Break Every Chain (Movie Review)

Plot Summary

Jonathan Hickory lost his dad at an early age, so he tried to fill the void by becoming a cop. Jonathan was successful and soon settled into a simple life with his family. However, after developing and subsequently hiding PTSD as a result of his police work, Jonathan enters a downward spiral of substance abuse to cope with the pain. Will Jonathan find his way back before his family is destroyed?

Production Quality (2 points)

Break Every Chain is surprisingly one of the best productions ever crafted by the JC Films team. This includes good video and audio quality as well as an effective soundtrack. Despite some wild action camera work, the sets, locations, and props are professional. For the most part, editing is acceptable except for some lagging scenes. Nonetheless, this section is overall above average.

Plot and Storyline Quality (1 point)

Based on a true story and possessing no writing credits from Jason Campbell, Break Every Chain is an excellent look at how police officers are surrounded and affected by trauma every day without being properly prepared or supported. However, the protagonist’s trauma progression is a bit quick, sped up by time jumps as voiceover attempts to bridge these jumps in the timeline. Nonetheless, the writers did a great job with portraying how police officers are expected to push down all their inner turmoil, which can lead to substance abuse and other vices. To capture these concepts, the writers used artistic psychological scenes that are good but tend to isolate the viewer with an ethereal quality that lacks balance. Also, there is a lot of gloom and doom in this narrative without much positive, which is only compounded by a “wise” Christian character who is essentially sarcastic and condemning in the face of the protagonist, who’s struggling with trauma. These matters are not aided by the somewhat simplistic view of psychology that the writers possess. While dialogue is mostly effective at building characters, the extensive timeline stunts realistic character growth, leading to a somewhat empty and forced conclusion. However, there are enough strong points in this plot to justify a meager rating.

Acting Quality (2 points)

As a whole, the acting in this film is mostly average. At times, the performances are somewhat stilted and overly practiced. Emotions are inconsistent in some instances. Some cast members are more genuine than others, and the lead actor is a standout. throughout the screenplay, the acting improves with time, leading to an above-par score for this aspect of the movie.

Conclusion

In a stunning turn of events, the JC Films team actually produced a mostly acceptable film. It can’t be a coincidence that Jason Campbell had no hand in writing or directing Break Every Chain. Basing the screenplay off of a true story was a good way to present a mostly realistic narrative. Demonstrating the cause-and-effect relationship between police trauma and PTSD is an important conversation to have in the context of Christian entertainment. However, a number of issues held this movie back from being all that it could have been. As a result, Break Every Chain is yet another example of why it’s important to focus on quality over quantity.

Final Rating: 5 out of 10 points

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November 13, 2021November 14, 2021 by Box Office Revolutionary Categories: Drama, Inspirational, Movie Reviews, SuspenseTags: 2021, Beck Rosser, Becky Rosser, Brayden Lacer, Collins Randolph, Daniel Fajardo, Dean Cain, Deborah Thompson, Dennis P. Marburger, Don Brooks, Drama, Ignacyo Matynia, Inspirational, Jason Campbell, Jeremiah Clark, Jonathan Hickory, Joseph Moreland, Krystian Leonard, Lindsey Palmer, Sterling Morse Jr., Suspense, Tim Searfoss 4 Comments

The Man Who Went to Heaven (Movie Review)

Plot Summary

When David Burrows is fatally shot in the line of duty as a security guard, he is rushed to the hospital but medically dies. However, David comes back from the other side with a wild story to tell. Will anyone believe his experiences in the afterlife?

Production Quality (1 point)

This film contains another sub-pair production due to shaky camera work and inconsistent audio quality that includes loud sound effects and background sounds as well as a stupid free soundtrack. There are also some very tight shots and terrible special effects. Nonetheless, this section is kept from being worse by fine video quality and acceptable sets, props, and locations. Thus, a meager score is awarded here.

