Church People [2021] (Movie Review)

Plot Summary

Youth pastor Guy Sides feels like he’s stuck inside of a well-oiled ministry machine. His boss, lead pastor Skip Finney, wants to find new and outlandish ways to draw people into the church. However, Guy feels like the simple gospel is enough. Nonetheless, Skip charges ahead with zany plans for an Easter production that will have everyone talking about it. Can Guy help everyone see the true meaning of Easter before it’s too late?

Production Quality (2.5 points)

It’s evident from start to finish that Church People is well-funded, and this results in a professional production. This high quality is evidenced by top-notch video, camera, and audio elements. The sets, locations, and props are great, and it’s clear that the money has been well-spent. The only minor concerns in this section pertain to some inconsistency in editing, but overall, a high score is warranted here.

Plot and Storyline Quality (1 point)

This plot begins with a strong opening sequence that refrains from narration and establishes a basis for subtle humor that avoids being too over-the-top. Though the comedy is sometimes a bit dry, the writers were definitely trying to construct effective dialogue as they took a realistic look at the problems with the corporate church mentality. There are many relatable conversations throughout the narrative although there’s also a dose of exposition throughout the course of the conversing. However, as the story continues to develop, some comedy overstays its welcome, being used too much and coming off as too quirky. Rather than expanding as it goes, the premise remains quite thin and has little basis in reality beyond silly conventions. Montages strung together with humor take the place of deeper character development, and some oddly explained off-screen scenes only make matters more awkward. When it comes down to it, Church People is just another return-to-hometown plot, complete with forced romance-with-your-former-love tropes. Despite its promising beginning, this narrative continues its nose dive all the way to a forced conclusion that involves an eye-rolling ‘twist’ that doesn’t really work. Thus, one point is garnered here.

Acting Quality (2 points)

Although Stephen Baldwin once again positioned himself to star as a wise character in a self-produced film, he exhibits an acceptable kind of unusual in Church People. Other cast members are quite good in their performances despite a few slightly awkward moments. Some actors and actresses can be over-the-top and over-extended, but for the most part, they are all well-coached. As a whole, this section is at least above-average.

Conclusion

In the end, some audiences will enjoy this screenplay even though it travels through well-worn church comedy ruts. Unfortunately, the humor just isn’t enough to carry the entire movie: deeper characters are needed to drive the point home. The purpose of Church People is commendable (exposing corporate Christianity), but the audience isn’t left with much beyond the obvious fact that this approach to the faith is insufficient. Therefore, this film boils down to another standard comedy release that will unfortunately be forgotten in a few months.

Final Rating: 5.5 out of 10 points

Advertisement

March 11, 2021 by Box Office Revolutionary Categories: Comedy, Drama, Inspirational, Movie ReviewsTags: 2021, 5.5 points, Anchor Productions, Andrea Kaufman, Andriana Manfredi, Beverley Mitchell, Billy Baldwin, Bob Sáenz, Bridget Albaugh, Christopher Shawn Shaw, Chynna Phillips, Clancy McCartney, Collide Distribution, Comedy, Donald Faison, Drama, Erin Cahill, Fathom Events, Inspirational, Isabella Hofmann, Joey Fatone, John McGalliard, Joth Riggs, Let's Make A Picture Productions, LightBeaMedia, Michael Monks, Mike Lindell, Pure Comedy, Ricky Titus-Lam, Ryan O'Quinn, Stephen Baldwin, Tessie Santiago, Thor Ramsey, Todd Wilkerson, Wes Halula, Wes Haula, William Baldwin 1 Comment

Church People (March 2021)

In Theaters March 13, 2021

Website

Writer(s): Thor Ramsey, Bob Sáenz, Wes Halula

Director(s): Christopher Shawn Shaw

Producer(s): Mike Lindell, Stephen Baldwin, Wes Halula, Andrea Kaufman, John McGalliard, Beverley Mitchell, Ryan O’Quinn, Thor Ramsey, Joth Riggs, Christopher Shawn Shaw

Starring: Stephen Baldwin, Thor Ramsey, Michael Monks, Donald Faison, Joey Fatone, Billy Baldwin, Chynna Phillips, Mike Lindell, William Baldwin, Erin Cahill, Isabella Hofmann, Chynna Phillips, Tessie Santiago, Ryan O’Quinn, Andriana Manfredi, Bob Sáenz, Bridget Albaugh, Wes Haula, Todd Wilkerson, Ricky Titus-Lam, Clancy McCartney

Plot Synopsis: A heartfelt and laugh-out-loud faith-based comedy film, Church People is the story of real people with real struggles and their unique paths to discovering what faith in Jesus is all about. It all starts when “America’s youth pastor,” Guy Sides, realizes he’s stuck in the megachurch marketing machine and wants to find his passion again. But when Guy attempts to get back to the heart of ministry, he is thrust into the throes of dissuading his zany church leadership from performing a strange and potentially blasphemous stunt for the upcoming Easter service while navigating his own personal problems. Church People exposes the wacky heights some people will go in the evangelical subculture while revealing God’s out-of-this-world grace through a poignantly redemptive climax.

