Finding Faith [2013] (Movie Review)

Plot Summary

When Faith gets too close to a ‘boy’ she met online but never met in real life, she never imagined the trouble it would cause her.  In one fateful moment, the stalker behind the fake profile kidnaps her as Faith’s hometown descends into panic over the incident.  The local sheriff has a bone to pick with online stalkers, so he immerses himself into the case unlike any other.  What they find is a vast human trafficking scheme bigger than their small town.  Will they be able to find Faith before it’s too late?

 

Production Quality (1 point)

As an early production for Liberty University and team, the quality of Finding Faith isn’t really what it should be.  Video quality is okay, but camera work is randomly shaky.  Audio quality is also poor, even though the soundtrack is trying to be suspenseful.  Sets are okay, but locations and props are somewhat limited.  Editing is mostly average and still leaves something to be desired.  Overall, with many other people involved in this film, Liberty University took a step back with this production, and it’s hard to see how it was justified.

Plot and Storyline Quality (.5 point)

Full of heavy-handed narration from Erik Estrada, the messaging of this story is certainly not subtle.  Yet at the same time, it’s also full of dead air and wasted sequences.  It’s a shame too, because this is an interesting and different idea with a meaningful message that needs to be shared.  However, the characters are so empty due to bland and vanilla dialogue that it’s hard to relate to them as real people, only as cutouts playing a part.  There was so much that could have been done with this story—with better characters of course—but the writers only barely scratch the surface.  It’s unfortunate to see ideas like this one fall so short of the mark.

Acting Quality (1 point)

Though this is a relatively large cast, they lack adequate coaching.  The cast members post very stiff and blank performances, but then again, they didn’t have many lines to actually work with.  They also have their good moments, and it’s not all bad, but any cast that includes Erik Estrada is always dominated by his odd demeanors and personas.  In the end, this film as a whole is mostly a disappointment.

Conclusion

The Liberty University team and the JC Films team always had big ideas and ambitions that rarely follow through and meet the expectations that are set for them.  They have plenty of resources and connections, but little to no creative screenwriting.  It seems to be consistently difficult for them to portray real people on the big screen, so it might be time for them to invest in some better writing.  Only then will they make the difference they want to make.

 

Final Rating: 2.5 out of 10 points

 

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September 15, 2017January 5, 2019 by Box Office Revolutionary Categories: Drama, Movie Reviews, Mystery, SuspenseTags: 2.5 points, 2013, Alexander Films, Alexander McPherson, Anthony Clark, Auri Jones, Benjamin C. Smith, Bill Dewhurst, Brianna Powers, Caleb Hughes, Camryn Arthur, Christie Osterhus, Christina Day, Courtney S. Bunbury, Crystal Cowart, Dan D. Pelletier, Dean Haskins, Erik Estrada, Gabrielle Miller, Hannah Foster, Jacqueline Glick, James Bock, Jamie Cloutier, Jamie Watson, Jason Campbell, Jay Rebsamen, JC Films, Jessica Falwell, John Langston, Jonathan Phillips, Judie Pierce, Justin Forth, Lauren Paul, Liberty University, Madison Campbell Palmer, Marc A. Hutchins, Mike Brown, Mystery, Rebekah Cohen, Renee Ashcroft, Rob Pottorf, Robin Sundquist, Safe Surfin' Foundation, Sarah Hoback, Stephanie Owens, Suspense, Thomas Scott, Timothy E. Goodwin, Wesley Newman Leave a comment

Uncommon [2015] (Movie Review)

Plot Summary

When Aaron Chase’s brother dies in a school shooting, his family moves to a new area in the hopes of starting over.  He ends up going to Rosewood High School, whose arts department budgets have been slashed due to overall budget cuts.  The students in those departments are disappointed and seek to put on their own show.  Aaron gets involved and decides to stand up for the faith he has been hiding, even though an evil atheist teacher is trying to stop him at every turn.