Plot and Storyline Quality (0 points)

In a generally off-the-wall storytelling style, this narrative is full of mindless sequences that don’t accomplish anything. The writers managed to squeeze content out of nothing and filled the runtime with total nonsense as the plot jumps all over the place. Thus, it’s very difficult to keep up with the timelines. Dialogue is ridiculous obvious, and the overt message-pushing produces blank characters. There are also too many characters in general. There is no focus or purpose in this story, and there is a bizarre tone that overshadows everything. In the end, with no notable potential, zero points is the appropriate rating for this aspect of the film.

Acting Quality (1.5 points)

Surprisingly, the acting of The Man Who Went to Heaven is not horrible. However, this doesn’t mean that the performances are any more than generic and average. Line delivery and emotions are okay but not dynamic. Therefore, an average scored is awarded here.

Conclusion

At this point, it’s painfully clear that the JC Films team will continue to pump out random screenplays however they can. It’s commendable to base movies on source material, but the JC Films model just isn’t the way. Thus, there’s nothing further to say here as constructive criticism has no effect on this team’s choices.

Final Rating: 2.5 out of 10 points

September 7, 2021 by Box Office Revolutionary Categories: Drama, Inspirational, Movie Reviews, PsychologicalTags: 2.5 points, 2021, Alexandra Wodnicki, Barbara Zablocky, Beck Rosser, Becky Rosser, Bobby Lacer, Charlie Brown, Dean Cain, Dennis P. Marburger, Drama, Erica Grimm, Gary Lee Vincent, Greg Cottrell, Harvey Roberts, Inspirational, Jason Campbell, JC Films, Joseph Moreland, Katherine Elise Shaw, Krystian Leonard, Larry Orton, Maddox Mudrick, Michael Sigler, Nicholas Miller, Psychological, Tim Ross, Timothy Perez-Ross, Tommy Anderson, Tommy Olszewski, Wesley Benson Leave a comment

One Life at a Time (Movie Review)

Plot Summary

When a troubled teen is forced to work at a homeless shelter to atone for his misgivings, he doesn’t care about the people at all at first. However, he slowly begins to change as he spends more time around the people at the shelter. Will he change before it’s too late?

Production Quality (.5 point)

This production is fairly low quality due to loud background sounds, echoes, and a generic soundtrack that drown out other audio. Light and camera work are inconsistent, and special effects are bad. Acceptable sets, locations, props, and video keep this section from receiving no points. However, editing is choppy, thus rounding out a poor effort.

Plot and Storyline Quality (0 points)

One Life at a Time contains one of the stupidest ever portrayals of ‘bad kids,’ which are strawmen. It feels like the writers were very tone deaf and didn’t understand how the real world works, especially when it comes to unrealistic legal proceedings, perfect Christian characters, and young people using social media. In general, all the characters are empty due to mindless and robotic dialogue, and there’s no reason why some of them hate homeless people so much. After weird psychological sequences give way to very steep character arcs as people are fixed too easily. In the end, with no potential, this section receives no points.

Acting Quality (.5 point)

As a whole, the acting in this film lacks conviction. Many cast members don’t really seem to care about what they’re doing. Line delivery and emotions are bland and vanilla. Some scenes contain acting that it a bit too extreme. However, there is a tiny amount of improvement with time, which is enough to keep this aspect of the screenplay from being zero points.

Conclusion

Once again, the JC Films team has demonstrated that they care more about dumping more and more Christian movies onto the market than actually creating quality projects. These creators don’t care about heeding advice and will continue to do what they want at the expense of the reputation of Christian media.

