Plot Summary
Former pastor James Moore, who is running from his faith and his career, returns to his hometown to discover it the grounds of a dark mystery and closely held secrets that has put one crazy man in prison for arson. With nothing left to lose and nothing else to do, Moore decides to take it upon himself to solve the mysterious case that was too open and shut. As he looks at all the angles of the fire and the events of that night, Moore finds himself turning to God again as he rediscovers the faith he left behind.
Production Quality (2 points)
Corbin Bernsen and his teams have always been committed to high production quality. Rust is the earliest example of this commitment, as it sports great video quality, audio quality, and camera work. The soundtrack is also intriguing. Sets, locations, and props, for the most part, are professional. The only issues to point out here pertain to some choppy editing and some slightly poor lighting in some parts. But otherwise, this is a professional and model production.
Plot and Storyline Quality (1 point)
From the beginning of his foray into Christian film, which was this film, until now, Corbin Bernsen’s creative motivation has always been an enigma. What is he ever going for? Rust adopts the mysterious and semi-dark approach that was seen later in Beyond the Heavens. Neither film truly makes much sense or has any driving purpose behind it. Yet the mystery portion of Rust is intriguing and somewhat engaging. The characters, while a bit eccentric, are also interesting in their own way, sometimes due to unique and cryptic dialogue. Movies like this one always seem to be hiding something, like a private joke or secret, but they never let us in on the puzzle. At least the ending is slightly unexpected, even though it takes a somewhat predictable path to get there. If there were some more clarity in this plot, it could have been interesting and more highly rated, because there was a lot of potential here.
Acting Quality (2 points)
Much like the production of this film, the acting quality is professional and above average. For the most part, actors and actresses are cast appropriately, and their line delivery is on point. Sometimes emotions tend to be a bit forced, but they are good as a whole. There are also some other moments of underwhelming performances, but they are not enough to keep this section from being highly rated.
Conclusion
Corbin Bernsen always has a lot of potential in his films. He usually maintains high production and acting quality. However, he is also committed to plots that are seemingly purposely unusual. Rust is no exception to this trend, especially since it is his first Christian film. One can understand why ‘secular’ film makers want to dip into the Christian market, but we have never understood Bernsen’s odd approach to movie making, despite his quality productions. Yet perhaps we will never understand.
Final Rating: 5 out of 10 points
Box Office Revolution 