Average Joe (2024): A Review (Review #1880)

 

AVERAGE JOE

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof". Such is the First Amendment to the Constitution, and these simple words have been fought over ever since. Average Joe, based on the Supreme Court case Kennedy vs. Bremerton School District, wants to avoid the trappings of a "Christian" film. It is unfortunate that, despite an interesting story and some good performances, what Average Joe thinks distinguish it end up hampering it. 

Intercut with a series of interviews between Joseph Anthony Kennedy (Eric Close) and his wife Denise (Amy Acker), Average Joe reveals how this ordinary man got to his situation. Abandoned as a child, young Joey (Ezra Richardson) was adopted into a large family that was not horrible but was not particularly welcoming. Joey's only positive was the metaphorical girl next door Denise (Annabelle Holloway), whom he quickly fell in love with and whose parents were constantly fighting. Eventually abandoned by his adoptive family, Joey makes his way through life the best he can.

That involves joining the Marines, where young Joe (Austin Woods) does well while maintaining correspondence with Denise (Andrea Figliomeni). He does come back only to find Denise engaged to someone else, so he does the most logical thing in the world. He marries her cousin. Denise's first husband is himself abusive, Joe's first wife and he drift apart especially after his deployment to Iraq, but after decades he and Denise finally marry. 

Things, while not perfect, are moving along. Joe, attempting to be there for his wife after she suffers health issues, has a renewal of faith. He is pursued by Smiling Sam (Exie Booker) to join the local high school football coaching staff. Eventually seeing this as something for God, Coach Kennedy is born. He is a good Coach, but he wants to honor God. The way he does so is by going to the 50-yard line to offer a simple prayer, win or lose, after every game. His way with the boys and sincerity wins him the respect of the players, who ask to join him. That alarms school officials, who put the squeeze on Coach Kennedy to curtain his religious activities. He does so, once, and instantly regrets it. The next game, over objections, he goes back to his 50-yard prayer.

The school declines to renew his contract and Coach experiences ostracism. A simple Facebook post about his plight launches a court case that reaches the Supreme Court. The Kennedys experience hard times, especially as Denise works at the school district in Human Resources. Will Coach Kennedy be allowed to freely practice his religion or will he be found to be trying to establish one?

Average Joe begins in a surprisingly startling manner for a film billed as a faith-based production. We see our protagonist, riding the back of a truck, whooping and hollering while attempting to rope a horse wearing only his underwear and a hat. The film then immediately cuts to the faux interview of Coach and Mrs. Kennedy, the latter insisting that it did not happen that way and the former stating that there was less clothing involved. "I'm no choir boy," Kennedy tells us directly.

My sense is that screenwriter Stephanie Katz and director Harold Cronk did not want to give viewers the impression that Coach and Mrs. Kennedy were holy people but rather whole people, flawed, imperfect and with a lot of baggage. In short, Average Joe (which I figure is a pun on both the ordinariness of Kennedy as well as on his first name) wants us to see the leads as sinners.

On that level, Average Joe does a good thing. It is interesting that I have complained for many years that many Christian-based films had characters completely unaware of what sin was. The characters in many Christian-based films are very sanitized, not perfect but never doing such things as drinking or fornicating. One wonders why such people need God if they have little to nothing to be redeemed of. 

That is not my biggest issue with Average Joe. My biggest issue is that the film almost maddeningly gives us a winking to the camera style that stubbornly reminds us that this is a movie. We start with them telling us that they are aware that Average Joe is a movie. The film awkwardly pauses to try to be meta in pointing out that they are in a movie. For example, there is a scene where Joe and Denise finally kiss. At that point, fireworks start firing behind them. Average Joe stops things cold by having Acker's Denise tell us that this is all fiction because there were no fireworks going off. "That's how I remember it," Close's Coach quips.  

Bits like those, I think, pleased the audience. I, however, sat in frustration, growing more irritated at Average Joe's self-awareness. Due to moments like these, other moments lose the impact the film aimed at. After Coach goes back onto the field and asks God for forgiveness for wimping out and caving to pressure, the stadium lights go out. Coach is taken by surprise, wondering if perhaps this is some kind of sign. I was expecting someone to comment that it did not happen that way, but no one did. 

A little self-awareness is fine, almost clever. Incessant callbacks to "we know this is a movie" undercut the drama. That is a real shame, because there are times when Average Joe has genuine moving moments. It is difficult if not impossible to not feel a lump in your throat seeing young Joey get beaten up by life at such a young age. After spending a great camping weekend bonding with his adoptive father despite being expelled from yet another school, they arrive to find that it was all a way to soften the blow when Joey is sent away. Later, he runs away from the group home he was sent and rushes back to his home, pleading to the door that he will change, only for him to find that his family has left the home. His screams of frustration and pain hit the viewer hard.

Another moving moment is when Kennedy goes to the altar and asks God for guidance, strength and acceptance. Denise, who is nominally a Christian but who has struggled with her own faith, goes to him at the altar and the two share a quiet moment. Close's acting here in particular got to me, which took me by surprise. 

Another thing that took me by surprise is how Average Joe might have gone overboard in making Kennedy such a regular guy that he came across as basically clueless about even routine elements of his faith. When Joe talks to someone opposed to his 50-yard prayers, his opponent tells him, "You're like Peter". Kennedy replies, "Peter who?". In order to explain to this born-again Christian who this "Peter" he was talking about was, his opponent has to use the analogy of the Caped Crusader. Just as Batman had Robin, Jesus had the Apostle Peter. Kennedy remarks that he is no Biblical scholar but understands the parallel. I was left rather dumbstruck that Kennedy could be so unaware of this part of his faith. I get if someone had quoted him a passage from the Letter of Philemon or the Old Testament book of Habakkuk, but to need a Batman & Robin analogy to understand who the Apostle Peter?  

Eric Close did a good job as Kennedy. He has moving moments, such as when he asks God for guidance or when he is reunited with an old mentor who encourages him to fight. He can be amusing, such as when he gets a visit from a religious rights group, First Liberty. Trying to remember who the man is, Close's Kennedy finally says, "You're the Liberty Bell guy", clearly muddling things in a way comprehensible to him. Another nice bit is when Denise suggests that he agree to the school district's request that he go to a private area for his prayers. As she keeps speaking, he leaves her midsentence and goes into a closet. "What are you doing?", she says, flummoxed. "I'm praying," he retorts, clearly ridiculing her suggestion without needing to say so. 

Amy Acker was weaker as Denise, who at times looked almost bored by things. I will put some of that on the screenplay, which left some questions unanswered. Why did Smiling Sam so pursue Kennedy for a coaching position? What happened to Joe and Denise's kids? Why did we get so many "winking at the camera" moments? Why does Duck Dynasty's Willie Robertson pop up at the end to explain how Kennedy vs. Bremerton overturns Lemon vs. Kurtzman? Moreover, how did Robertson end up the voice and face of modern American evangelical Christianity? 

Oddly, the court case went by surprisingly fast, leaving little impact on the overall story.

This is an interesting story but not told well. I think Average Joe made a terrible mistake by trying to be too clever, too meta with the material. Yes, the Kennedys are flawed people. Yes, you can have a framing device of an interview to go over their lives pre-Kennedy vs. Bremerton. However, because those moments kept barging in, I feel Average Joe ends up slightly below average. 

DECISION: C-

Nefarious: A Review (Review #1710)

 

NEFARIOUS

It is not often that one connects "horror" with "Christian film", at least intentionally. Nefarious attempts to bring the horror genre to believers, and while not without its slips, on the whole it works well.

Dr. James Martin (Jordan Belfi) has been brought in to evaluate Edward Wayne Brady (Sean Patrick Flanery). Brady is on death row and is set to be executed via the electric chair, but there are doubts as to whether he is sane enough to be executed. Edward claims to be a demon, but is he faking this to avoid death?