Final Rating: 1 out of 10 points

September 2, 2021 by Box Office Revolutionary Categories: Drama, Inspirational, Movie ReviewsTags: 1 point, 2020, Burke Sage, Dean Cain, Dennis Van Kampen, Drama, Emily Buckner, Gary E. Mitchell, Ian Van Houten, Inspirational, Jason Campbell, Jay J. Bidwell, Jimmie Chiappelli, Julian Newman, Julianne Howe-Bouwens, Keith Seccombe, Luke Schroder, Michael Davis Arnold, Michael James Alexander, Nathan Harris, Rose Anne Nepa, Ryan Fisher, Serena Chiappelli, Sherryl Despres, Steve Ostrander, Tommy Olszewski, Xander Castillo Leave a comment

Coronavirus: Perfect Storm (Movie Review)

Plot Summary

When a seeming miracles happens during a tornado in West Virginia, a New York reporter is compelled to brave the COVID-19 pandemic to get the scoop. However, what he finds there isn’t what he expected. The reporter will have to come face-to-face with what he truly believes about the afterlife.

Production Quality (0 points)

Between awful special effects and terrible audio quality, this production is a drag on the viewing experience. Loud background sounds, echoes, and annoying special effects are also problematic. Shaky camera work and tight shots are disorienting, and the lighting and video quality are inconsistent. Further, choppy editing ruins things, so all of these factors contribute to a score of zero for this section.

Plot and Storyline Quality (0 points)

This nonsensical narrative is very trippy and confusing to the audience. The subplots are pointless and empty due to mindless dialogue and meandering conversations. Cardboard-cutout characters are impossible to connect with, and these characters are tossed along in a bizarre story-within-a-story twist that is very mind-bending and generally weird. Wacky afterlife theology is also laced throughout this strange tale. In general, this section contains a lot of outlandish content that contains no potential and thus yields no points.

Acting Quality (1 point)

To top everything else off, the acting in Coronavirus: Perfect Storm is uninspiring. However, the performances are not all bad as they are more vanilla than terrible. There is nothing majorly positive nor negative in this section whether it relates to emotions or line delivery. Thus, with just one point, this aspect of the film is the highest rated.

Conclusion

The JC Films team has also proven that they are willing to make a screenplay about anything in an attempt to harvest quick cash with little upfront investment. This movie is no exception to this tendency. Thus, with no end in sight to this nonsense, there’s little else to say here.

Final Rating: 1 out of 10 points

September 1, 2021 by Box Office Revolutionary Categories: Drama, Movie Reviews, Psychological, SuspenseTags: 1 point, 2020, Beck Rosser, Bobby Lacer, Brayden Lacer, Drama, Eileen Lacer, Gary Lee Vincent, Greg Mason, Harvey Roberts, Jason Campbell, Joshua Reinhart, Kimberli Rowley, Nicholas Miller, Psychological, Suspense, Terry Kennedy, Tim Ross, Timothy Perez-Ross Leave a comment

Don’t Give Up [2021] (Movie Review)

Plot Summary

Amy Samuel is drowning in depression due to everything that’s happened to her in life. She just wants to give up and leave her life behind. However, a set of circumstances prevents her from ending it all. As a result, Amy is forced to face her past in order to pick up the pieces and move on.

Production Quality (1 point)

Despite this production having fine video quality and okay camera work, there are a number of concerns to contend with. For instance, the audio is quite bad, including background echoes and a loud soundtrack. Special effects are very cheap. Also, sets, locations, and props are a bit limited. Further, editing is quite choppy. Thus, these missteps all lead to another below-average production for JC Films.

Plot and Storyline Quality (.5 point)

Although the narrative is based on a true story, Don’t Give Up is a train-wreck of a film. Voiceover bridges time gaps and guides the viewer through the plot in a very heavy-handed manner. Sensationalism crowds out interesting psychological elements that provide the story with a small amount of potential. Some content is unnecessarily edgy, and expository dialogue short-circuits the sliver of potential that the characters had. Implied off-screen content makes for a confusing watch, and too many elements are unexplained as it seems like that the writers expected the audience to read a lot into various things. The time jumps create vacuums of information and a general atmosphere of random ideas being strung together with no clear focus or purpose. The flashbacks are slightly interesting since they make attempts to establish character motives, but the protagonist is fixed way too easily. It’s implied that getting saved will automatically fix clinical depression, and the story has a generally rushed conclusion. Therefore, though there is some potential in this section, only a small score can be awarded.

