‘Shelter’ Press Conference Thoughts

If you’ve walked a street in New York City, chances are, you’ve encountered a homeless person or two. And like many people, more than likely you did not give any thought into what that person’s story might be, what got them in their current situation – writer/director Paul Bettany looks to change that with his directorial debut “Shelter.”

Many know Bettany from “A Beautiful Mind” and as the sentient android Vision from “Avengers: Age of Ultron,” but the accomplished actor tries his hand directing with a poignant piece about love and judgment told through the story of a homeless couple in New York City.

To help him embark on this journey is his “Avengers” co-star Anthony Mackie and Bettany’s wife Jennifer Connelly (“Requiem for a Dream”). Both of which deliver powerful performances that anchor this film and makes on reevaluate passing judgment on the less fortunate.

Review Fix attended “Shelter’s” press conference in New York City and here are the things we learned about Bettany’s directorial debut.

It is a story about judgment and forgiveness

“When I started writing the film it wasn’t about homelessness, it was about judgment,” said Bettany. “I feel the world I live in, and we’ve talked about this a lot, the world that we live in seems to be full of increasing grey area, and yet, the culture I live in seems to be getting entrenched in black and white positions.”

These ideas are on full display in “Shelter” as two people Hannah (Conelly) and Tahir (Mackie) are not the easiest people to forgive, but as we watch their relationship progress, the audience begins to understand why they have arrived to this place in their lives.

“My experience with people is that they are imminently forgivable,” said Bettany.

It gives the invisible a voice

One of the best qualities of “Shelter” is its ability to represent those who, for the most part, are underrepresented.

New York City has no shortage of homeless that spend their days being ignored as they ask for a little help to get through the day and it is something that is confusing to Bettany as he simply puts it “I find our response to homelessness puzzling.”

Small-budget and big-budget films compliment each other

Mackie who appeared in not one, but two Marvel blockbusters this past summer shared what it was like to tackle something as emotional as “Shelter” compared to smashing up vibranium made robots.

“It’s interesting,” said Mackie when comparing “Shelter” to projects like “Age of Ultron.” “It makes you appreciate the big-budget movies and all that stuff, but doing the big-budget movies really makes you appreciate doing movies like this. “

It was a collaborative project

“As an actor it was a great experience,” said Connelly “I felt exposed but in a good way. I felt supported enough to expose things that I hadn’t before. “

Expose is a good word as Connelly gives an absolute fearless performance that bares all and one that could only be delivered with a level of trust and collaboration with a filmmaker, which is much easier when the director is your husband.

Describing his approach Bettany said he wants to “empower” the actor, something he probably picked up working with a long list of great directors like Ron Howard and Joss Whedon.