No present father, a drug addict for a mother, a history of foster care, and now pregnancy –just a short summary of the life of 16-year-old Agnes “Apple” Bailey. “Gimme Shelter,” based on a true story, gives the audience a glimpse into Apple’s life. A touching story, no doubt, with some stunning acting, that made for a good film.

The film starts with Apple, played by Vanessa Hudgens, running away from her drug addict, abusive, and overall mess of a mother, June (Rosario Dawson). She runs to her father, whom she had never met, and they stay together for a short while until a dispute about Apple’s pregnancy. Unable to see eye to eye, Apple takes to streets, eating out of dumpsters and sleeping in unlocked cars until she gets into a car accident. In the hospita,l she meets Father McCarthy, played by James Earl Jones,  and is faced with a series of tough decisions. Apple’s decisions are made even harder by the fact that she must do not only is right for her, but for her unborn child.

Vanessa Hudgens does a good job of capturing a character going through constant struggles. However she is overshadowed by Rosario Dawson’s performance as June. Although June has a lot less screentime than Apple, Rosario manages to make every second count. The viewer gets to see June go from telling Apple she means the world to her to cussing her out within seconds. June’s a tough character to play, but Rosario doesn’t skip a beat and is completely convincing in her performance. James Earl Jones plays the kind-hearted sincere pastor without flaw. Brendan Fraser, who plays Apple’s father, knows exactly how much emotion any given moment means.

Though it was a touching story, character development wasn’t great and that fact kept the audience more detached from the plot then they should’ve been. So, though the story in itself was great and the acting was great, the director’s failure to make the audience get invested in the story kept the movie itself from being great.

Overall this is a 3 out of 5 star movie, showing at Bassett, Cielo Vista, and Tinseltown, for a ticket price of $7.