Acting Quality (1.5 points)

As a whole, the acting in this screenplay is average despite the fact that the performances are just average. Some cast members are way too dramatic in their acting, but they are balanced out by other cast members who are more even-keeled. Line deliver is mostly okay throughout the movie although some emotions are forced. While better coaching was definitely in order here, the performances overall improve with time. However, this section’s rating isn’t enough to save the movie from itself.

Conclusion

It’s commendable that Jason Campbell and his team continue to make films that are based on true stories. However, their flooding-the-market approach is still a detriment to Christian entertainment. Other production companies have tried this method in the past but have ultimately failed. At this rate, it’s hard to see how JC Films doesn’t end up with the same fate.

Final Rating: 3 out of 10 points

June 22, 2021 by Box Office Revolutionary Categories: Drama, Movie Reviews, PsychologicalTags: 2021, 3 points, Amy Samuel, Beck Rosser, Bobby Lacer, Brayden Lacer, Dean Cain, Denise C. Myers, Dennis P. Marburger, Donna Elsey, Dorian Cleavenger, Drama, Eileen Lacer, Gary Lee Vincent, Jason Campbell, JC Films, Kathy Patterson, Larry Orton, Psychological, Sarai Koo, Tim Ross, Timothy Perez-Ross, Timothy Ross Leave a comment

Dispatched [2020] (Movie Review)

Plot Summary

Carl Thomas is an embattled police officer being questioned about his past actions. Thus, Carl relates why he made the choices that he did and how he’s now a different man. Will his interrogators believe his story before it’s too late?

Production Quality (.5 point)

Unfortunately, the past production transgressions of JC Films have not been atoned for. Dispatched has all the same problems of past films created by this team, such as loud background sounds and echoes, not to mention the generally grainy audio quality. Despite moments of a surprisingly good soundtrack, many aspects of the score don’t always fit the mood of the scenes. Elsewhere, lighting is inconsistent, and camera work is incredibly random, including weird angles. Video quality is acceptable, but editing is quite choppy. Thus, with a tiny amount of potential, this section receives a small score.

Plot and Storyline Quality (.5 point)

One of the main strength areas of Dispatched is its shockingly honest portrayal of the complexity behind police problems. In this endeavor, authentic flashbacks are used to build character motive and personality. However, it all goes downhill from there as convenient and random things happen when the writers need them to occur. Similarly, obvious dialogue steers the plot in the direction that the creators want it to go rather than letting events develop naturally. The interesting exploration of the protagonist’s backstory is overshadowed by the contrived nature of the narrative. Part of this trumped-up premise is the assumption that one spiritual experience will magically make someone the most perfect Christian who ever lived. These steep character arcs are impossible to relate to, and these concerns make for very cheap messaging. Christian platitudes are used in place of meaningful lessons, thus leading to an empty conclusion. Therefore, with only a small dose of potential, this section is awarded a meager rating.

Acting Quality (1.5 points)

Although the acting of this screenplay leaves much to be desired, it’s still the strongest aspect of the movie. Emotions are forceful, such as cast members trying too hard to be angry. Line delivery often lacks conviction and natural register. However, the acting generally improves with time to the point where an average score is warranted.

Conclusion

When will the JC Films team ever learn? The last thing that the Christian entertainment field needs is more quantity to full up our streaming services and further turn people off to the genre. Just imagine if the budgets and efforts for each individual film were bundled together into one or two screenplays. Less is always more, so one day, we’ll hopefully see this play out in Christian entertainment.

