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Review

One of the season’s most heart-wrenching as well as heart-warming films, We Are Dad chronicles the remarkable lives of 20-year-plus life partners Steve Lofton and Roger Croteau and their extended family of five foster children. Being a parent is a tough enough proposition; Lofton and Croteau took on the incredibly tough task of raising five children - four of whom were HIV-positive - of various ethnic backgrounds who were abandoned by their families and "the system." When one of the kids sero-reverts (basically no longer officially positive) the state of Florida - where some of the kids hail from – now considers the child a "desirable" candidate for adoption.

Of course as we all know too well, gay parents cannot officially adopt. (The case has gained national attention, including support from Rosie O’Donnell.) Chronicling the tight-knit family’s struggles with racism, homophobia, and the struggle to keep one’s family together – no matter what the cost – the film is a remarkable (and at times quite humorous) study that will infuriate, inform and ingratiate, ultimately revealing to any open-minded viewer the real meaning of the phrase "family values." We Are Dad demands to be seen.

 -- Erik Schut