Written, directed and produced by David Lewis, Rock Haven (named after the small, oceanfront town where this romantic drama takes

place), is a heartwarming story about two young guys, eighteen and nineteen years old, who are coming of age and finding love, despite what their religious beliefs have taught them about homosexuality.

Clifford (played by Owen Alabado), age 19, is a long-time resident of Rock Haven and openly gay. He has an understanding and loving mother, who supports his lifestyle and has her own, New Age inspired, religious belief system. The story begins when 18-year-old Brady (played by Sean Hoagland) moves with his extremely religious, single, uptight mother to Rock Haven, in order to establish a Christian school nearby.

As you’d expect, Brady is a naive, although attractive young man, who has grown up with strong Christian beliefs. While he has fantasized about being with men (as we learn from a sexy shower scene during which he pleasures himself early on in the movie), he has never acted on his feelings. As an only child, he’s also a bit of a loner.

When Clifford and Brady meet for the first time, however, there’s an instant attraction between the two. Clifford tries, over time, to seduce Brady. While Brady clearly has feelings for Clifford, he’s afraid to act upon those feelings at the risk of turning against his religion and his overly strict and highly protective mother.

During the course of the film, friendship and love builds between Clifford and Brady. There’s also plenty of conflict, especially when Brady’s mother attempts to fix him up on a date with a girl.

When the two guys ultimately hook up and admit their romantic and sexually charged feelings for each other, the revelation becomes a heavy burden for Brady, who ultimately considers being “reprogrammed” by the church to turn away from his homosexual desires.

This voluntary reprogramming is a decision that Clifford clearly disagrees with. It’s also a decision that leads to life-changing revelations for Brady and a change in the relationship between him and his mother, not to mention his romantic relationship with Clifford.

Rock Haven is a well-produced movie that features a cast of relative newcomers. However, the story is an all-too-familiar one that deals with the issues many homosexuals experience when trying to balance their sexual preference and desires with their religious beliefs and upbringing. There’s also the all-to-real issue of trying to achieve acceptance from one’s parents.

Some of the entertainment value and meaning that this film could have conveyed isn’t well developed. In other words, it’s very predictable in how the conflicts are handled by the main characters. Maybe this is because conflicting religious beliefs and the fear of going against God are such common problems faced by gay people in real-life, that a movie which touches on this topic is just too familiar, with a predictable outcome.

That being said, Rock Haven really is a good movie overall. Unlike many gay-themed, direct-to-DVD films that are cheaply produced, poorly written and that feature bad acting, this one is well done in every respect – from the cinematography and quality of the overall production, to the extremely believable performances given by Hoagland and Alabado.

So, yes, Rock Haven is well worth seeing, especially if you have a soft spot for coming of age romantic movies that feature attractive actors. While the film does contain a small bit of full-frontal nudity, it’s very tastefully done.

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Jason R. Rich (www.jasonrich.com) is the bestselling author of more than 39 books. As a journalist, he also regularly contributes articles to a variety of national magazines, major daily newspapers and popular websites. He’s single and lives in Foxboro, MA with his Yorkshire Terrier, Rusty (www.MyPalRusty.com).

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