I Am Potential (Movie Review)

Plot Summary

Patrick Henry Hughes was born blind and disabled, and even though his parents were discouraged by this, he never let it get him down.  Though sometimes it was one medical procedure after the next, Patrick always kept his head up and did what he could to spread the love of Christ to those around him.  His father constantly wrestled with the reality of his son’s condition, but ultimately, it was instrumental in bringing the family closer together and closer to God.

 

Production Quality (2.5 points)

As is the typical practice of American Family Studios, the production of I Am Potential is highly professional.  Video quality and camera work are excellent.  Audio quality is flawless and the soundtrack is engaging.  Sets, locations, and props are realistic and appropriate.  The only real nitpick to raise here is some choppy editing due to the large amount of content presented here.  But besides this, American Family Studios is continually setting the standard for how Christian films should be produced.

Plot and Storyline Quality (1 point)

As I Am Potential is based on true events, the plot has a built-in advantage over your run-of-the-mill inspirational plot.  This is a really good story to depict, but there is a large amount of content to cover in a short amount of time.  It’s very difficult to deal with this sort of plot.  There is a tendency to skip through time too rapidly, and this causes the story to skate on top of everything.  This in turn makes everything shallow, including the characters.  While the dialogue therein is good, there is not enough time focused on developing the characters, even though they are real people.  It’s a real shame that this story could not be deeper, because it carries an important and meaningful message.  It could have been Hall of Fame had more attention been given to deepening the story and the characters instead of trying to cover tons of content.

Acting Quality (2.5 points)

Much like the productions of American Family Studios, the casting and acting of I Am Potential is highly professional.  Each cast member fits their character well.  Emotions are believable and line delivery is effective.  The only small issue to highlight here is some underwhelming acting, but it’s not enough to keep this portion from being high quality.

Conclusion

It’s refreshing when a studio like AFS consistently rolls out quality films.  We need every Christian film distributor and creator to have this mentality because things will not change for the Christian film industry until this happens.  Professional production is an absolute must, and AFS has perfected this.  Acting and casting must also be professional, as their films demonstrate.  As the overall quality of productions and casts improve, the final frontier for Christian films is the plot.  Once plots become more creative and deep, Christian movies will finally take the culture by storm.

 

Final Rating: 6 out of 10 points

 

July 13, 2017January 8, 2019 by Box Office Revolutionary Categories: Inspirational, Movie ReviewsTags: 2015, 6 points, American Family Studios, Amye Gousset, Best Entertainment, BJ Davis, Bonnie Johnson, Bright Light Productions, Burgess Jenkins, Callan Wilson, David Joseph Martinez, Drew Shugart, Gary Ray Moore, Inspirational, Jack Britt, Jama Williamson, Jeff Chamblee, Jerry Chipman, Jimmy Bellinger, John S. Howard, Judge Reinhold, Kwame Boateng, Lance Nichols, Levi Britt, Pam Tillis, Patrick John Hughes, Phil Russell, Ryan King, Sarah Karjian, Stephanie Whonsetler, Ted Johnson, Zach Meiners Leave a comment

Paper Dream [2012] (Movie Review)

Plot Summary

Christy has always had a dream, since she was a little girl, of growing up, getting married, and having beautiful children.  But her dream is shattered time and again when she cannot get pregnant and she is told that she will never have children.  Thus, her and her husband look into adoption, even though they want to have a child of their own.  But as they journey together on the path God is taking them on, they find out that God has something in store for them that they could have never anticipated.

 

Production Quality (2.5 points)

American Family Studios has always demonstrated a commitment to high quality productions.  In Paper Dream, nearly every production element is great, including video quality, camera work, and audio quality.  The soundtrack could be a little more creative, but it’s fine as it is.  Sets, locations, and props are also professional.  The only negative factor to bring up is the editing and the runtime of this film, as it is far too short while at the same time includes too much wasted content.  But overall, this is an example of what Christian productions should look like.

