Every year, movies and series are released, and cast members show off their talents. Writers and directors showcase their creativity. Films and series are separated into roughly three groups: the truly talented, the potentially great, and the others. At Box Office Revolution, we believe it is our prerogative to annually recognize those entertainment creators and players who have the ability to bring revolution to Christian entertainment.
Army Chaplain Darren Turner and his wife Heather feel that they are called to the life they live as they each minister to those who are connected to the military in different ways. They are committed to each other and to their family, and they firmly believe God is always supporting them. However, the months-long separation with Darren’s deployment takes a toll on their marriage and their family as they are apart for months on end with oceans between them. When tragedy strikes close to home, they will have to decide if they will weather the storm and press into their faith or if they will let it all fall apart.
Production Quality (2.5 points)
It’s very clear that Indivisible was a well-funded and well-organized production. This is evident in the flawless video quality and the great action camera work. The sets, locations, and props are also excellent and appropriate for the situations portrayed, and it was smart for the creative team to stay within their budget and to not film too many complicated scenes. There is a very realistic feel to the film, even if there are some slight audio issues. However, there is a relatable soundtrack, although some of the editing tends to be a bit choppy. Nevertheless, this production is still top-notch and demonstrates very wise use of funding.
Plot and Storyline Quality (2 points)
In keeping with the growing trends of using better source material in Christian films, Indivisible seeks to tell a very engaging and poignant true story that explores realistic everyday issues that need to be discussed in the context of film. There is a very real-life feel to the film as the day to day struggles of military families are portrayed very accurately and in a way that many can relate to. Although there are plenty of opportunities to develop true-to-life characters based on the real people of the true story, it feels like there were missed opportunities to take them a step further beyond the typical and into the dynamic. An example of these missed opportunities appears to manifest in the middle of the plot as this part of the movie comes off as just a collection of loosely connected scenes en route to a conclusion it wants to get to. Time moves too quickly at times, which is never helpful for character growth. However, even though some chances for dynamic storytelling were left on the proverbial playing field, this movie still presents a very effective and accessible view of PTSD and its psychological and emotional effects on the victim and those around him. As a whole, this plot is definitely good on paper even though there was the greater potential to go further. Despite this fact, many audiences will still enjoy this film for its realism.
Acting Quality (2.5 points)
It’s evident that Sarah Drew drew on her past acting experience and on her experience with the Erwin Brothers in Mom’s Night Out to both deliver a great performance and to assist the rest of the cast in this same endeavor. As such, the casting and acting are both very professional. For the most part, line delivery is on point, and emotions are mostly realistic. There are some slight issues at times when emotional delivery can come off as a bit forced and over the top, but overall, each cast member appears comfortable in his or her respective roles. Though there are a few nitpicks in the various areas of this film, Indivisible still has the potential to reach many different audiences.
Conclusion
One can easily see why this great true story was chosen for a film. There are many important messages in Indivisible that many people will relate to, especially those with close connections to the branches of the military. The military life has never been easy for anyone, but for too long, this has been kept quiet. Thanks to the courage of the Turner family, a great story is now being told that reaches out to families who may feel like they are alone. While there is always room for improvement, there is still plenty of good about Indivisible due to a lot of hard work put into it. Thus, it earns a rightful spot on the Hall of Fame.
Dr. David Horton is known as a great professor in Lynchburg, and his ‘running’ class is extremely popular. His reputation is that he helps all of his students by connecting with them on a personal level. Dr. Horton is also a marathon enthusiast, but his passion often takes away his time from his family, which is something his wife greatly struggles with. Much to her chagrin, David embarks on a dangerous cross-country marathon for two months, even though he is secretly battling health problems. Will his health and their marriage survive the trek?
Production Quality (2 points)
Liberty University has all of the toys and resources an independent film maker could dream of, yet they consistently settle for just above average productions. There’s no doubt that Extraordinary has some great cinematography, even if it’s mostly a collection of American landmark shots. Nevertheless, camera work is excellent, and video quality is great. Sets, locations, and props also make this production a mostly good experience. Editing is standard, and on the surface, this is a well-produced film. However, beneath the surface, there are some head-scratching inclusions, such as silly production gimmicks and weirdly bad special effects. These elements are reminiscent of film school professors playing around to see what they can do with what they have. However, most audiences will likely look past these issues and see the above-average production that it is.