No, for Edward is surprisingly eager for the execution to take place. It is because, according to him, he is not Edward, but a demon whose name translates to "Nefarious". The atheist Martin is at first unimpressed, but slowly during the course of the day, Nefarious predicts that Martin will be responsible for three deaths before the day is done. He also knows much more about Martin than appears possible.

Could there be true demonic evil at work? As the day goes by, the truth will not set everyone free.

Nefarious is almost a two-man play with Belfi and Flanery battling it out in this unholy war. More often than not, they are the only ones on screen, allowing the viewer to concentrate on their individual performances and co-writers/directors Chuck Konzelman and Cary Solomon's work. Out of the two, Flanery is clearly the dominant figure. He has to play two characters: "Nefarious", the dominant, evil demon as well as "Edward", the being he possesses. This requires a shift in Flanery's mannerisms and voice, and he handles those well.

While it is justified to criticize Flanery's performance as the character Nefarious, (Flanery may be over-the-top at times), one should remember he is playing a demon. As such, a demon can be a bit over-the-top. In the few moments Flanery is Edward, we see a different side to this figure: frightened, regretful to have let the demon in, desperate for redemption. 

Konzelman and Solomon mark the change in personality both through their directing of Flanery and by moving the camera from one side to the other, reflecting a shift from Nefarious to Edward.

Belfi, for his part, pales in comparison. There was not as much engagement with Martin as there was with the more scene-stealing Flanery. To be fair though, Martin was meant to be more dry and dispassionate, so it might not be fair to be too harsh given the part. 

The film also has some sharp dialogue. At one point, the demon taunts Martin by saying, "He (God) made you in His image, but we remade you in ours". To be fair though, at times the dialogue can also be gilding the lily a bit. Nefarious also mocks black basketball players who make $30 million dollars while crying racism as they wear sneakers made by slave labor. It may not be subtle, but it is effective.

Nefarious does not rely on jump scares or graphic violence (except perhaps for Edward's end). Instead, it relies of mood, which the film does well. In keeping things within the small area of the prison, we get a more claustrophobic atmosphere. This is especially true when we get to the "second murder", which Martin is powerless to stop.

I imagine that there will be viewers who would object to the circumstances involving "the second murder". I cannot reveal more without revealing major plot points in the film. I will say that Nefarious, as a more faith-centered film, will have a particular point of view. As such, it comes from that perspective. One should judge things by what is intended, not strictly on how one feels about them. 

What really sinks Nefarious is the extended cameo by Glenn Beck as himself. Ostensibly there as the interviewer discussing Dr. Martin's book about his experience, it just looks bizarre. For those who know who Beck is, one is genuinely puzzled as to what he in particular is doing in the middle of all this. For those who do not know, it may just be some random person playing a role.

Even that could perhaps be overlooked if not for the length of this scene. At times one wonders if Beck is fully aware of both the film and his role in it, such as it is. It seems so random, so odd, to see Glenn Beck pop out in this and becomes distracting. It ultimately would have been better if an actual actor had been cast.

The film also suggests something of a sequel. It is not a direct notice of one, but it leaves the door open. I do not know if that was a good idea.

On the whole, I think Nefarious works well. It runs a brisk 97 minutes, enough time to tell its story. Nefarious has a good, strong performance by Sean Patrick Flanery (though the name "Wayne Brady" may have been a mistake as I kept thinking about the cheerful comedian); it also has an effective score that is not overused and a sparse manner that helps it. 

DECISION: C+

Overcomer: A Review

OVERCOMER

I have at times been highly critical of the cinematic work of writer/director Alex Kendrick in many aspects: cinematic, social, even theological. Sometimes I, the most wavering and flawed of Christians, have been appalled at what Kendrick and his brother Stephen create in the name of the Lord. I have never questioned their faith, but their creative abilities.

Having seen many of their films, I can say that Overcomer, the Kendrick Brothers' newest film, is their most polished and dare I say, professional work. It is still flawed in some respects, but Overcomer at least shows a growth in their style that should be if not applauded at least appreciated.

Christian school teacher/basketball coach John Harrison (Alex Kendrick) thinks this will be his year until the local factory closes down. Little by little his players' families decide to leave, causing professional, financial and personal strains on both John and his wife, fellow teacher Amy (Shari Rigby). The school's director Olivia Brooks (Priscilla C. Shirer) turns over the long-distance track to him over his doubts.

Making things worse is that only one girl showed up for tryouts: Hannah Scott (Aryn Wright-Thompson). Making things more worse is that Hannah is asthmatic, but she is also fast. Unbeknownst to everyone save her grandmother Barbara (Denise Armstrong), Hannah is something of a kleptomaniac. Soon John starts developing a respect for long-distance running and Hannah starts being so internal.

Coincidentally, this is also when John meets Thomas Hill (Cameron Arnett), a hospital patient suffering from the effects of rampant diabetes. Though he is blind, he can see, having undergone a spiritual awakening prior to his hospital stay. Thomas pushes John into questioning who he is, what his own Christianity is, how it affects his world, worldview and relationship with John's two sons. This strengthens John's own faith.

John also finds that Thomas is Hannah's biological father, who abandoned her to Barbara when he and Hannah's mother went deep into drug addiction. Barbara, blaming him for her daughter's death, had told Hannah both her parents were dead. Now John and Amy struggle in how to handle this situation. Ultimately, Hannah and Thomas begin a secret rapprochement that has consequences for all concerned. There's doubt, fear, a separate embrace of Jesus Christ, and the state championship.

It's a curious thing that the first thing I notice with regards to Overcomer is that the Kendrick Brothers have certain traits in their films that they repeat. Overcomer and Facing the Giants both have Alex as a coach in a Christian school. Overcomer and Courageous both have Alex with a wife and two children (though mercifully both sons in Overcomer live to the end). Almost all their films have the Alex Kendrick character have a spiritual awakening that makes him better all-around. War Room is an exception in that Alex Kendrick was not the main character, but the male lead character had that transformation.

It may appear formulaic, and there is validity in that thought; perhaps another time I will analyze the repeated themes and beats of the Kendrick Brothers' work closer. However, Overcomer is a step forward for them in that slowly, the focus of the film shifted from John to Hannah to where he began to fade. He did not leave the film entirely, but the transition to Hannah and Thomas slipped surprisingly smoothly.

Unlike their past films, Overcomer does not focus on John's crisis of faith, helped by a 'magical Negro'. Instead, it is about the transformation of Hannah, who has all these people float into her life. Surprisingly, rather than make things unbalanced it works to the film's advantage, as we see that neither the Harrisons or the Scotts are 'saving' the other.

Overcomer is probably the Kendricks' smartest film in that these characters are human. Oftentimes the Kendricks had difficulty on two fronts: social and racial. In prior films, their characters did not actually 'sin': they never drank, smoked, had premarital sexual relationships, let alone mentioned them.

Here, there is a greater openness to human frailty. Thomas admits drugs and women brought him ruin. Hannah steals, sometimes brazenly. John actually shouts at his wife. Their two sons worry about their parents' marriage and know enough to not interrupt when they are either in argument or in prayer. It's a compliment to both brothers that this very delicate situation of introducing a girl to her hereto absent father was handled with intelligence and tact.

Overcomer also moves away from the virtually all-white world they had created in past films. If Facing the Giants was to be believed, there were no black people in the state of Georgia. Here, Kendrick not only focused on African-Americans, they went one or two better. First, they were in positions of authority and two, they were not stereotypes. They were flawed but they on the whole were a massive improvement over what they have done in the past.

Acting-wise Overcomer still has some stumbling blocks. This is probably Alex Kendrick's best performance in that he didn't look like he was acting. John is not a walking sermon. He even takes some stabs at dry comedy, as when he's continuously roped into judging bad drama monologues. Shirer's Principal Brooks is more believable when leading Hannah in prayer but in her small role she did quite well. Arnett's Thomas was moving, bringing the regret of his past with the joy of his salvation.