Plot and Storyline Quality (.5 point)

As usual, Jeremy and Kendra White present a realistic story that is accessible and heartwarming.  However, they don’t go near as far as they could with the story and leave a lot of subplots underdeveloped.  With only 45 minutes of time, as previously mentioned, there is still time wasted on pointless montages and dead-end conversations.  Due to time constraints and these conversations, the characters are quite shallow.  There is too much reliance on narration, yet this film makes an interesting point that really hits home.  The ending is unexpected and refreshing, but there is little to no build up.  Basically, we need more from this film—more character development, more realistic dialogue, more explored subplots.  We can see the merit in making a short film to begin a career, but they were so close to something great.

Acting Quality (1.5 points)

For a mostly amateur cast, their performances are good, but they are still average due to some errors that hold them back.  For example, some cast members are overly practiced in their acting and awkward in their delivery.  However, they are sometimes fine and demonstrate great potential.  With better coaching, they could be dynamic.

Conclusion

The good thing about Paper Dream is that it is a freshman effort and we can see that Jeremy and Kendra White went on to do greater things with Summer Snow.  Still, it’s frustrating to see so much potential left lying on the proverbial playing field.  But nonetheless, we know that Jeremy and Kendra know how to make a good film and will likely make another memorable project like Summer Snow in the future.  Hopefully they have been able to build off of Paper Dream to make a greater difference in the Christian entertainment world.  We anticipate what they have to offer next.

 

Final Rating: 4.5 out of 10 points

 

June 13, 2017January 8, 2019 by Box Office Revolutionary Categories: Inspirational, Movie ReviewsTags: 2012, 4.5 points, Alandra Dale, American Family Studios, Amye Gousset, Audra Buckel, Don Cobb, Inspirational, Jack Kelly, Jeff Chamblee, Jenny Odle Madden, Jeremy White, Joanne Lubeck, Juliet Buckholdt, Kendra White, Meeke Addison, Sarah Karjian 1 Comment

Accidental Activist [2013] (Movie Review)

Plot Summary

Ted Murphey never thought he’d see the day when his signing of a traditional marriage petition would push his important t-shirt business to the brink of destruction.  His gay friend gets angry at him when he reads about Ted’s evil deeds in the local ‘gay newspaper’ and doesn’t want to talk with him anymore.  The local gay activist leader raises a ruckus with protests and media attention around the t-shirt business.  The store is attacked and the Murpheys are ostracized by the evil gays and their media buddies.  With such persecution, how will anyone’s business ever survive?

 

Production Quality (1.5 points)

Though Accidental Activist has a fine production overall, including good video quality, camera work, and audio quality, it still leaves much to be desired.  The soundtrack needs a little more creativity.  The sets and locations that are used are fairly cheap and pedestrian.  There is also no editing as pretty much all of the content is used, and the film still barely cracks fifty minutes.  Overall, though the production looks good on the surface, it’s really hard to find a justification for this film’s creation.

Plot and Storyline Quality (0 points)

Similar to Right to Believe, Accidental Activist is basically a collection of long conversations, complaints, and debates over the issue of traditional marriage.  However, this film uses borderline propaganda messaging to get its point across.  This is done by constructing a very unrealistic premise of persecution and by creating a strawman of the ‘opposition’.  Though one gay character is portrayed fairly well, other portrayals are downright embarrassing.  All of the dialogue is full of talking points from both sides and does nothing to build believable characters.  There is no real plot focus except for the agenda the American Family Association is pushing here.  Also, the ‘persecution’ these Christian characters endure is unfairly compared to the chattel slavery that led to the Civil War, and we find this to be a highly offensive suggestion.  In the end, Accidental Activist really accomplishes nothing except appealing to a group of Christians that wants to have their ears tickled with this sort of nonsense.

Acting Quality (1.5 points)

To be fair, this cast is not horrible and is overall average.  Their performances are mostly fine, although they tend to be overdone in their emotions at times.  There are also a few too many stereotypes constructed therein.  Overall, it comes out as average.