Final Rating: 2.5 out of 10 points

May 6, 2021 by Box Office Revolutionary Categories: Drama, Inspirational, Movie ReviewsTags: 2.5 points, Barbara Zablocky, Barry Michael Dailey, Beck Rosser, Bobby Lacer, Brayden Lacer, Burning Bulb Publishing, Chase Crawford, Dean Cain, Dennis P. Marburger, Derek Hess, Drama, Erica Cottrill, Gabby Christie, Gary Lee Vincent, Greg Black, Greg Mason, Inspirational, Jason Campbell, Jason Gerrard, JC Films, Jeff Moore, Jeremy Ambler, JoAnn F. Peterson, Joe Sutton, Julie Perine, Karlye Jonah, Katherine Elise Shaw, Kathy Patterson, Kathy Sanders, Kenny Clemons, Krystian Leonard, Maizze Christie, Marcus Gogas, Michael Ochotorena, Michael Sigler, Richard Zane, Richie Acevedo, Suzanne R. Neff, Timothy E. Goodwin, Xander Hayes Leave a comment

The Man Who Went to Heaven (status unknown)

Status currently unknown

Writer(s): Gregory Cottrell, Jason Campbell

Director(s): Jason Campbell

Producer(s): Jason Campbell

Cast: Dean Cain

Plot summary: Following an automobile accident in which his wife was killed, Dr. David Burrows is called to heaven to fight in spiritual warfare against Satan and his demons to win back his wife’s lost soul. He must learn to fly, put on spiritual armor and fight in hand-to-hand combat against Satan’s army. Along the way, he must learn who he can trust, how to forgive and how to have complete faith in himself and God.

Our immediate reaction

May 11, 2020January 27, 2021 by amg16 Categories: Upcoming Movies and SeriesTags: Dean Cain, Gregory Cottrell, Jason Campbell, JC Films, The Man Who Went to Heaven, Upcoming Movies and Series 1 Comment

Don’t Give Up (status unknown)

Status currently unknown

Writer(s): Amy Samuel, Jason Campbell

Director(s): Jason Campbell

Producer(s): Jason Campbell

Cast: Amy Samuel, Dean Cain, more TBA

Plot summary: A movie about a woman named Amy Samuel who battled depression. Based on her book by the same name.

May 7, 2020January 27, 2021 by amg16 Categories: Upcoming Movies and SeriesTags: Amy Samuel, Dean Cain, Don't Give Up, Jason Campbell, JC Films, Upcoming Movies and Series 1 Comment

The Cabin [2019] (Movie Review)

Plot Summary

Roy, a former pastor, has decided to go out to a secluded cabin in the woods to determine whether or not the spiritual realm exists. He’s determined to lock himself in until something spiritual manifests, which attracts the undue attention of various supernatural forces, both good and evil. In the end, Roy will have to battle for his soul, using homemade armor, against poorly animated demons!

Production Quality (.5 point)

Although the video quality of The Cabin is fine, this is the only positive production element. The camera work is very shaky, including some really wacky camera angles, and the audio leaves something to be desired due to its background sounds, constant generic soundtrack, and weird sound effects. Also, the sets, props, and locations are quite cheap, and it goes without saying that the special effects are terrible. Elsewhere, the flashbacks are unnecessarily black and white, and editing is sub-par. Essentially, this is an unacceptably bad production, but it’s not even the worst of what this awful film has to offer.

Plot and Storyline Quality (-3 points)

Although The Cabin‘s plot begins with boring sequences of activities of daily living and vanilla dialogue that produces cardboard characters, things quickly become much more outrageous. Through a combination of stupid jump scares, blank scenes where basically nothing happens, cheesy found footage sequences, and drug trip montages that are nearly impossible to quantify, this film successfully finds its way all the way down to the bottom of the barrel. Besides the forced drama that has no logical lead-up, the narrative is so vague that it’s barely even a story and completely lacks purpose. However, this doesn’t even though the fact that many of the plot points lack realistic support and that the spiritual elements of the story are either portrayed in juvenile ways or through very bizarre methods that cause the viewer to question whether or not the screenwriters actually comprehended the serious subject matter they wrote about. Basically, the movie’s second half is utter nonsense and full of over-the-top sensationalism such that it makes a laughingstock of otherwise important spiritual topics. It’s incredibly difficult to include all of the complete madness that’s contained within this one screenplay without asking the audience to see for themselves, but that would be a total waste of their time.