I thought well also of Wright-Thompson given this is her debut, her Hannah being appropriately detached from much. In another debut film role, Jack Sterner had good moments as Ethan, John and Amy's older son, appropriately comic when showing he could run just as well as Hannah (here's the joke: he couldn't) and appropriately wise when assuring his younger brother that their parents would be all right after a strong argument.

As I reflect on Overcomer, I can see its flaws. Even as a Christian (weak and wavering as I am), the 'salvation' scene seemed a bit heavy-handed to preachy. However, I can also see the audience's reaction. There were sobs, cheers and even applause at the climatic racing sequence. I can't fault a film for knowing its audience and making a film for them.

Overcomer may not achieve any new converts to the message of Christ, but it is faith affirming for those who already do believe. It works well for what it is: an inspirational film that should please both Christian and Christian-friendly audiences (or at least audiences that are not overtly hostile to films revolving around faith).

DECISION: B-

Hill Number One: The Television Movie

HILL NUMBER ONE

This review is part of the Summer Under the Stars Blogathon sponsored by Journeys in Classic Film and Musings of a Classic Film Addict. Today's star is Ruth Hussey.

It's a curious thing that while Hill Number One: A Triumphant Hour is about Christ, its greatest claim to fame is the actor who plays the Apostle John. Hill Number One is a Catholic production and as such has that worldview. While hampered by some questionable directing choices it is respectful of the subject matter if not particularly entertaining.

Using the Korean War to bookend Hill Number One, we see a group of soldiers attempting to take Hill Number Forty-Six on Easter Sunday. The Army chaplain, whom the soldiers call 'Padre' (Gordon Oliver) then tells them about another battle fought and won on "Hill Number One", that being Calvary.

We then go to the time of Christ, where a devastated group of followers attempt to make sense of the death of the man they believed to be The Messiah. Pontius Pilate (Leif Erickson) finds this dead Jesus more troublesome than when He was alive. Not only are his followers, such as Joseph of Arimathea (Nelson Leigh) bothering him for His body, but his wife Claudia (Joan Leslie) who warned Pilate not to have anything to do with Christ, has disappeared.

At the tomb is Jesus' mother Mary (Ruth Hussey) and a group of women to tend to the body, with only young Apostle John (James Dean) with them. The other Apostles are in hiding, unsure of what to do. As Roman soldiers become believers, and as Claudia hides out with help from the disciple Stephen (Terry Kilburn), they get unexpected news: Christ Has Risen!

Back to Korea, we see how Hill Number One marked the triumph of The Faith and goodness. We end with a message from Father Patrick Payton to look on the rosary for guidance.

As Hill Number One was sponsored by The Family Rosary Crusade and was part of the religious-themed Family Theater, we have to look at it with Catholic eyes even, and I would say especially, if the viewer is not Catholic. Hill Number One was meant for a Catholic audience and was meant to inspire faith by telling the story of the Resurrection in a respectful manner. As such, the use of the term 'Holy Mother' for Mary, Mary's leading of the Apostles in the Catholic version of The Lord's Prayer and the call for using the rosary should not be surprising. They should also not be considered off-putting as again Hill Number One was not meant for a secular or Protestant audience.

In terms of performances we should get this out of the way: Hill Number One was James Dean's television debut, his Pepsi commercials notwithstanding. As such, this production earns a place in history. Dean shows that despite his eventual reputation as a Method, mumbling actor he was perfectly capable of speaking coherently and clearly. At times he seemed to be trapped by the rather formal and elevated manner that plagued many Biblical stories, where the acting is exaggerated as if to underscore the loftiness of the characters and subject.

"Yes, I was there, and later on gathered the fragments left by the five thousand," are Dean's first words of dialogue, and he delivers them in the same grand manner that just about everyone speaks in. However, we see the spark of what would make Dean both a much better actor and a legend in the upper room scene, where he opposes hiding and abandoning the mission of The Teacher. Here, he seems to dive a little more into the character of John, the youthful figure who is almost innocent in his understanding of the vast sweep of history surrounding him.

Dean is one of the better actors, as is Kilburn's youthful soon-to-be-martyr Stephen. It is surprising now to see just how many well-respected actors were in Hill Number One. Some, such as Roddy McDowell, were poorly used (McDowell having a bit part as Private Huntington, aka 'The Professor' in the Korean section). Others such as Gene Lockhart as Matthew also known as Levi, were quite strong. Gene Cagney, in the small role of Mary Magdalene, was also quite strong, though Leslie's Claudia seemed an afterthought. This might explain why she was not particularly good.

Ruth Hussey was somewhere in the middle. At times the devastation of losing not just her Lord but her son came through, a true Our Lady of Sorrows. Other times though she fell into the overly dramatic manner that many Biblical and Shakespearean screen adaptations fall into.

To be fair though, Hussey and the rest of the cast had some rather portentous dialogue to work with. When Peter (Charles Meredith) questions Mary why she is determined to collect every piece of the Crown of Thorns, he says that things things were given in hate. "But taken in love!" she declares, then goes on to add "Love will always conquer hatred. Love is strength. Hatred is weakness. Is not that what He always taught?"

Hussey is later made to say such things as "When you understand Golgotha, you will understand Bethlehem and the Eucharist", a very Catholic but perhaps anachronistic term.

Later on, if memory serves correct the Roman centurion Cassius (Henry Brandon), who pierced the Side of Christ but was moved to convert to Christianity right after, says to Mary Magdalene "He opened my heart as He opened my eyes".

As a side note, Cassius was also billed as "St. Longinus", which to a non-Catholic would mean nothing and perhaps would mean nothing to present-day Catholics but which might mean more to the Catholic audiences of the day.

Arthur Pierson's directing at times became embarrassing, particularly with Erickson and Peter Mamakos as his servant Gallicus.

Ultimately, it should be remembered that Hill Number One was produced by St. Paul Films, so its solid Catholic background is clear. It is something that would fit in perfectly on the Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN), a Catholic-centered television service. To be fair though, it might be a bit dated for them. However, Hill Number One is a respectful albeit a bit stagey telling of the time between the sadness of Good Friday and the triumph of Easter Sunday.

6/10

Breakthrough (2019): A Review

BREAKTHROUGH

I found Breakthrough to be a surprising step in the world of Christian cinema. Unlike past Christian films, Breakthrough was not about a spiritual conversion for any of the characters main or secondary. Unlike most more mainstream films with Christian characters, Breakthrough did not make the Christians out to be dangerous, stupid or hypocritical. Instead, Breakthrough did what few films both Christian and secular have done with characters of faith: portray them as actual people, ones with virtues and flaws, neither saintly or satanic.

It may come as a genuine surprise, but Christians are people too.

Based on a true story, Breakthrough is about the Smith family. John Smith (Marcel Ruiz) is a basketball-obsessed preteen who carries anger despite the love of his parents Joyce (Chrissy Metz) and Brian (Josh Lucas). John was adopted by the Smiths when they served on a Guatemalan mission. As such, he has a sense of being unwanted. This, coupled with the more traditional pulling away of all teens causes tension within the home.

Joyce has more tensions with their church's minister, Pastor Jason (Topher Grace). He is far too progressive for Joyce's taste with his funky hair, California manner, introducing rap into the praise and worship and drawing parallels between Christ and The Bachelor. He also bungles things by being clueless about her women's ministry, though John seems more receptive to Jason's modernizing (the rap in particular to his liking).

Over the 2015 Martin Luther King, Jr. weekend, John goes to stay with friends when all three fall through the ice. Two of the boys are rescued quickly, but John is under the cold waters for at least a quarter of an hour. While he is rescued, the prospects for John surviving are almost none. Joyce calls upon her faith to revive her only son, prayers that appear to be answered.

