Jeremiah [1998] (Movie Review)

Plot Summary

Jeremiah grew up in the reign of Josiah, the last golden era for Judah as a nation.  As a young boy, God called him to be a prophet; however, he did not always accept this call.  As he grew, he knew he was destined to be a Levitical priest, but God gave him a message to tell the people that no one wanted to hear.  Jeremiah was persecuted for what he had to share and suffered terribly as Jerusalem’s days were numbered by the Babylonian siege.  Yet through it all, God was with him as he carried out the Word of the Lord.

 

Production Quality (1.5 points)

For a late 1990s production, Jeremiah has plenty of good elements.  Affirm Films’ older Bible movies were certainly not perfect, but they definitely showed good effort.  The biggest plus to this production pertains to the excellent sets, locations, and props, which all demonstrate historical authenticity and great attention to detail.  Video quality and audio quality are also what they should be, including an effective soundtrack.  However, there are some drawbacks to point out, such as weird lighting in some scenes for dramatic effect, quick and rapid time jumps, fast cuts and transitions.  Thus, this production is overall average, but this is very good considering the time period.

Plot and Storyline Quality (1 point)

Like too many other Bible movies like it, such as Affirm’s rendition of Esther, Jeremiah tends to portray Biblical characters in a too lofty fashion through the use of odd and cumbersome dialogue styles.  It would be nice if Biblical characters were not so inaccessible and theater-like.  But nevertheless, this is an interesting and noteworthy portrayal of a different Biblical account that often goes unnoticed.  It’s refreshing to see a different story, but at the same time, it is frustrating to watch because it had such potential that was wasted.

Acting Quality (1.5 points)

Much like the cumbersome dialogue, too often in this film, the cast members use weird, archaic annunciation, like this is a 1970s or older Bible film.  In a similar vein, a lot of the acting is too dramatic and theatrical at times, and too much of the line delivery is breathy.  While some cast members are culturally authentic, others are not, including several British people.  Yet there are plenty of good moments here and some cast members tend to improve throughout.  In the end, this rounds out a nearly average film.

Conclusion

It would be great to see this idea remade because it is a very interesting story that deserves to be portrayed.  Yet this movie can also serve as an example of how not to portray Biblical characters.  Audiences want to see people they can relate to, not lofty characters in a play.  The Bible needs to be brought to life in authentic and even gritty ways because it’s real life and deserves to be portrayed that way.

 

Final Rating: 4 out of 10 pointsj

 

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November 8, 2017January 3, 2019 by Box Office Revolutionary Categories: Biblical, Historical, Movie ReviewsTags: 1998, 4 points, Abdessamad Dinia, Affirm Films, Andrea Occhipinti, Anita Zagaria, Bible, Biblical, Bruce Broughton, Chris Pavlo, Damian Myerscough, Henry Winer, Hicham Ibrahimi, Historical, Jolyon Stephenson, Klaus Maria Brandauer, Leonor Varela, Lorenzo Minoli, Luca Bernabei, Luke Sheppard, Lux Vide, Mahjoub El Rajji, Michael Cronin, Mohamed Majd, Mohamen Mehdi Ouazanni, Oliver Reed, Paolo Lucidi, Paolo Piria, Patrick Dempsey, Rachid Fekkak, Roger May, Silas Carson, Simon Kunz, Stuart Bunce, Vincent Regan, Zaki Houari 1 Comment

The Pledge {Doughboy} [2011] (Movie Review)

Plot Summary

When Tory’s parents decide that they are going to move from bustling New York City to podunk West Virginia, he is angry that they are taking him away from all he knows.  Once in West Virginia, he can’t find anything to do, so he accidentally gets into trouble by vandalizing a war memorial.  As punishment, the judge sentences him to community service at a veteran’s home, even though his parents are anti-war.  Tory hates the work at first but soon finds that he can find meaning and make a different no matter what.

 

Production Quality (1.5 points)

Much like A Christmas Tree Miracle, The Pledge has a random commitment to quality production—sometimes it has it while other times it does not.  For example, the audio quality is sometimes good but sometimes quite poor.  The soundtrack is average but camera work and video quality are fine.  Sets and locations are also on par.  However, there is too much reused footage and the editing is generally all over the place.  In the end, it all comes out as average, but we have to wonder what this team is trying for.

Plot and Storyline Quality (1.5 points)

Also like its Christmas counterpart, The Pledge wavers between being very meaningful and being very satirical.  One moment the dialogue is dripping with obvious tongue-in-cheek sarcasm while another moment we are being shown the realities of post-combat trauma.  We have no idea what the writers were going for here, but they had a lot of good ideas that were unfavorably mixed with unusual comedy.  There is plenty of plot content to work with here, as well as a lot of interesting characters, but we don’t get to know them very well as too much dialogue is pedestrian.  There are tons of opportunities for deeper development here that are not tapped into.  In the end, we feel that this film could have been far better than this and are disappointed that it didn’t go all the way.