Acting Quality (1.5 points)

Despite other glaring problems in The Cabin, the acting is actually quite average, considering the fact that there’s not much for the cast members to work with. Not many lines are demanded of them due to the abysmal writing, but many of the performances contain forced emotions. Nonetheless, this section isn’t all bad, but it’s not enough to salve the utter disaster that is this film.

Conclusion

The Cabin puts the proverbial icing on the bad cake that JC Films made in 2019. Flooding the market with tons of sub-par movies is never the way to go, as we’ve previously stated. Doing such will inevitably lead to horrific disasters like this one that further tarnish the reputation of Christian entertainment. All that can really be learned from train wrecks like this are how not to do it and how important it is to continually produce more quality creations in the future.

Final Rating: -1 out of 10 points

April 8, 2020 by Box Office Revolutionary Categories: Drama, Horror, Movie Reviews, PsychologicalTags: 2019, Abby Suder, BMC Productions, Burning Bulb Publishing, Deven Bromme, Dorian Cleavenger, Drama, Enrico Ravenna, Horror, J.W. Myers, Jason Campbell, JC Films, Jenni Ivers, Michael Sigler, negative points, Psychological, Ronda Suder, Timothy E. Goodwin, Timothy Goodwin 1 Comment

John Light [2019] (Movie Review)

Plot Summary

John Light is a prisoner nearing the end of his sentence, and he’s paired with Matt Garrett as a part of a prison ministry mentor program. Though Matt is ambivalent about the experience at first, he quickly becomes friends with John, who has no one else in life who cares about him. Thus, when John is released, Matt is there to help the ex-con get back on his feet. However, John has to face some dark elements of his past in order to move forward with his life.

Production Quality (1.5 points)

In the beginning, the production of John Light is as poor as those from other JC Films offerings. One example of this is inconsistent audio quality, including some background echoes and noises as well as a generic soundtrack that never stops playing. Also, some scenes obviously begin right after the camera starts rolling rather than already being in motion. However, on the bright side, sets, locations, and props are all acceptable, and video quality and camera work are both fine. While the editing is basically average, the good thing is that all production areas show concerted improvement as the film goes on, which is enough to warrant an even score.

Plot and Storyline Quality (1 point)

From the get-go, John Light is one of the most noteworthy ideas put forward by the JC Films team, probably because it’s based on true events. However, in the beginning, the characters are a bit blank due to some rushed conversations and some unsubstantial dialogue that fails to properly develop them. This makes it difficult to grasp the overall flow of the plot as the narrative tends to meander without clear themes to guide it. In the first half of the movie, it feels like a bunch of random scenes were strung together, but somewhere in the middle, things suddenly take a turn for the better. While the central purpose is still unclear, there are some realistic attempts at family systems issues and some considerably adequate conversations that make the characters a bit better throughout the storyline’s second half. There is some slight focus on the latter parts of the film, and the characters become more accessible, but the plot’s beginning causes the entire experience to be disjointed. Nonetheless, there are enough noteworthy concepts explored after the midpoint of John Light for it to warrant a modest score.

Acting Quality (2 points)

Although some of the acting is a bit forced at first, including some unnatural line and emotional delivery, like other elements of this movie, these problems do improve with time. Throughout the screenplay, some cast members are better than others, but they all show good effort by the time it’s over. Also, the culturally diverse cast is commendable, so this rounds out a mostly average film effort.

Conclusion

John Light really does deserve a remake since it contains such an interesting true story. In reality, the JC Films team should have nixed all of the other movies they had planned for 2019 and instead put all their eggs in one basket for John Light. In doing so, it’s highly possible that it would have had enough funding (and maybe expanded collaboration) to propel John Light to the Hall of Fame. Unfortunately, however, we’ll never know what could have been, yet it’s still an excellent lesson for all Christian entertainment creators: don’t rush to make more films just for the sake of making them; wait to make a quality offering that God actually wants you to make.