Over the next three days as John continues to fight, Joyce, Brian, Jason, the specialist Dr. Garrett (Dennis Haysbert) and atheist EMT Tommy Shine (Mike Coulter), along with others in their circles pray, fight, forgive and accept things both temporal and eternal.

Breakthrough has a quiet manner to it, thanks in large part to director Roxann Dawson and Grant Nieporte's adaptation of Joyce Smith's book. Where in other films certain moments such as John's last-minute basketball shot, his fall through the ice or Joyce's desperate cry to the Holy Spirit for essentially John's resurrection might have been big, Dawson keeps them low-key.

This makes those moments carry more impact or power because they don't call attention to themselves. John's fall through the ice, though expected, comes through quite quietly, no big dramatic music or shots of crackling ice. Similarly, when Joyce is at John's lifeless body, we get shots of the hospital staff hearing her cries of pain and calling out to God along with shots of her. This I think adds to the drama by allowing us to see how both the pain of losing a child and the genuine shock of his sudden revival affect others.

Breakthrough also does well by portraying our four main characters (Joyce, Brian, John and Jason) as decent but flawed. While one would expect Joyce to be shown as the best character, she is given negative qualities: she is judgmental, hard and harsh on her somewhat hippie-drippy pastor and at times tyrannical on those who don't hold to her faith be it the agnostic Dr. Garrett or Brian. She can lack compassion towards her husband's doubts and fears and resistant to Jason's sincere overtures.

John can be dismissive, Brian as mentioned doubtful. Sometimes though the flaws are played for laughs, such as when in a moment of enthusiasm Jason blurts out a "Hell Yeah!", startling Joyce before a sheepish Jason realizes what he said. Joyce too is allowed some moments of humor, such as when she accidentally reveals she was the 'anonymous' writer of a single-spaced two-page letter complaining about the rap in the worship.

Breakthrough is held aloft by some good performances, particularly Metz as Joyce. Whether she is openly hostile to Jason or mournful with John or accepting of whatever God's will is, her tenacity mixed with vulnerability wins you over. Grace as Jason seems a little unsure of himself but he does a commendable job as the progressive pastor who wants to be a shepherd to his flock. Colter as the EMT who struggles between his atheism and his confusion and Ruiz as John, prickly but also soft-hearted, also do well. Haysbert excels as Dr. Garrett, professional physician who won't sugarcoat anything and sees John as an interesting case but whom he works to save.

It's a pity that Lucas is reduced apart from the beginning and end of the film as perpetually weepy, with only one moment where his struggles between faith and doubt come up.

I think Breakthrough's best quality is that it does not lock things away neatly. A subplot is introduced where others on the periphery of the story question why John survived and their loved ones did not. Some of his Christian school classmates can be mean-spirited and obnoxious (though another subplot involving John's frenemy is not deeply explored). Breakthrough cannot offer answers on these questions on why he lived while others died.

It would put too much of a burden on his young shoulders; however, the fact that issues of doubt and legalism even among believers are introduced in a Christian film, that the Christian characters are shown as flawed and the non-believing characters are shown as decent is a positive step in Christian cinema.

My experience has been that too many Christian films, particularly in the oeuvre of the Christiano and Kendrick Brothers, sin barely exists and doubt is virtually nonexistent. Non-believers either don't exist or are malevolent. Their films tend to be about conversions, usually the main character or the audience. In Breakthrough, the Christian characters have doubts and flaws, the non-Christian characters have virtues and positive qualities.

Breakthrough is indeed that: a breakthrough in how Christians are portrayed to both secular and believing audiences. It's a moving story that asks questions, trust audiences to come to their own answers and keeps our attention.

DECISION: B+

God's Not Dead: A Light in Darkness Review

GOD'S NOT DEAD: A LIGHT IN DARKNESS

For better or worse, the God's Not Dead series has on the whole been thoroughly trashed in review circles.  Some of the bashing the first God's Not Dead and God's Not Dead 2 received is more than valid (I myself, as a wavering evangelical, was appalled at the clumsiness of God's Not Dead 2).  Now we have God's Not Dead: A Light in Darkness. 

To say that A Light in Darkness is better than God's Not Dead 2 is damning with faint praise.  It was not as horrible as I was lead to think, but the fact that it could have done more with its ideas makes it a bit of a wasted opportunity.

Pastor Dave Hill (David A.R. White), previously arrested for refusing to submit his sermons to the City Council, is released.  In the impromptu press conference outside, he refers to Jesus Christ as 'the One Truth'.  This triggers a group of Millennials who object to there being anything close to 'one truth' as exclusionary.

They are also not thrilled at having St. James Church within the campus of Hadleigh College. It appears that the church predates the college, with the school built around it and there being no issue about it for almost a century and a half.  Now, however, the presence of St. James is seen as school endorsement of one religion, Christianity, over the others, and the students want the building torn down.

Pastor Dave, understandably, does not.  The hostility it brings out eventually has someone hurl a brick at the church, and in a freak accident because of that, dear Pastor Jude (Benjamin Onyango), our cheerful Nigerian pastor is killed.

Now we have a case not just of vandalism, but murder.  Our killer is Adam (Mike C. Manning), an atheist who is also dating Keaton (Samantha Boscarino), who is a wavering Christian.  She goes for advise to Josh Wheaton (Shane Harper), whom you may remember from the first film and who was absent in the second.  Wheaton is now a youth minister for a school group and a friend to Pastor Dave, who is simply not having a good time.

In an effort to save his church, Pastor Dave drives up to Chicago to look up his hereto unknown brother Pierce (John Corbett), who happens to be a lawyer.  At the most, Pierce is an agnostic who is on the whole uninterested in their father's church in all its forms.  However, he does agree to help where he can legally.

Meanwhile, Pastor Dave's frenemy, Chancellor Thomas Ellsworth (Ted McGinley) is being pressured to put the squeeze on the church, already in ruins thanks to the fire Adam accidentally caused.  It isn't long before the conflict gets Ellsworth beyond the emotional struggle to go after his former friend: a brick is hurled through Ellsworth's window.

As the fights go on, Pastor Dave gets a text revealing Adam's involvement.  Dave angrily confronts him, and while Adam is arrested Dave looks like a bully, which does not help matters.  After a lot of soul-searching Dave gives up: he agrees to let St. James go with the promise that Josh's youth group gets a room in the student building that will take its place, and also drops the charges against a repentant Adam.

He begins work on a new church: St. Jude.

Again, A Light in Darkness is not terrible, at least not in the way God's Not Dead 2 was.  However, by now the series should reach its conclusion seeing as how the film can't work any real enthusiasm for whatever it wants to say.  If you look at A Light in the Darkness, you see that to the film's credit, writer/director Michael Mason at least showed some restraint in how non-Christians were portrayed. 

Adam, far from being a hateful anti-religion being, was, if memory serves correct, more a wounded soul looking for hope but not finding any in what he perceives as a hostile faith.  Pierce too is shown as someone who left his faith because he could not find answers to his questions and who harbors resentment, not at God or Christ, but at his family, a scenario that is surprisingly realistic.

We even get the sense that Josh Wheaton, who went from main character to supporting in this franchise, might even be more inclined to a more liberal, activist form of Christianity than Pastor Dave.  Josh points out that Christ was remarkably progressive for His time on social issues such as women's and disabled rights than His contemporaries.

A Light in the Darkness also shows that Christians, or at those that side with them, can be just as cruel as those who oppose them.  We never found out who threw the brick at Chancellor Ellsworth's window, though it's clear this was motivated by animus towards the man who would drive St. James out of Hadleigh.

Then again, what should have been the main plot point of Dave's refusal to submit his sermons for review just disappeared and was never mentioned again.