Conclusion

Creating another movie that depicts an us-versus-them mentality in the traditional marriage debate is not the answer.  Whipping up support and anger among your base is merely political, not Christ-like.  The reality is that American Christians have no idea what persecution even means, even though they eagerly jump to such conclusions when things don’t go their way.  Of course the fact that traditional marriage has been altered is a major problem, but it’s a symptom of something deeper that the American church has been reluctant to deal with for decades: the broken Christian family.  Movies like Accidental Activist only further drive a wedge between Christians and ‘the world’.  We are supposed to be influencing the culture, not battling against it.  I think it’s time we take a good look at the state of the Christian family before we go pointing fingers.  Only then will things start to change.

 

Final Rating: 3 out of 10 points

 

May 10, 2017January 9, 2019 by Box Office Revolutionary Categories: Drama, Inspirational, Movie ReviewsTags: 2013, 3 points, American Family Studios, Ashley Hutto, C.J. Bacelli, Dave Kramer, David Mackey, Duane James Barnhart, Ed Vitagliano, Edith Langston, Hannah Malone, Inspirational, Jackson T. Kramer, Jose Lucena Jr., Kinley Rice, Kristin Wollett, Larry Bukovey, Lauren Chalker, persecution complex, Phase 4 Films, Tim Wildmon 1 Comment

Summer Snow [2014] (Movie Review)

Plot Summary

When Dan Benson’s wife dies, he and his three kids are left trying to pick up the pieces and figure out how they are going to move on.  Julie is getting married soon and has big plans with her fiancé.  David is trying to find his way through teenage-hood without his father around.  Hallie is a young girl who touches everyone she meets in special ways.  Little do they know that their lives will soon be changed forever.

 

Production Quality (2.5 points)

In Summer Snow, American Family Studios and team have shown a dedication to professional production quality.  Video quality and audio quality are clear and the soundtrack is fairly good.  Camera work is effective and sets and locations are realistic and down to earth.  The only issues to raise here are some minor editing problems due to some missing plot pieces, but it’s not enough to totally derail this otherwise superb production.  We expect more greatness in the future from this team.

Plot and Storyline Quality (2 points)

Summer Snow is a raw character-driven plot about real people doing real things.  The dialogue is excellent and helps the viewer to really appreciate the struggles of the characters.  The plot is artistic and engaging and a good mix of comedy and hurt.  While we would have expected American Family Studios to awkwardly handle the social issues portrayed in this film, this was not the case.  The social issues are handled very well and framed in very interesting ways that make one think.  The biggest things holding this plot back are some minor plot holes and some parts that need to be expanded upon.  The end is also neat and tidy but still ambiguous at the same time.  In short, Jeremy and Kendra White need to be utilized more in writing inspirational plots because they have true talent that can be expanded upon.

Acting Quality (3 points)

This is a flawless casting job with no errors.  Each person is cast exquisitely.  Line delivery and emotional delivery are excellent.  Rachel Eggleston is possibly the best child actress in a Christian film to date.  This is a job to be proud of.

Conclusion

Films like Summer Snow should be the standard for Christian movies.  It takes on family values and social issues in realistic ways without creating strawmen or making Christianity offensive.  It depicts real people in real life so that all audiences can access what they are going through.  While it’s not the most complex plot in the world, it gets the job done and deserves recognition for that.  We can’t wait to see more from Jeremy and Kendra White and American Family Studios.

 

Final Rating: 7.5 out of 10 points

 

January 12, 2017January 12, 2019 by Box Office Revolutionary Categories: Drama, Hall of Fame, Inspirational, Movie ReviewsTags: 2014, 7.5 points, American Family Studios, Amy Hess, Bethel Green, BJ Davis, Brett Rice, Bright Light Productions, Cameron Goodman, Carla Christina Contreras, Dan Atchison, David Chisum, Diana Hendrix, Garrett Backstrom, Inspirational, Jeffrey Day, Jeremy White, John Newberg, John S. Howard, Joshua Loren, Julia-Ann Aguhob, Justin Tolley, Kendra White, Matthew Alan, Pete Sears, Rachel Eggleston, Sarah East, Shannon Kathleen Baker, Taylor Boswell, Terri Minton, Thomas Henninger, Tim Wildmon 3 Comments