Plot and Storyline Quality (.5 point)
Based on a true story, the Liberty University team had a lot to work with, even though they have struggled in the past with storylines. However, in Extraordinary, the Curlee\Schultze team continued their issues with very thin and empty plots and characters. Though this is based on real people, they clearly had no idea how to craft realistic characters as the story does not translate well at all. The characters are empty due to dialogue that is full of title-dropping, pedestrian platitude-pushing, and repeated content. Many scenes are basically filler with no substantial contribution to the overall plot. There are one too many ‘funny’ scenes, and the majority of the movie is packed with musical montages and dramatic moments that have no meaning. In the end, though the basic idea behind this story was great, the film version leaves the audience with no real focus or purpose as it tried so hard to drive the point home that it fell flat.
Acting Quality (1.5 points)
Acting coaching and casting is another area the Curlee\Schultze team struggles in, which is a shame since they claim to be prodigies of the Kendricks. The lead actor of this film is particularly weak and awkward, and several supporting cast members are annoying. Kirk Cameron is beyond obnoxious, and Shari Rigby struggles without better directing. However, there are enough good areas here to make this section at least average; one has to consider that this cast didn’t have many substantial lines to work with. Nonetheless, the Liberty University team continues to disappoint.
Conclusion
Scotty Curlee and Stephan Schultze have the film world at their fingertips, yet they constantly settle for half-measure and expect you to deal with it because at least it’s a Christian movie or something. Unfortunately, they are consistently wasting the time and money of Christian audiences as all of their marketing is for nothing but a quick cash grab. Extraordinary is another example of a squandered opportunity because Curlee and Schultze refuse to retain a truly talented screenwriter (like Sean Morgan) and have demonstrated time and again their lack of regard for improvement. Now we can just wait with bated breath for their upcoming Trump film.
Hudson is a young film maker in search of his big break as he tries to find a big story to film on the streets of Thailand. Then he accidentally stumbles upon an underground world of kids struggling to survive on the streets and to stay safe from the dark world of child trafficking. Hudson decides to film them for personal gain but soon finds that they are changing him. As he begins to care more and more, he becomes determined to do more to change their world.
Production Quality (2 points)
Shot on authentic international locations, Fourth World has an air of professionalism and tough realism about it. Video quality is clear, as is the audio quality. The soundtrack is effective. However, the docu-drama\reality show premise is used to take some production shortcuts, such as shaky camera work and inconsistent lighting. However, the editing is mostly average with a few minor issues. Overall, this is a good start for production, especially considering the international sets and locations. It will be interesting to see what this team does in the future.
Plot and Storyline Quality (1 point)
Fourth World is based on a good idea and built on a realistic premise that highlights important issues that need to be highlighted in film. There is no doubt that this film supports a very worthy cause, but the story leaves something to be desired as it seems to lack general focus. The storyline is somewhat simplistic and the characters need further deepening with more meaningful dialogue. There is also too much unnecessary narration that could have been used as transformative dialogue. However, the ending is touching and includes a slight twist. In the end, this is an adequate call to action, but we feel that the impact would have been deeper with a more complex plot and characters.
Acting Quality (2 points)
While there are fairly good performances from most of the cast members, this is unfortunately not Andrew Cheney’s best performance. A lot of the child actors and actresses are good and make this section overall above average. Also, care is given to make this cast culturally authentic. In short, this is one of the movie’s strongest points.
Conclusion
Human trafficking, especially child trafficking, is a serious issue that must be spoken about in the context of film, especially Christian film. Non-profits like Bring Me Hope are no doubt leading the way in ending this horrible practice. We know that this was a first time around film for them and we applaud them for taking a step of faith and making this. Fourth World is a great start and is something to build off of. We look forward to whatever else they have planned for the future.
Final Rating: 5 out of 10 points
Full disclosure: We were provided by the creator with a copy of this film in exchange for a fair and honest review
Jason Stevens has inherited his grandfather’s massive fortune, but he has lost his way in life. He is successful at putting the money to good use helping others, but he seems to never have any time for his longtime girlfriend Alexia, who he does not realize has plans of her own. On top of this, Jason’s family is suing him for the family fortune. When he wakes up one day and suddenly finds Alexia has left the country, he doesn’t know what to do. Therefore, he goes to his old friend Hamilton, who produces the diary of Jason’s grandfather so Jason can learn from his grandfather’s mistakes before he repeats them.