That isn't the only thing that just floated in and out.  The fact that St. James was inside a college campus was hereto unknown until now.  The fact that Dave had an agnostic brother was also hereto unknown until now.  What exactly Josh did during the events of God's Not Dead 2 is still unknown.  Suggestions that our WASP Dave was too much of a whiner towards as he calls himself, 'a black preacher in the Deep South' is mentioned but then left off.

Pastor Dave's semi-romance with soup kitchen proprietress Meg (Jennifer Taylor) came and went, and I would like to point out that Christians do kiss when they find the other romantically or sexually attractive. Keaton's faith struggles were from an unknown source and I'm not sure were ever really resolved.

As a side note, 'Keaton' was a bad name, given how often it sounded like 'Kitten' to where I wondered if it was a very bizarre nickname.

I've known of White for many years given how long he's made Christian-based films.  He is a rare thing: a Christian who can actually act, but here, his performance is so weak and bland.  It's as if White and Mason pulled back on the notion that this highly troubled man could really break out into flawed human emotions, whether they be anger at Adam for accidentally killing his friend or sexual desire when he works with Meg or real resentment at having to care for his parents when Pierce left.

Much better is Harper as Wheaton, who rolls through the film like he's an actual person.  Josh is allowed intelligence and even slightly opposing views on matters.  Even McGinley, nowhere near one of America's great actors, showed the conflict with his friend.

Corbett made Pierce into someone you could relate to: flawed, cynical, sarcastic, a bit angry but also one with a wicked sense of humor and a more realistic understanding of the world.  He keeps encouraging his little brother to pursue Meg, something the more reluctant Dave won't.

As for Manning and Boscarino, they pretty much fend for themselves.

The big surprise is Tatum O'Neal's role, though her character appears so briefly one wonders why she was there.  Actually, at the end of the credits we find that Michael Tait from The Newsboys pops out, though why I have no idea.

God's Not Dead: A Light in Darkness could have been better if it had focused on Adam or Pierce or even Josh again.  Dave is not as strong of a character to lead the film.  It was a good try, but it all could have been so much better.

DECISION: C-

I Can Only Imagine: A Review

I CAN ONLY IMAGINE

I am not a MercyMe fan, and I can understand why I Can Only Imagine, their first major hit song that was so popular it even found its way out of Contemporary Christian radio into country and pop stations, might have suffered from over-saturation.  This song has become a mainstay in many Christian worship and funeral services since its 2001 debut.  The film I Can Only Imagine chronicles not the actual writing of the song, which according to its songwriter Bart Millard took ten minutes, but Millard's life story and all the events that inspired the creation of perhaps the most recognized faith-based song outside Amazing Grace.

Bart Millard has a love of music, mostly as an escape from his parents' very troubled marriage.  As a child, he cannot please his drunk, abusive father Arthur (Dennis Quaid).  His mother takes him to a youth camp, where he re-encounters Shannon, who is a Christian and unbeknownst to him, has a major crush on him.  After he comes back, however, he has a nasty surprise: his mother has left and leaves him with Arthur.

Arthur was a major football star, and this is how an older Bart (J. Michael Finley) tries to win his father's love and approval.  Bad advise about 'never being brought down', however, causes Bart a career-ending injury.  He has no choice but to live out a version of Glee: the football jock forced into the glee club for his extracurricular course.

Bart adjusts to being the sound guy, but his glee teacher finds him singing along to one of his many cassettes, oblivious that anyone is actually hearing him.  To his shock and horror, Bart finds himself as Curly in a production of Oklahoma!, and to his bigger shock, he's actually good.  Even his beloved 'Memaw' (Cloris Leachman) cannot believe that is her Bart singing.


Arthur isn't won over, nor does he tell anyone the truth of his health issues.  Bart grows closer to Shannon and to faith but he is still an angry young man.  Arthur slams a plate at Bart's head before he goes to church to sing, and this is the last straw for him.  Bart is having a great crisis, for he not only has ended his relationship with Arthur but with Shannon, after she not-so-subtly suggests in front of Bart that "someone" needs prayer.

As soon as graduation comes, he flees his Texas roots to Oklahoma City, where eventually he begins his pursuit of a music career with a group of musicians.  Bart and his bandmates, calling themselves 'MercyMe' after one of his Memaw's favorite sayings, hustle to get the attention of the record industry.  Eventually they do find a producer, Scott Brickell (Trace Adkins), who sees something there but who also tells them they are not ready.

Despite his own misgivings, Brickell rides along with them, and manages to get a showcase for them in Nashville.  Bart forces his way to the post-concert meeting, where he's told again he isn't good enough.  The memories of Arthur's dismissive words come back to Bart.  Brickell urges him to 'stop running from the pain' and settle things with his father.  Bart goes back, and finds a more humane Arthur.  Despite Arthur's efforts to make peace and ask forgiveness, even admitting he has found faith and is attempting to make sense of Scripture, Bart will not yield and maintains his anger.

It is only when he learns that Arthur has terminal pancreatic cancer that Bart relents and starts mending his relationship.  They have a brief time together before Arthur dies, and at the funeral, Memaw gives him words of wisdom, telling him to imagine all the things Arthur now sees.

After returning to MercyMe, Bart still struggles with his own emotions: about Arthur, about what happened, about his failed attempts to reconcile with Shannon.  He looks over an old journal from his first youth camp, and finds the word 'Imagine' and the phrase 'I can only imagine' over and over.  Taking this as a sign, he writes his new song.

The song gets the attention of one of Bart's inspirations, Amy Grant (Nicole DuPort) through her friend Michael W. Smith (Jake B. Miller), both major Christian music icons.  Grant needs a 'comeback' song, and thinks I Can Only Imagine would be perfect for her new album and tour.  She plans to debut it at her first concert and has already recorded it.  However, she finds she cannot perform it, and asks Bart, who is in the audience, to sing it instead.  All his emotion pours out to a thunderous reception.  Shannon, who was at that show, reconciles with Bart, and Grant gives the song back to MercyMe.


In some ways, I Can Only Imagine is a bit fast and loose with facts.  For example, it isn't until the end that we discover Bart had a brother. Other aspects, such as his relationship with his mother, are pretty much rushed through.  However, I think Alex Cramer, Brent McCorkle and codirector Jon Erwin (who directed with his brother Andrew) were not aiming for a strict chronological story.

Instead, they were focused on Bart's own story, and one of the many pluses of I Can Only Imagine is that Bart Millard's story is one that many people outside of their faith or faith itself can relate to.  The issues of abuse, emotional and sometimes physical pain, redemption and forgiveness are issues that do not impact only those with a faith system.  It's a pretty universal story, as there probably has not been a person who has not had issues with their parents.

It's also a pretty human emotion to struggle with death and what comes after.  Millard's faith leads him to believe in an afterlife, and the song, when heard, expresses that peace that surpasses all understanding.  It speaks about hope for those who have passed on and for those who remain.

I find that I Can Only Imagine, more than most Christian-themed films, is not afraid to show Christians in a bad light.  Bart Millard is a deeply flawed and human individual.  Some of his flaws are for comic effect: the shock of his Oklahoma! casting causes him to fall over as he's trying to balance himself on his wheelchair's wheels.  Other times, though, his reaction to things is surprisingly human.  He remains angry at his father, even after Arthur struggles to make amends.  Bart yells, he snaps at people, he pushes Shannon away.

The image I Can Only Imagine creates of Bart Millard is not that of a saint, but as a man who even while acknowledging and feeling Christ within him also at times lets his human nature get in the way of being that new creation.  As Christians, we should forgive when someone asks forgiveness from us.  As sinners, we can hold onto our hurts and angers despite our faith.

It's a major credit to the film in finding Finley to play Millard.  A Broadway performer making his film debut, Finley makes Bart into a very relatable person: pleasant, enthusiastic, troubled, hurt, capable of causing hurt, angry, regretful and even a bit shy.  This is an excellent debut for the actor, who keeps Millard grounded in reality, neither setting him up to be a metaphorical voice of God or a cold, hard cynic.  The Bart Millard that Finley creates is that of an average man, feeling his way across life with a faith that he sometimes fails to live up to but which also gives him hope.