Final Rating: 4.5 out of 10 points

March 31, 2020March 31, 2020 by Box Office Revolutionary Categories: Drama, Inspirational, Movie ReviewsTags: 2019, 4.5 points, Adam Voyles, Angela Faith Jacobsen, Bella Bradley, Burning Bulb Publishing, Christopher Horak, Dan Weisgerber, David Welty, Dean Cain, Drama, Drew Langhart, Gary Lee Vincent, Gethsemani Rivera, Inspirational, Jason Campbell, Jason McCrite, JC Films, Jessica Whitman, Jimmy Rodriguez, Justin Wade Wilson, Lee Bradley, Manny Pesqueira Jr., Mathew David Torres, Michael Ochotorena, Michael Sigler, Mirza Nijemcevic, Peter Kraslawsky, Phuong Kubacki, Rachel Klugh, Sandy Kim, Stephanie Bradley, Stephen Kessen, Timothy E. Goodwin, Timothy Goodwin, Tina Marie Nigro, Vic Rogers 4 Comments

Jack Jonah (Movie Review)

Plot Summary

Each family member of Jack Jonah dealt in different ways with the teenager’s untimely death to opioid overdose. Kirk Jonah, his father, launched himself into a non-profit designed to provide anti-drug education to whomever will listen. Both of Jack’s parents believe they can still communicate with the dead boy, and this drives them in their efforts to save other lives from deadly overdoses. However, all of those close to Jack must ultimately come to the point where they trust that good can come out of tragedy.

Production Quality (.5 point)

While the video quality of Jack Jonah is acceptable, the camera work is often quite shaky, and the audio quality is quite poor, including loud background sounds, painfully obvious overdubs, some bouts of over driven audio, and a cheesy never-ending soundtrack that tries to cover up these problems. Additionally, lighting is inconsistent in both the outdoor locations and the indoor sets. Further, the special effects that are used are quite bad, and the editing is marred by abrupt cuts and transitions, which tops off an unacceptable level of production quality that should never be approved in the current entertainment field.

Plot and Storyline Quality (-2.5 points)

There are a myriad of problems with this film’s plot, beginning with its heavy-handed message pushing, which is joined by endless, meandering conversations that are full of forced information-dump dialogue. This causes the characters to be cardboard cutouts who represent issues rather than real people. Also, the choppy story presentation makes the passage of time seem unclear to the viewer, especially since there are many random characters and spider-webbing subplots that only have loose connections with each other. Besides the fact that many of the scenes are blankly vague and hard to understand, the plot becomes more and more bizarre as it progresses due to its weird exploration of other dimensions wherein people who have passed away can come back and talk to those who are still alive. What begins as a typically vanilla story quickly becomes a wacky drug trip into the strange, and it’s laced with an unusual air of mystery that’s not well-explained. Then, the narrative suddenly ends with little to no purpose or clear message to offer to the audience. For all of these reasons, this section receives a negative score, which drags the overall movie below water.

Acting Quality (1 point)

To cap off the other issues in Jack Jonah, its acting leaves much to be desired since most of it is robotic and stilted. Emotions are difficult to believe, and line delivery is mostly vanilla. While some cast members are somewhat average in their performances, others are simply too poor to warrant any higher score than this.

Conclusion

In their race to make as many films as possible in 2019, the JC Films team produced indefensible projects like this one. This is unfortunately yet another example of why quantity over quality is never the way to go in Christian entertainment. Additionally, this may be the only lesson future creators can learn from Jack Jonah: how not to go about it.