Acting Quality (1.5 points)

While too many cast members are quite dry and boring and others outright smart alec or borderline crazy, they do tend to get better throughout the film.  Emotions range from being flat to believable.  Line delivery is also inconsistent.  When all is said and done, the acting comes out as average.

Conclusion

The Route 40\Flyover Films team is extremely hard to figure.  In their two films, they demonstrated great plot potential but also showed a lot of disingenuous sarcasm.  What exactly are they going for?  We may never truly know.  All we know is that The Pledge had potential, but it was never brought out.  While there is some meaning to be gleaned here and some parts are enjoyable, we just don’t know what to make of it all.

 

Final Rating: 4.5 out of 10 points

 

January 16, 2017January 12, 2019 by Box Office Revolutionary Categories: Inspirational, Movie ReviewsTags: 2011, 4.5 points, Barrett Carnahan, Bruce Broughton, Claudia Esposito, Don Keaton, Emily Bach, Emily Capehart, Flyover Films, hypnotherapy, Inspirational, J.W. Myers, John W. Lawson, Lou Wegner, Michael Guy Allen, red white and blonde, Rick Montgomery Jr., Rob Garrison, Robin Capehart, Route 40 Films, Terry Kiser, tongue in cheek, Ty DeMartino 2 Comments

Last Flight Out [2004] (Movie Review)

 

Plot Summary

Dan, a repossession agent, has been billed by Tony Williams, the father of the man whose death Dan blames himself for, to find his daughter Anne, a missionary doctor who is now lost in the Columbian jungle.  What’s more is Dan used to be in love with Anne, and now she’s on the run, with a struggling Christian village, from ruthless drug lords.  Dan, an agnostic, must take on the impossible task of airlifting an entire village out of a remote jungle area in order to fulfill his mission.  In the end, Dan will have to decide what he really believes about God and life.

 

Production Quality (2 points)

Even in its last stages, Worldwide Pictures always set the tone for Christian movies in their era, the late 90s and early 2000s.  For an independent action film, the production of Last Flight Out is quite good.  The camera work is solid, including angles in action scenes, as well as video and sound quality.  The props are well utilized and realistic.  While the sets and locations are limited, they are used very well.  The only issues to bring up here are some poorly edited sequences that tend to isolate the audience and some slightly cheap special effects.  There are multiple very small issues here that keep this production from being all that it could be.  But overall, Last Flight Out continues its theme of top quality production.

Plot and Storyline Quality (1.5 points)

Action adventure plots are hard to create without falling into typical plot clichés.  For the most part, Last Flight Out avoids textbooks errors.  The dialogue is realistic and to the point, yet it does not develop the characters to their fullest potential.  This is a shame, since there are few characters that carry the whole plot.  Realistic events occur throughout the film.  The overall story is also very linear with too many filler scenes.  There is nothing inherently wrong with the plot—it’s just very simplistic and straightforward.  Action adventure plots need to be dynamic, with twists and turns.  While Last Flight Out has an acceptable plot, it doesn’t breach the above average threshold.

Acting Quality (3 points)

For such a small cast, it is highly professional.  The actors and actresses are obviously well coached and know what they’re doing.  Emotional delivery is believable and spoken lines are authentic.  There are no negative points to raise here.

Conclusion

Last Flight Movie was so close to the Hall of Fame.  Had it a more dynamic plot and\or slightly better production, it would have been placed on it.  The unfortunate thing is that this was Worldwide Pictures’ last film to date.  They stopped just when they were getting good.  The flagship nonprofit, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, however, is still in existence, and it seems like a good time in Christian films to start back up again.  They really had something going in this early era of Christian movies, so we challenge them to use their perhaps now better resources to put out another evangelistic screenplay for all to see.  The Christian movie scene needs more quality voices, which was something Worldwide was back in its time.

 

Final Rating: 6.5 out of 10 points

 

March 23, 2016January 17, 2019 by Box Office Revolutionary Categories: Action Adventure, Drama, Inspirational, International, Movie Reviews, SuspenseTags: 2004, 6.5 points, Action Adventure, Adriano González, Bettina Mercado, Bobbie Phillips, Bruce Broughton, Carlos Miranda, Cliff De Young, Dean River Productions, Inspirational, International, Jean P. Rubio, Jerry Jameson, Jesus H. Velez Perez, Melissa Gleason, Norberto Montes Figueroa, Rene L. Moreno, Richard Tyson, River Stone Productions, Skip Heitzig, Suspense, Toby Lynch, Vicellous Reon Shannon, Worldwide Pictures 1 Comment