Quaid may have been a bit of a scenery-chewer as Arthur at times, but in his later scenes, where he is a reformed man, he does display Arthur's struggle with this new man he is attempting to be.  Quaid brings out that struggle, that unsteadiness in a man who is seeking out redemption and forgiveness to beings he does not know and that he's a bit afraid of: Christ and Bart.

It is nice to see Leachman, even if her role is small, and Adkins is carving out a nice side career as an actor, even if he too had a small role.  Madeline Carroll as the long-suffering Shannon did a good job, though the film sometimes forgot she was in there too.  As this was Bart's story, the formation of MercyMe or their transition from rock to a softer sound did get left a bit off, but again, this is not the MercyMe Story, or even the story of I Can Only Imagine the song.

Instead, it's the story of this one man, Bart Millard, who went through very painful early years and came out of it inspired, through his faith in Jesus Christ, to create something that has brought comfort to thousands upon thousands. 

Scripture tells us that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them that are called according to His purpose.  It was sad and painful and tragic what Bart Millard endured, but out of that came a modern-day hymn about a joyful future past death.  I Can Only Imagine the film touches the viewer as deeply as the song.

This is The Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes.

Born 1972

DECISION: B+

The Case For Christ: A Review

THE CASE FOR CHRIST

I should start off my review for The Case For Christ by admitting a few things.  First, I am an evangelical Christian (one who at times needs A LOT of work on that).  Second, I've read the book The Case for Christ, the exploration of various objections to the truth of Christianity and answers to them.  Third, I've met the subject of the film, Lee Strobel, though that meeting was inauspicious: he just smiled, signed my book, and didn't converse with me as he did with others. Fourth and last, I saw The Case for Christ at a special screening arranged by the church I attend.

I mention all this because I want to be clear that while I am a Christian (though extremely flawed and sometimes lacking in many respects), I am and have always been an 'art before theology' critic.  A film with a Christian bent will not get an automatic pass from me.  I've been highly critical of other Christian films when I felt they were clumsy efforts that would not work for either a secular or faith-based audience. 

With all that being said, The Case for Christ is another step forward for Christian-themed films, one that balances evidence for the truth of Christianity with one man's internal and external struggles with life in general.

Lee Strobel (Mike Vogel) and his wife Leslie (Erika Christensen) are pretty happy in their lives: she a housewife and Lee an investigative reporter for the Chicago Tribune.  With a daughter and another child on the way, they seem happy, until their daughter nearly chokes to death at a pizza joint.  Fortunately, a nurse, Alfie Davis (L. Scott Caldwell), is there to save her.  Lee and Leslie are grateful, but they get a strange response from Alfie.  She tells them not to thank her, but thank Jesus.  Alfie and her husband had planned to go to another restaurant, but she sensed that God wanted her to go to the one they were at instead.

For the Strobels, who are atheists, this news is surprising.  Lee dismisses it as mere coincidence, happy as it may have been.  Leslie, though, is shaken up by this experience and begins to question her atheism.  She reaches out to Alfie and soon starts attending her church (a converted theater of all things), to seek out her answers.

Over time, Leslie embraces Christianity as the truth, which appalls Lee.  He figures she's about to join a cult of some kind and deals with his wife's growing faith with sarcasm, cynicism, and alcohol.  Thank goodness Lee has his career to ground him, in particular a police shooting he's investigating.  He also has a mentor who is a fellow atheist, but a coworker who is a Christian.  Lee, now conflicted about how to deal with his wife's faith, decides the best thing to do is simply disprove the reality of Christianity, in particular the Resurrection.

No Resurrection, No Christianity.

Sure, easy as that for an investigative reporter in 1980 to bring down the whole of Christianity which has stood for a mere 2000 years.  Easy as pie.

Strobel now does a dual investigation: that of the police shooting and the Case Against Christ.  Leslie eventually is baptized, but the strain in their marriage continues.  There'd be more if Leslie knew what Lee was up to, as he travels the country, seeking out historians, psychologists, and medical experts to question the various aspects of Christianity, especially the central doctrine of The Resurrection.

He speaks to historians who show him that while, for example, the Gospels mention different women at the Tomb on Easter morning, each Gospel mentions that it was women who found the Tomb was empty.  For a Judaic society that did not value the testimony of women, the fact they all mention women as being the first witnesses is completely at odds with the idea of 'reliable witnesses'.  Strobel is also reminded that often in court cases, witnesses to a particular event will not always have the exact same story and that when they do all agree on every detail, there is the suspicion of conspiracy.

One of those Strobel seeks is Dr. Roberta Waters (Faye Dunaway in essentially a cameo, but a welcome presence nonetheless).  Unlike the others he interviews, she is agnostic, but being a fellow traveler is no help for Strobel.  Waters dismisses the idea of mass hallucination among the 500 people who saw Christ post-Resurrection, saying that the idea that such a large group could be mesmerized to hold the same dream would be a greater miracle than the Resurrection itself.  She also hits a nerve with Strobel, pointing out that many of the great skeptics and atheists (Freud, Sartre), suffered from what she calls a "Father Wound": a distant relationship with their fathers.

Lee Strobel has his own 'father wound', being openly hostile when his father, Walter (Robert Forster in another cameo) visits his new grandson.  That wound might never heal, as Walter dies while Lee is in California learning that the Gospel accounts of the Crucifixion not only are sound but make the idea that Christ survived the Resurrection (that He merely fainted and was revived or the Swoon Theory) is at odds with how Roman crucifixions worked.

Lee, struggling with his own father issues, breaks down when he sees that the remote, distant father he's come to hate carried a clipping announcing Lee's hiring at the Tribune in his wallet, and kept a detailed scrapbook of all of Lee's articles, starting from when he was a child.

After two years of investigating, of attempting to find holes in Christianity, he not only finds a dead end, but finds that the evidence has convinced him of the truth of Gospel.  Just like C.S. Lewis (the 20th Century's greatest apologist in my view), Lee Strobel ends as a convert to the faith of Jesus Christ (though perhaps not as dejected as Lewis). 

Among the highpoints of The Case for Christ is that it does not bog itself down to being a sermon or dismissive of either a pro/anti-Christianity worldview.  Screenwriter Brian Bird had a hard task in that the actual book The Case for Christ is not a biography but the results of Strobel's investigation.  As such, he had to mix what Strobel found with the Strobels' story, and he did this well.  If you take away the end result (a book that has influenced people to become Christians in the same vein as Lewis' Mere Christianity), you have both a domestic drama of a marriage facing a curious crisis as well as a subplot of Strobel's investigation into the cop shooting, an investigation that takes an unexpected turn when he reexamines the evidence.

The two investigations come together when he finds that his original conclusion was wrong. When going to the wrongfully imprisoned man at the hospital to tell him he was wrong, he tells Strobel that it wasn't that he couldn't see the evidence, it that he didn't want to see it. 

The duality of this statement hits Strobel hard.

Bird and director Joe Gunn were also wise in how they portrayed the Strobels pre-conversion.  Unlike other Christian-based films where atheists are downright monstrous, these atheists are actually very nice people, loving towards each other, caring parents and partners, not perfect, but regular people.  The Christians in the film are also not perfect, and in that respect The Case for Christ does wonders in showing people of faith and non-faith as human.

As a digression, Hollywood would be wise to follow this film's lead and not portray Christians, particularly evangelicals, as uneducated, bigoted, or psychotic.