February 2, 2021 by Box Office Revolutionary Categories: Upcoming Movies and SeriesTags: Andrea Kaufman, Andriana Manfredi, Beverley Mitchell, Billy Baldwin, Bob Sáenz, Bridget Albaugh, Christopher Shawn Shaw, Chynna Phillips, Clancy McCartney, Donald Faison, Erin Cahill, Isabella Hofmann, Joey Fatone, John McGalliard, Joth Riggs, Michael Monks, Mike Lindell, Ricky Titus-Lam, Ryan O'Quinn, Stephen Baldwin, Tessie Santiago, Thor Ramsey, Todd Wilkerson, Upcoming Movies and Series, Wes Halula, Wes Haula, William Baldwin 1 Comment

God’s Club {Holy Warrior} (Movie Review)

As you can see, they spent a lot of time on that sign

Plot Summary

When his wife dies tragically in a car accident, Michael Evans falls into a funk.  In order to find new meaning and life and try to keep his wife’s memory alive, he decides to return to teaching and start an after-school Bible club, something she had always wanted to do.  But he is shocked when he is met with extreme resistance both from school authorities and parents.  As the pushback goes from bad to worse, Michael considers just leaving it all behind (after all, there’s no churches in his city).  But his daughter reminds him that her mom would never have wanted him to give up, so Michael sticks with the fight (literally) and doesn’t back down.

 

Production Quality (.5 point)

It feels like we repeat ourselves all the time.  There are simply too many Christian productions that are all the same.  God’s Club offers nothing new—clear video quality along with a host of errors.  Between nearly every scene is an awkward fade to black moment that requires a fade-in for the next scene.  In many scenes throughout, especially outdoor scenes, there is shaky camera work, which seems to indicate that someone is holding the camera, which infers that the budget was too small to pay for any other equipment.  The limited funds are also evident in the few cheap sets that there are, as well as in the prop usage.  It seems like the only reason this film is ninety minutes long is because of excessive use of slow motion throughout.  Also, in an attempt to be ‘cool’, the creators crafted a weird soundtrack that sometimes covers for their lack of better sound.  In short, God’s Club commits all the usual production sins, just in different ways than usual.

Plot and Storyline Quality (0 points)

In an attempts to frame a religious freedom conflict, God’s Club portrays an all out school war, complete with fistfights, brawls, vandalism, arson, and sabotage, all because of a silly after-school activity called God’s Club, also known as Bible Club or Bible Group.  The worst part is that Christian characters aren’t even able to be sympathized with because they deserve half of the treatment they get, as they either pick fights or continue them.  The Christian perspective is also very empty, lacking meaningful depth and espousing odd Christian philosophies as they try to shove the Bible down your throat.  There are very few characters in this plot; some of them we are supposed to appreciate without even getting to know them.  ‘Bad’ characters are very evil in every possible way until they are randomly fixed up.  Dialogue is in-your-face, leaving nothing to the imagination.  God’s Club also sports a growing trend in offbeat Christian films: a disdain for proper counseling and psychology.  Basically, if you are to believe the worldview of this film, churches are disappearing (the town in this plot has no churches), Christians are being persecuted for having after-school activities, it’s okay for Christians to fight back (literally), and reciting Bible verses will fix your life up.  In our experience, none of these things are true in reality, so why portray them in a film?  Because you’re trying to make some kind of quick buck by preaching to the choir.

Acting Quality (0 points)

Why do movies consistently cast Stephen Baldwin in major roles he’s not suited for?  He’s downright creepy in this movie, and when he’s not creepy, he’s lethargic.  It’s beyond me why Corbin Bernsen consistently involves himself in these sorts of messes.  The few other cast members that there are either make no positive impact or remind us why they’re not in any other notable films.  In short, there is clearly no coaching for this cast, thus obvious problems go unchecked.

Conclusion

Was there any thought during the making of this film to attempt to make it realistic and down-to-earth?  We highly doubt it.  At least the persecution subplot of God’s Not Dead is somewhat realistic.  God’s Club is a trumped up preaching-to-the-choir load of nonsense only designed to further inflame Christians against ‘the world’ and give them a chip-on-the-shoulder mentality to approaching non-believers.  None of this movie is reality and it’s a total sham and embarrassment to portray people in this way.  As Christians, our time would be better served using movies to actually reach people for the Gospel and to encourage Christians to go deeper in their faith by using meaningful and realistic plots combined with professional production and acting.  Until Christians are stronger in their faith and until more people are reached with the saving power of Jesus Christ, we have nothing else we need to be discussing.

 

Final Rating: .5 out of 10 points

August 30, 2016January 15, 2019 by Box Office Revolutionary Categories: Inspirational, Movie ReviewsTags: 1/2 point, 2015, Alison MacInnis, Amanda Godepski, Bridget Albaugh, Carolina Duncan, catfights, Corbin Bernsen, Crystal Bush, Dianna Renée, dogfights, Dureyshevar, fistfights, Inspirational, Jack Nasser, Jared Cohn, John Chadwell, Joseph Nasser, Lorenzo Lamas, Nic Luken, over the top persecution, Rachel Brett, Rico Simonini, Stephen Baldwin, Teagan Sirset 2 Comments