 

Production Quality (2 points)

For what it’s worth, Liberty Counsel and JC Films made sure Uncommon looked good on the surface.  Video quality is clear and camera work is professional.  Audio quality also meets industry standards, although the soundtrack is bloated and full of cheesy songs.  Sets, locations, and props demonstrate that time was put into them.  Yet editing is quite poor, as there are far too many musical montages and filler scenes that appear to just be filling up the runtime rather than imparting real content.  Essentially, care was put into making this production look good, which is fine, but it’s just not enough when it comes to substance.

Plot and Storyline Quality (0 points)

As is to be expected, Liberty Counsel and JC Films construct a false reality where religious persecution is rampant in public schools—to a degree that is unrealistic and requires half-truths to be told—and which is full of heavy-handed propaganda messaging and narration to drive their points home.  Atheists are extremely offensive strawmen, while Christians are downtrodden and overly perfect.  Dialogue only forces the plot along, which is actually quite boring and melancholy when all is said and done.  There is an attempt to be complex and different with some of the plot elements, but it’s not enough to make up for the outright twisting of reality that has to be done to make this movie’s message work.  Basically, when all is said and done, Uncommon simply boils down to a sophisticated version of God’s Club.

Acting Quality (2 points)

Another interesting element to Uncommon is that time and care were also put into the casting and acting.  This is a semi-professional cast, yet they appear to be coached fairly well.  There are some awkward moments and unrealistic emotions, but on the whole, this is actually not that bad of a performance by this cast.  If only this truth could translate to other films.

Conclusion

Uncommon is an anomaly.  Usually movies that have small-minded plots like this one are terrible in all areas, yet time and care were spent on production and acting.  It proves that anything can be done if you put your mind to it.  Just think if this type of effort was put toward other movies that have better plots than this.  But in the end, Christians overall need to steer clear from these types of plots for like forever, unless they’re going to portray real persecution that happens anywhere except the Western world.  We need to change the mentality that ‘the atheists’ are always around the corner trying to snipe us and just live out our faith the way God wants us to.  Jesus didn’t constantly gripe at or sue the Pharisees or Romans for religious persecution, and He had plenty of His ‘rights’ violated.  God’s work can proceed whether or not you have your Bible club in a public school.  People need to know that Christians care, and with stuff like this being put out there, it’s really hard to see that Christian leaders care about anything except ‘getting back’ at atheists.

 

Final Rating: 4 out of 10 points

 

April 26, 2017January 9, 2019 by Box Office Revolutionary Categories: Inspirational, Movie ReviewsTags: 2015, 4 points, Adell Ehrhorn, Alisha Clark, Ben Davies, Bill Rahn, Carrie Brown, Casey Barton, Casey Jordan, Chris Lythgoe, Chuck Snyder, Courtney Buck, D.C. Bowden, David O'Brien, Dean Haskins, Don Brooks, Elaine Treadwell, Erik Estrada, Harry Grant, Inspirational, Irma P. Hall, Jacqueline Glick, Jason Campbell, Jason Crabb, JC Films, Jeff Hartman, Jessica Falwell, Josh Davies, Kaleb Lindevaldsen, Karl Lindevaldsen, Kelsey Brooks, Landon Booth, Lauren Butler, Liberty Counsel, Lindsley Register, Lucas Smissen, Lydia Hisey, Marilyn Ehrhorn, Mat Staver, propaganda, Rachel Blomquist, Rachel Castro, Rashael Jones, religious persecution, Rena Lindevaldsen, Ruth Snyder, Stacey Bradshaw, Stephanie Bettcher, Tom Arnold, Tri-Rahn Pictures, Tyler Frable, Vanessa Ore, Wesley Elder, Wesley Newman Leave a comment

Virtuous [2015] (Movie Review)

Plot Summary

After Simone Burner is attacked by the grandson of a powerful man, she is arrested for the grandson’s murder and mostly everybody in the city turns against her for no particular reason.  Therefore, she has to seek out the help of an estranged attorney who doesn’t really like her as her last resort.  Meanwhile, there are tons of others subplots are all going on at the same time as other random characters are briefly introduced who have very loose connections to the original point.  With so much going on, the question is not what will happen, but will anyone understand what is happening?