Mike Vogel gave an extremely rich and moving performance as Lee Strobel (even if he was saddled with a fright wig and mustache that were almost comical in their 'it's still the 1970s' look: a scene of him using hairspray caused laughter).  I remember Vogel from Bates Motel as the hot-but-sleazy Deputy, and it's good to see that he has really moved beyond into giving a performance that shows a flawed but loving man, curious about the world but still with deep hurt.  His scene at seeing how proud his father was of him is extremely heartbreaking.

Christensen, an actress we don't see often on film, also does well as Leslie.  In her sincerity, in her questioning, and in her love for Lee, Christensen is strong, and she makes Leslie strong too (for example, she isn't a demure little wife: when he shows up drunk, she lets him know she'll have none of it).

It is a shame though to not have Dunaway or Forster work together, or have them have one scene in the film.  Still, they do make the most of their small screen time.

The Case for Christ is not a dry recitation of Strobel's tome (though we do hit on certain points).  It's about one family's journey, and not necessarily a journey into faith.  It's about their journey to finding each other again when one changes and one doesn't.  More about two lives than a lecture, The Case for Christ is about love...in many forms.  

DECISION: B+

Grace Unplugged: A Review (Review #865)

GRACE UNPLUGGED

Grace Unplugged is a rarity in Christian films: a movie that touches on sin and temptation that comes to both believers and non-believers.  The film isn't too afraid to acknowledge that outside the safe confines of the Church, even the strongest believer can be lured to leave the Cross when 'crossing over'.  It isn't perfect, but it is in terms of Christian cinema a firm step in the right direction.

Grace Trey (AJ Michalka) is the daughter of Johnny Trey (James Denton).  Johnny had a big hit song, Misunderstood, which catapulted him to the top of the charts.  Misunderstood, however, was Johnny's first and only hit, his career sinking soon after.  Johnny had a religious conversion and embraced Christianity.  Now a music director at a church, he is content in the Lord and has no desire to branch out of the safe confines of worship music.  In fact, despite what I imagine are offers to venture into the Christian music market, Johnny won't go beyond his own home church.

Grace, however, does want to go and venture into The World.  She also might be wanting to get away from Johnny's more strict world, chafing under his benevolent control (for example, going after her for not filling the car up).  Her own variations on worship music (such as belting out praise & worship during service) doesn't sit well with Johnny either.

As it so happens, Grace somehow manages to do her own cover of Misunderstood (my memory is a big vague as to whether she was talked into it or did it on her own).  Regardless, Misunderstood 2.0 attracts attention from the secular music scene, particularly Johnny's old producer, Frank 'Mossy' Mostin (Kevin Pollack).  The idea of getting the daughter to do a cover of her father's hit song is too enticing for Mostin, and the lure of success on her own is too strong for Grace too.

If you recognize the song,
You Might Be A Christian

It's off to sunny (and I imagine, sinful) California to go and cut Grace's debut record.  She finds aspects of California liberating, though she has trepidations about how fast the fast life is.  As she finds the world a bit harder to navigate, she really has no one to be accountable to.

She finds herself enthralled when a date is set up with Jay Grayson (Zane Holtz), star of the teen soap Thunder Falls.  Already she is starting to compromise her beliefs: though there is no intimacy (and to be honest I don't remember what the exact reason she didn't was), just the idea of her going to his place is already enough to raise eyebrows.  Grace is talked into this and a lot of other things by Mostin, insisting that being seen with Grayson will be good for her career.

One thing that might not be is with regards to her songwriting: namely, she has no experience in songwriting despite whatever impressions she may have left.  At the recording company, the only person who can understand her plight is Quentin (Michael Welch), an intern who is about the only Christian at the company.  He's not just a Christian, he's a committed Christian (he does tell Grace that it's so nice to have someone else there who can be a light to this world, an idea which Grace isn't too preoccupied with).

Another member of Mostin's bevvy of pop stars, Renae Taylor (Kelly Thiebaud), gives Grace a most curious bit of advice: your body is your biggest asset.  Grace now appears more lost in this world, with Quentin being the only one she can open up to.

With regards to Quentin and Grace, you know where it's going.

Mostin keeps pushing Grace to sing a more risqué song, One Fast Night, whose lyrics aren't overtly questionable but that to Grace seem a bit too much.  Despite the money Mostin has laid out (down to having a crew all ready to both record and go on tour), Grace leaves it all behind for the safe confines of Birmingham, where she and Johnny reconcile, even singing a new song for the congregation: All I've Ever Needed. 

Two Years Later, Grace finds that Mostin found a new girl to be his new pop-queen (and sing One Fast Night), while she, now engaged to Quentin, performs as the opening act for Christian singer/songwriter Chris Tomlin, where she's also joined by Johnny Trey, dueting on a wider stage.

I thought more and more on Grace Unplugged and began to wonder whether the various messages behind it were good or not. Allow me to get a little theological here.

In contemporary Christian thought there is the struggle between being IN The World but not PART OF The World.  In other words, while Christians cannot (and perhaps should not) separate themselves wholly from the culture around us, Christians should not be active participants in aspects of that culture that would go against Biblical principles.  For example, a Christian would be encouraged to participate in sports, but not to go to a bar or strip club after the game.  Maintaining that balance between The Word and The World is what causes many Christians various dilemmas.

Grace Unplugged touches on those aspects with Grace; for example whether she should sing songs that while not overt calls to sin are perhaps skimming the edges of sin.  There is a rich source of drama here, and we need only look at some figures in Contemporary Christian Music (CCM for short) to see how their own decisions affect their careers and personas.

Michael W. Smith and Third Day have had 'crossover' hits, but they've been pretty happy to stay within CCM.  Amy Grant, once the darling of the CCM scene, has ventured further out to where she's almost all 'secular' (and endured controversy when her first marriage collapsed under accusations of infidelity). Another music group linked with CCM, Jars of Clay, had a hit song in the 'mainstream' music world with Flood. They have come under fire over whether their lead singer, Dan Haseltine, appeared to come out in favor of same-sex marriage, a volatile issue within Christian circles. 

I won't even go into my own divided views on Switchfoot. 

In any case, this push-pull between the confines of The Church and The World are I think great sources of conflict. Grace Unplugged, as written and directed by Brad J. Silverman, I think went closer to the 'the World isn't a place for the Christian' worldview because rather than have Grace grow as both a woman and a Christian, she opted to essentially run back to her parents and the safety and security of the more sheltered/bubbled-in Christian world. 

I think they could have delved more into that conflict rather than have a safe way out, robbing the viewer (Christian and non) a chance to see that conflict grow and how someone brought up in the Church would handle this pressure.

Grace comes across a bit too naïve to be real, as if she wasn't sure what went on out in the world.  Johnny, for his part, did himself no favors, coming across as perhaps too strict and overprotective.  Part of me wants a film where Christians understand the world they live in is full of sin, temptation, darkness, and that they are not immune from falling into sin, temptation, and darkness.  If they didn't, what would be the point of grace and redemption?

Still, I think this is more the blame of the screenplay than of Michalka and Denton, who gave very good performances of the parts written.  Michalka in particular was adept at showing Grace's genuine fear at performing in public without the safety net of the church band. Yes, she was naïve, but she was also filled with anger at the restrictions placed on her, doubtful whether she was doing the right things.  Michalka showed herself a very good actress in bringing these conflicts to the forefront.

Another standout is Welch as Quentin.  His character comes across as someone who is genuine in his faith without being an idiot or unaware of how the world works.  In turns sweet and caring but also honest in his assessments of the industry and those it swallows up, it's a pity that Welch (best known as Mike the Human in the Twilight Series...excuse me, SAGA) hasn't broken out more.

Grace Unplugged is a strong calling card for Welch, who I imagine can do more, as well as for Michalka. The film is better than most of the Christian genre, but the fact that Grace ultimately went back to safety rather than try and fight for herself and her Lord, to me, struck a bit of a sour note, which is why I'm downgrading it just a touch. 

