying - sad, but certainly nothing unusual. He meets a great, handsome guy who pulls him out of his shell. They fall in love, are rapturously happy, and travel the world together. We know all about their great loving relationship, because we're told all about it by Shane and many other people. Tragically, Tom has a terrible accident. The nurses at the hospital tell Shane they can't allow him in to see Tom because he's "not family" - but they let him in anyway. Tom dies from his injuries.
Tom's funeral is hidden from Shane because Tom's intensely bigoted family doesn't accept gays, and blames Shane for making Tom gay, and doesn't want him at the funeral. Very sad, and ugly, but certainly not unheard of.
To me, this film is like an extended episode of The Real World, MTV's old reality TV show. Lots and lots of interview cuts of friends and family sitting and talking about how they felt about this couple, and how they felt about each other. The camera lingers on countless shots (these guys sure loved cameras) of their handsome faces, and the fun places they visited before the tragic accident.
I just kept waiting for it to get going - would some kind of legal action be taken as a result of Shane being turned away (initially) at the hospital? Would Tom's bigoted parents have a change of heart and embrace Shane, and finally accept their son's sexuality? Where was the story? What made this couple's sad experience film worthy? I kept waiting for some kind of transformation. None came. Sorry to sound cold, but Bridegroom plays like a long vanity project.
Shane grows up in a rural town where he is subjected to bullying - sad, but certainly nothing unusual. He meets a great, handsome guy who pulls him out of his shell. They fall in love, are rapturously happy, and travel the world together. We know all about their great loving relationship, because we're told all about it by Shane and many other people. Tragically, Tom has a terrible accident. The nurses at the hospital tell Shane they can't allow him in to see Tom because he's "not family" - but they let him in anyway. Tom dies from his injuries.
Tom's funeral is hidden from Shane because Tom's intensely bigoted family doesn't accept gays, and blames Shane for making Tom gay, and doesn't want him at the funeral. Very sad, and ugly, but certainly not unheard of.
To me, this film is like an extended episode of The Real World, MTV's old reality TV show. Lots and lots of interview cuts of friends and family sitting and talking about how they felt about this couple, and how they felt about each other. The camera lingers on countless shots (these guys sure loved cameras) of their handsome faces, and the fun places they visited before the tragic accident.
I just kept waiting for it to get going - would some kind of legal action be taken as a result of Shane being turned away (initially) at the hospital? Would Tom's bigoted parents have a change of heart and embrace Shane, and finally accept their son's sexuality? Where was the story? What made this couple's sad experience film worthy? I kept waiting for some kind of transformation. None came. Sorry to sound cold, but Bridegroom plays like a long vanity project.