 

Production Quality (2 points)

Virtuous has a professional and adequate production, as evidenced by clear video quality, good camera work, acceptable audio quality, and an intriguing soundtrack.  Sets, locations, and props are professionally chosen and presented.  On the surface, it seems like Virtuous checked all the necessary boxes to receive a passing score.  However, the major detractor here is the horrific editing.  Somewhere in post-production, someone needed to sit down and have a serious talk with the JC Films team about whether or not it’s justified to have a 150 minute film that has next to no continuity.  This was the editor’s job; however, this was not done, and thus, it leaves a gaping hole in this film.

Plot and Storyline Quality (.5 point)

As previously mentioned, this perhaps the most convoluted and non-continuous plot in all of our viewing days.  With hundreds of subplots that have very little connection to one another, there is no way to make sense of what is going on as the story hops from one random thing to the next.  There’s all kinds of intrigue with this local judicial and law enforcement system and how corrupt businessmen are trying to control stuff, plus some stereotypical down-on-his-luck who takes on a seemingly impossible case that has some ties to a non-profit involving Erin Bethea, and this doesn’t even cover the random guy in the hospital and the nurse who takes care of him who also has a questionable position on the jury of the original trial.  This previous run-on sentence doesn’t even cover all the points Virtuous tries to expand on.  It’s like twelve different people all had ideas and decided to shove them all together into one bloated film.  With so much going on, there is no hope for character development as dialogue is stunted and all over the place.  The only characters that stand out are strawmen villains, unfortunately.  Yet despite all of this massive blending of concepts, there is a really interesting idea somewhere lost in the fray that would be better served in a miniseries format.  It’s disappointing to see good ideas go to such waste, especially when it’s like this.

Acting Quality (1.5 points)

With so many cast members, it’s really hard to keep up.  This is an unusually large cast for a Christian film, thus making the performances inconsistent and random.  Sometimes line delivery and emotional delivery are good, while other times they are not.  Overall, it comes out as fairly average.

Conclusion

When you’re in the process of making a film that is over two and a half hours and you actually have the budget to make a film this long, perhaps you need to stop and consider: with so much content, I should make this a series!  People love series: just look at the unexplainable success of When Calls the Heart.  Why not, instead of making a cumbersome film like this one, try something different and create an interesting genre-busting Christian series.  It would be a huge hit.  Yet once again, we are left wondering what could have been.

 

Final Rating: 4 out of 10 points

 

April 12, 2017January 9, 2019 by Box Office Revolutionary Categories: Drama, Inspirational, Movie Reviews, SuspenseTags: 2015, 4 points, A.J. Pulliam, Adam Drake, Alisha Montyo, Amber Fish, Angela Oberer, Angelita Nelson, Ben Davies, Benny Tate, Bill Rahn, Bonnie Johnson, Brandy Allison, Catherine Trail, Cedric Greenway, Chris Menard, Chuck Clark, Danny Agha, David Pharr, David Schifter, Dean Haskins, Deven Bromme, Don Brooks, Eliot Sloan, Erik Estrada, Erin Bethea, Inspirational, Jan Ivers, Jason Campbell, JC Films, Jeff Glover, Jennifer DeLoach, Jordyn Bingham, Kayli Maree Tolleson, Kelly Bowling, Kera O'Bryon, Legal, Melissa Barron, Missy McGuire, Mystery, Pam Jenkins, Rebecca Frussel, Rick Canino, Ricky Shepherd, Sam Redfern, Sandra Elise Williams, Suspense, Tara Lynn Marcelle, Ten Johnson, Tim Ross, Timothy E. Goodwin, Todd Maynard, Todd Maynor, Tri-Rahn Pictures, Trinity Broadcasting Network, Vanessa Ore Leave a comment