bkoganbing I recognized a whole lot of character types in Hate Crime as I watched this film. It ought to be shown to various police departments as part of LGBT sensitivity training.Seth Petersen and Brian Smith are a gay pair who have a new neighbor move next door. When he finds out that Petersen and Smith are lovers Chad Donella becomes downright hostile. He's the son of local preacher Bruce Davision who takes his theology from the Fred Phelps school.While planning a commitment ceremony and remember this 2005 and Texas did not have same sex marriage legal then, Smith goes out walking their dog one night and never returns. He's found unconscious in the park as Matthew Shepard was and dies a few days later in the hospital in Dallas.The original cop on the case Farah White realizes this is a hate crime, but when it goes to homicide the new lead detective Giancarlo Esposito starts working on a new theory that Petersen killed his partner for the insurance.Back in my working days at Crime Victims Board in New York State I had a double claim for a lesbian couple. One was wounded and the other killed in a break in robbery. The cops in the Brooklyn precinct where this happened insisted it was something cooked up by the surviving partner and my agency would not pay because of that. By dumb luck they caught a burglar on another case and he confessed to the homicide and the other shooting as well. I can totally sympathize with the frustration that Petersen and Cindy Pickett, Smith's mother must have felt that led them to do what they did. Oh, we did eventually pay our wounded victim.It's good to remember that this is Texas where gun laws as we know are loose and the right to bear arms is held sacred. My attitude has always been that I've paid for the burial of a couple thousand homicide victims in my 23 years at CVB. Gun control to me seems a no brainer. But God help us if in the LGBT community we ever do an about face and decide maybe bearing arms is in our interest. Seeing what I've seen I'm amazed that something like what unfolds here hasn't happened in real life.As it turns out Chad Donella is a closet case and hates himself for it. Are there straight viewers of this film out there who don't think this is a recurring story? I give you Ronald Crumpley who one night in December of 1980 who was a closet case himself took an Uzi and shot several people congregating in front of the Ramrod and Sneakers bar on West Street in New York City. I two of those cases myself back in the day in my second year of service at the agency.This is a fine film and one can only that it is not a predictor of the future.

Kasia For such an important topic as homophobia (and, in general, any kind of fear & aggression towards a certain group of people), this movie does not have any input. In my opinion that is because it is so painfully stereotypical! The gay couple consists of two quite rich, handsome, big-hearted and loving each other madly men. Gentle, soft, sincere, helpful - all what's best in a human. What is worst in us is represented by the characters of gay-haters. They are all double-faced, buttoned-up till their necks (and I mean also the clothes they wear), always making evil faces and keeping their muscles in amazingly visible tension. Especially the preacher's son seems to me like a parody of himself. Just like in a Bollywood movie: his eyebrows look very angry, so that you don't miss, he is very angry. Add some angry music in the background and it's ready: he is very angry. Put one stereotype against another, and is becomes comic rather than dramatic. Also, the depth of a relationship between preacher and his son is lost. And it's a shame, that could bring more light to what happens. Why does suddenly a detective with a camera appear to follow the son? (BTW, the movie have few more logic gaps, e.g. no password for a computer if you want to hide something really really "nasty" and "perverted"). Despite the shallow treatment of the gay-haters topic, it is worth to see the movie for it's way of playing with silence and for it's beautiful pictures. I really thought I felt the atmosphere of that town. Beautiful and touching. Unfortunately, the way of talking about the hate-crime did not touch me. It just happened, because one side was good and the other was bad. Black & white world, just like in conservative minds.

bakodel1023 If i spoil this movie for someone, i apologize now.First, it was thought to have been about neighbors not liking neighbors, but as I watched more of it, i was intrigued. I believe everyone has the right to their own opinion, but when you are a "man of GOD", you do not have the right to harm the innocent. Second, if you are a victim or involved with a victim, you do not have the right to harm the guilty. We do have what we call law and this movie portrays, what I am assuming, the lack of any cooperation or involvement by the law.The actors in this movie put their souls into their characters and why this movie never made it big is beyond my comprehension. There are several other movies that portray "Hate Crimes", but not as jolted turn of events as this one.I recommend that you watch this movie "without" your jolted minds and see it as it is done. I guarantee you will watch it all the way through and just sit and go "wow"........

ronjanvanas A gripping and at times brutally violent film Hate Crime explores the devastation wreaked on the lives of those closest to the victim The difficulty of understanding the senseless killing and coping with the grief becomes chilling when justice appears to be a dicey commodity Overall the acting and direction is gripping.I was profoundly moved at this deepening tragic tale. Stereotypes for sure,but the characters' torment and pain is at times harrowing. A great film handling social and personal issues. Christianity as portrayed by the insanely righteous hellfire and damnation evangelical type or the more sedate god is love variety, the justice system choking with pessimism and poor PR The movie says a lot, and says it well.