Still, I thought well enough of Grace Unplugged to recommend it to people who are forgiving of a flawed film that has some good acting, good songs, and doesn't treat Christians as either idiots or bigots.  All in all, again a good step forward.         

    

DECISION: C+

God's Not Dead 2: A Review

GOD'S NOT DEAD 2

Well, 2016 will go down as The Year of The Sequel, where the film market was flooded with Parts 2, 3, 4 or more of films that either we knew were coming (who wasn't aware that there would be more entries in the Marvel Cinematic Universe) or that one wouldn't have expected from the first film.  A good (or bad) example of this is Now You See Me 2: a sequel to a movie that to my mind wasn't having America clamoring for more stories of The Horsemen.

Never ones to stay behind for long, the Christian film industry has decided to be imitators of the World by bringing us God's Not Dead 2.  This sequel to the surprise hit God's Not Dead can be called a cash-grab.  It can be called a weak and/or pale imitation of the original (whose connections to it are tenuous at best). 

Yep, let me call God's Not Dead 2 all that, and so much less.

Teacher Grace Wesley (Melissa Joan Hart) is a Christian who has a pretty strong, positive outlook on life.  She invigorates her history class with games and activities, but then runs afoul of parents and the school administration when a student asks her about Jesus Christ and any similarity between the teachings of Christ and the actions of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. 

Grace's measured answer (going so far as to say 'the author of Matthew' as opposed to just 'Matthew') doesn't sit well with at least one student, who sent a text to someone, who in turn got in touch with school officials.  The fact that Grace quoted Scripture at all is cause enough to suggest she was proselytizing and thus should be dismissed.  As it happens, she's a union member, so she gets a union-paid attorney.

Tom Endler (Jesse Metcalfe) is not a Christian, but he is willing to take the case (or rather, is assigned the case by the union).  His only interest is in winning, and questions like faith are of no interest.  Come to think of it, the case isn't either: with a permanent stubble and slightly disheveled look, Tom is no one's idea of Perry Mason.

The prosecution is Peter Kane (Ray Wise), who I think is with the ACLU and wants to prove once and for all that 'God is dead'.   As this goes to a jury, the jury selection process ensnares Pastor Dave (David A.R. White), the minister from the last film.  He doesn't want to be on the jury, nor does he want to answer the 147+ questions new believer Martin Yip (Paul Kwo), also from the last movie, has.

However, serve he must, and as the trial continues we can see he has troubles of his own.  The city has now requested that pastors hand over copies of their sermons for review, and Pastor Dave, not the most enthusiastic of people, submits a letter stating he won't turn his sermons over instead.

At the center of Grace's trial is Brooke (Hayley Orrantia), a girl who lost her brother and is searching for answers.  Her parents would sooner brush their son's memory under the carpet, but Brooke is still struggling with his death.  She discovers that he has been reading the Bible and come to accept Christ, but never told his humanist parents before he was killed in a car accident.  Brooke too accepts Christ and sides with Grace.

Dave (as a pastor the juror everyone thinks would be most sympathetic to Grace) suffers appendicitis during the trial, forcing him to go to the hospital and bringing in an alternate.  Tom brings in Biblical experts like Lee Strobel and J. Warner Wallace (playing themselves in cameo roles) to argue that Jesus was a historic figure and thus an appropriate subject in a history class.  Brooke's dramatic testimony for Grace backfires when Kane uses her testimony to suggest that Grace has been trying to convert her.

Tom, finally clean-shaven and well-dressed, takes a dramatic step by putting Grace on the stand and making her a hostile witness.  Her tearful testimony about how she could not deny Christ has enough power to sway the jury to rule in her favor (and Grace is surprised to see that the alternate juror, who looks like a punk rocker, has a cross tattoo on the back of her neck, suggesting that despite appearances she is a Christian).  Covering the trial is Amy Ryan (Trisha LaFache), also from the last movie, a former atheist who is now in remission from the cancer that caused her a crisis of faith.

In a post-credit scene, Pastor Dave is arrested for not turning his sermons over.

At first, I was disposed to be gentle towards God's Not Dead 2 (and despite what I heard somewhere, giving this movie the title God's Still Not Dead sounds a bit silly, almost deliberately blasphemous and taunting).  It wasn't until the post-credit scene that I finally decided that it was one step too far for me.

I've always been an 'art before theology' reviewer (in the interest of full disclosure, I am an evangelical Christian).  As such, when a film is weak, I will call it as such even if I were to find it from fellow believers (few people have been as hard on the Kendrick Brothers as I have been). 

This post-credit scene bothers me for two reasons.  One, it suggests that there will or could be a God's Not Dead 3 (which to me is flat-out insulting in that it violates one of my Golden Rules of Filmmaking: Never End Your Movie By Suggesting There Will Be A Sequel).  Even if I could live with this kind of open ending, the fact that it couldn't be included at the end of the movie itself rather than have it be a tease after the credits roll (despite the fact that this scene is featured in the trailer) meant that people who left during the credits would miss this and leave puzzled as to why Pastor Dave's arrest wasn't in the movie.

It's one thing for a Marvel movie to have a post-credit scene (even if I personally don't like it).  That's been established as part of their repertoire.  It's another to have it in a film that attempts to send a message about courage of your convictions.

There is plenty that sinks God's Not Dead 2.  First and foremost are the performances.  Director Harold Cronk (who returns along with cowriters Chuck Konzelman and Cary Sullivan) brought some shockingly bad moments and led the few good actors in the mix into showing all but no or one emotion.  Hart, who can act, is perpetually sad despite her character supposedly being an optimist.  Metcalfe is pretty, but his turn as a dramatic attorney feel so amateurish.

Kwo still cannot get past that eager persona he had from God's Not Dead (apart from a scene where his father makes an unexpected appearance who ends up slapping his son when Martin refuses to deny Christ).  A quick mention of Josh Wheaton appears to tie things together (and explain Shane Harper's absence), but wouldn't Martin and Pastor Dave know each other by now?

As a side note, other elements from the first film (like the Muslim convert who got kicked out of her home) never get a mention.

Subconsciously or not, the casting of Wise as the 'evil' lawyer was a brilliant move.  I don't know if the producers were aware that Wise literally played the Devil (in the short-lived television series Reaper) and the incestuous demon-possessed murderer on Twin Peaks (sorry if that's a spoiler...Laura Palmer was killed by her father while under the control of a demon).  Who better to play the antagonist than the Devil himself (unless it's Tom Ellis from Lucifer, but I digress).

Wise, along with all the actors save White, show why God's Not Dead 2 is a weak film.  There's no subtlety in their performances (Wise, for example, is always evil with a capital E).  This lack of subtlety pushes the film down, as a more deft touch, a more nuanced way of presenting the case (figuratively and literally) would have gone a long way.

It's interesting that White, the most openly-Christian of the cast (one who has had a long history with the Christian film industry) is the only one who appears to be a real person.  That is because Pastor Dave has flaws: he's cynical, jaded, slovenly, sometimes cranky but beneath that a man of deep faith. 

Pastor Dave is allowed to be human.  Everyone else appears to be a walking symbol.

Some moments are downright hilarious (Brooke's sudden emergence to the court should have people laughing at how clunky it was). 

It's a real shame because some of the points that the film makes (such as those from Strobel and Wallace) would perhaps be better received if presented in a better forum. 

There were many things God's Not Dead 2 could have done to make it a better film.  It could have focused on Martin's character as he grows in his faith with Pastor Dave helping him.  It could have brought the Pastor Dave story up-front.  Instead, by going for the trial of a teacher who, to my mind, said something so innocuous it wouldn't have raised any eyebrows, let alone a scandal, God's Not Dead 2 goes down as an unnecessary sequel.  At the very least, it could have been better, and that is perhaps the film's biggest sin.

I was going to give it a mild C-, but the post-credit scene, with its vague suggestion of a God's Not Dead 3, was too much for me.            

DECISION: D+