Production Quality (.5 point)
The video quality is clear, but unfortunately, that’s all that can be said for the production of The Ultimate Life. The sound quality varies depending on the type of scene. The camera work is also very random—sometimes good and sometimes shaky. The sets and locations are pretty good and fairly historically accurate, but some of them are unprofessionally presented. Perhaps the worst part is the editing. It is already difficult enough to transpose a past plotline onto a present day plotline, but The Ultimate Life comes off as very choppy and hard to follow. The scenes are all over the place, sometimes depicting a vague World War II battle and sometimes depicting an awkward 1940s high school (the actors seem too old for high school though) dance. The bottom line is that where the resources were available to make this a successful movie, they were not utilized.
Plot and Storyline Quality (.5 point)
This plot is meant to be another book adaptation, but it is nothing like the book that bears the same name. However, there wasn’t really much to work with in the book anyway. In this film, the life of Red Stevens is displayed at breakneck speed, thus not allowing any time for character development. While this could have been a very interesting tale of success, decline, and corruption, the story sputters along like an old car. It seems like multiple different movie ideas were spliced together into one, since the story hops along through time, only hitting the highlights and those moments that can be easily connected to the first installment in the series. The dialogue is mindless, and thus, the characters are empty. The only good thing to highlight here is that this plot had potential—the story of Red Stevens is not necessarily a happy one, but it could have been used as an example of how to handle success and how to put family first. But beyond this, there is nothing to say except that it seems like, rather than actually craft a meaningful plot to showcase an interesting topic, the crew thought up a whole bunch of tongue in cheek references to the more successful Ultimate Gift and transposed it on a post-Depression era backdrop.
Acting Quality (.5 point)
The actors and actresses are given no help. Therefore, the line delivery is very forced and no emotional expression is authentic. It seems like this cast could have been better than they are in this film, but nothing materializes. As a side note, it is difficult to cast multiple actors for one character across a timespan, but The Ultimate Life handles this pretty well. But unfortunately, that is the only good thing to mention.
Conclusion
The Ultimate Gift was a great film, and it is understandable why a prequel was requested. There was a lot of good content that could have been covered. Red Stevens’ character arc could have been showcased. The Ultimate Life could have been a great film, but ‘could have’ is not a winning phrase. After the success of Gift, Life had no excuses to be so poor, but it did. This is unfortunate, and The Ultimate Life joins a long line of Christian films that could have been.
Jason Stevens has always had everything he ever wanted—at least everything that money could buy. Growing up in a successful oil dynasty, he has never seen anything but money, fakeness, and broken relationships. So when his patriarchal grandfather dies and the family gossip turns to who will get the largest share of the family fortune, Jason is uninterested and aimless in life. However, his world takes a unexpected turn when his father’s lawyer informs him that he is the one who is to inherit the largest portion of the fortune—if he can pass a series of seemingly eccentric tests designed to help Jason learn what is most important in life. As a result, Jason is forced to look at who he really is and what God really wants from him.
Production Quality (3 points)
The production crew of The Ultimate Gift showed true talent in this film. The camera work is excellent, including video quality and angles. The sets and locations are quite varied. The story is supposed to take place in at least two different countries, and this feat is pulled of well. The editing is great considering the fact that there is a lot of content in this film that could have cheesily been strung together. The series of gifts is not choppy and comes off naturally. In short, there are no production errors.
Plot and Storyline Quality (2.5 points)
As previously mentioned, it must have been hard to weave this type of content together into a clean plot line. Screenwriter Cheryl McKay actually improved Jim Stovall’s book in this adaptation, building on the characters and the storyline and making it more palatable. Dialogue is not forgotten in this miniature epic, even though it is concise. There are several interesting plot twists and things do not turn out as most inspirational plots would. Comedy and realistic drama are mixed well throughout. The only concerns to raise here are that some of the characters are slightly shallow and stereotypical. Otherwise, the plot content is very strong.
Acting Quality (3 points)
The Ultimate Gift cast is made up of mostly mainstream and professional actors, but they do the job well. They have obviously been coached well. Each one is appropriate in their roles and does the best with what they have. In short, there are once again no errors here.
Conclusion
While The Ultimate Gift is not a perfect film, it is certainly high on the list. It deals with a very unique topic in a very unique way. It would have been easy for the movie format to come off as amateurish, but this does not happen. One caveat is that there is not an explicit Christian message, but there are plenty of Christian values displayed. In short, this film is not only an enjoyable view, but it should also serve as a great example to anyone who wants to create an independent Christian film in the future.
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