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The movie is, to be fair, perhaps not the best entry into a film festival like TIFF - yet another glaring example of how the festival is trying too hard to appeal to mass audiences, draw red carpet premieres, and offer fodder to the paparazzi. But it is a good movie to see in theaters on a lazy Saturday afternoon.

This Is Where I Leave You will be released on Friday September 19th in the United States, and is a good date movie or a perfect fit for someone looking for lighthearted yet thoughtful content.

Shelter

I was also able to attend the world premiere of Shelter, Actor-turned-director Paul Bettany’s first feature length film, starring his wife Jennifer Connelly and a stupendous Anthony Mackie (who has had bit roles in Captain America and The Hurt Locker).

The movie tells the story of two homeless individuals roaming the streets of New York. It describes the bonds they forge and how those ties help them persevere over the adversities they face. The director explained before the screening that the movie was about homelessness and intended to raise awareness to the problem, inspired by the filmmaker’s concern over the fate of two homeless individuals who lived outside his apartment but disappeared in the wake of the Hurricane Sandy evacuations of New York City.

It's a valiant and admirable gesture from Bettany, but one that falls well short of achieving its intended objective. Shelter has many good elements. It is an honest, all out first effort, and features Connelly in one of her best performances as a homeless drug addict (although, like the other movies in today’s column, you have seen this one before - it’s called Requiem for a Dream). But the story line suffers tremendously from Bettany’s attempts (as the screenwriter) too fit much contemplation into so little a space. He casts too wide a net - at times exploring themes of god and faith, the loss of children, and even terrorism - and ends up with few fish to show for it.

Shelter, then, is not really about homelessness any more than, say, Gravity is about spacesuits. Yeah, the characters are homeless, and that of course matters and pushes their stories forward, but the movie makes no serious attempt to explore the issue on any systematic basis. Perhaps I am being unfair to it, but I judge it only by the bar that Bettany himself set before the screening started.

Nonetheless, I would recommend the movie if only for Connelly’s brave performance - the graphic and humiliating stuff that happens to her throughout the movie is too racy to print (and perhaps a gratuitous and obvious play for another Academy Award). But it is stunning to see a known actress go to those depths even if the ulterior motives are as sprayed across your face as the substances that end up on Connelly’s character.

Shelter does not have a release date for the United States yet.

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