Prayers For Bobby (2009)

Starring: Sigourney Weaver, Henry Czerny, Ryan Kelley
Director: Russell Mulcahy
Running Time: 100 mins

Despite Golden Globe and Emmy nominations, Prayers For Bobby never got a DVD release in the UK, although it has been shown up on British TV (which is where I saw it for this review). You can sort of understand why it never made it to DVD, as while it stars Sigourney Weaver – who puts in a superb performance – it feels very much an afternoon TV movie, with all the sentimentality and melodrama that suggests. That said, it’s undoubtedly moving.

Based on a true story, the film is about the devoutly religious Mary Griffiths (Weaver) and her teenaged son, Bobby (Ryan Kelley). Bobby is having a tough time dealing with his sexuality. He confides that he might be gay to his brother, who proceeds to tell the rest of the family. Mary is adamant that Bobby can change and that with the help of the church he can become straight. While Bobby initially agrees to this as he desperately wants to be normal and have the acceptance of his family, he comes to realise he can’t change.

Bobby moves out of home, gets a boyfriend and tries to set up a life of his own, but due to his sexuality, his mother pretty much disowns him. Still tormented over his sexuality and estranged from his family, Bobby kills himself. Mary is devastated, and over the following months desperately tries to come to terms with what has happened, eventually realising that perhaps her strict, homophobic beliefs are wrong and that God doesn’t hate gay people after all.

It’s a powerful story and both Sigourney Weaver and Ryan Kelley are excellent as Mary and Bobby, and there’s no doubt that what it has to say is very important. The film is undoubtedly an attempt to make a movie that isn’t just preaching to the choir and will get seen by those who have prejudices that might be shaken by a true story like this. Towards the end Weaver’s character even addresses the audience directly with a plea for understanding and tolerance.

However while everyone’s heart is undoubtedly in the right place, the absolute earnestness results in moments that feel slightly cheesy and amateurish, so that it almost feels as if the filmmakers believe so strongly in what they’re saying that they’re trying to reach out of the screen and shake the audience into agreeing with them, rather than letting the story make its own case against God hating gays. When it stick to the story it’s great and has the potential to change hearts and minds, but there are too many moments where it tips into polemic. It’s a shame as it does a lot right and it does a good job of making Bobby believably gay without scaring off conservative Christian viewers.

But while it may have problems as a movie, it’s impossible to criticise its message, especially as the suicides of young gay people have becoming an increasingly hot-button topic since this was made in 2009, and the culture wars are raging ever fiercer. By the end this is less a film than a plea for tolerance coming straight from the heart. It undoubtedly has a message to give and it is moving, even if it never quite escapes its TV movie roots.

Overall Verdict: Prayers For Bobby may be very definitely stuck on the realms of the TV movie, but it’s got a moving story to tell and the cast and filmmakers’ belief in what the film has to say comes through in every frame.

Reviewer: Tim Isaac