Plot Summary
Jackson is a troubled teen with a terminal illness who just can’t seem to stay out of trouble. Ever since his father died, Jackson cannot find any direction in life. His mother is at a loss for what to do with him as he continually gets in trouble, so she sentences him to a troubled youth work program at a local church. Jackson balks at first but soon finds a mentor he desperately needs and begins to wrestle with what is truly important in life.
Production Quality (1.5 points)
Though this production is overall average, at the beginning, all production aspects are fairly cheap, almost like the introduction was a beta test. Video quality and camera work are inconsistent throughout but do improve by the end of the film. Audio quality is also poor at first and better later. The soundtrack is somewhat interesting, however. Sets, locations, and props are standard. Yet editing is quite poor as transitions are choppy and the general flow of the film lacks direction and clarity. In the end, it seems like more time could have been spent on this part of the movie, especially since the plot is so forgettable.
Plot and Storyline Quality (0 points)
Jackson’s Run (not to be confused with Jackson from Decision) follows a typical and formulaic troubled character plot with no real surprises or twists until the end, and even so, the main ‘twist’ is quite cheesy. There is really nothing creative to note here—characters are very one-dimensional and shallow due to uncreative and empty dialogue. A lot of meandering ideas are present in this incoherent storyline that never really come to fruition. It’s almost like the writers had to come up with a bunch of content to fill in the middle of the story because they just wanted to jump to the end. Writing the end first can be helpful, but writing a plot only for the sake of the end reduces your chances of the audience actually making it that far. Overall, Jackson’s Run seems like an incomplete idea that needed more fleshing out before going into production.
Acting Quality (1 point)
With ‘famous’ Christian actors Rusty Martins Sr. and Jr. and T.C. Stallings, it seems like it was assumed that this cast would be automatically good. There are some bright spots, but there are a lot of moments where the cast members appear to either be not trying or to be unsure of what they are doing. Sometimes it seems like they are phoning it in and they overall lack direction in the absence of proper coaching.
Conclusion
Jackson’s Run falls into the massive pile of low quality, forgettable Christian films that have no impact on anything whatsoever. Though there may be a good message in a lot of these films and they are ‘family-friendly’, they are not making a difference. Why are they not making a difference? Production is not what it should be, the plots are lacking creativity and development, and casting is underwhelming. What if all the money that was poured into these myriad forgettable films was pooled for a few truly dynamic movies? The entertainment world would be turned upside down.
Final Rating: 2.5 out of 10 points
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