Final Rating: -1 out of 10 points

March 27, 2020 by Box Office Revolutionary Categories: Drama, Inspirational, Movie Reviews, PsychologicalTags: 2019, Arissa Page, Braxton Michael, Burning Bulb Publishing, Caitlyn Vieira, Carina Savoie, Carole Ibsen, Cecilia Calabrese, Christopher Demerski, Cindy Mennard, Clay Hampton, Courtney Caruso, Dawn Matthews, Dean Cain, Debbie Jonah, Dorian Cleavenger, Drama, Frank Hoyle, Gary Lee Vincent, Inspirational, Jason Campbell, JC Films, Jeff Moore, Jenny Wall, Jesse Rojas, JoAnn F. Peterson, John A. Fagerquist, Jonah Robinson, Karlye Jonah, Kate Hebert, Kathy Patterson, Kathy Sanders, Kaylee Armitage, Ken Hebert, Kirk Jonah, Lexi Bradley, Maya Soley, Michael Jonah, Michael Sigler, Michael William Tourville, negative points, Nicole McDonald, Pete Lantaigne, Psychological, Rachel Lamarre, Ranesha Webb, Robert Lawlor, Robyn Lee, Sherie Jonah, Tammy Jonah, Terese Bisignano, Zoe Gandolfo 4 Comments

The Follower [2018] (Movie Review)

Plot Summary

Elisha just wanted to get to Pittsburgh on time, and he never intended to cross paths with an eccentric character named Elijah. Elisha reluctantly decides to aid Elijah’s hitch-hiking, but he immediately regrets the choice as Elijah continually delays Elisha’s plans and hampers his progress. Thus, Elisha keeps trying to get Elijah off of his back. However, little do either of them know that they are about to both learn something valuable that will stay with them for the rest of their lives.

Production Quality (.5 point)

The cheapness of The Follower‘s production is very evident from start to finish. There are loud background noises and a generic soundtrack that tend to cover up other audio, and video quality is inconsistent throughout. The camera work is randomly shaky at times, and there are some obvious overdubbed lines in some portions. In other parts, cheesy sound effects are inserted on top of the video, and there some instances of weird camera angles. Further, the sets, locations, and props are cheap-looking, and the editing has a handful of glaringly obvious cuts. Thus, while there are some slightly positive moments in this production, it’s overall quite negative, which warrants the low score.

Plot and Storyline Quality (0 points)

It’s unclear whether or not The Follower is supposed to be another modern-day Bible application, but character names like Elijah and Elisha make things very confusing. Besides this, the dialogue is full of corny attempts at comedy, and the cheesy conversations mainly waste time. This causes the middle of the film to be very aimless since it’s appearing to just kill time until the ending, but the storyline actually makes less and less sense as it progresses. The more some hidden purpose is kicked down the road, the more the narrative seems to get lost in its own mind. The story pretends to conceal some great secret, yet the whole concept is too vague to be grasped and only leads to a hollow conclusion. In the end, while there may have been some interesting ideas here, it’s all too rushed and slapped together to make any sense.

Acting Quality (1 point)

Surprisingly, the acting is actually the strongest point of The Follower as Goodwin and Sigler post their best performances to date. They seem very comfortable with their character roles and demonstrate niche talents. Even still, the few cast members that there are seem to be trying way too hard to be funny, and many emotions are quite forced. Line delivery is also uneven, and the acting overall gets worse as it goes even though it started out semi-okay. Therefore, this rounds out a very underwhelming effort.

Conclusion

In the end, The Follower is yet another example of how quantity over quality hurts the Christian entertainment world. Trying to cram more than two movies into one year is very difficult to pull off without sacrificing essentially positive elements. While we do need more Christian movies and series being made each year, we need more Christian entertainment that is not sub-standard and is capable of truly making a difference. Thus, it would be better to have fewer annual releases until the industry is able to consistently produce quality content.

Final Rating: 1.5 out of 10 points

January 8, 2020January 8, 2020 by Box Office Revolutionary Categories: Comedy, Drama, Inspirational, Movie ReviewsTags: 1.5 points, 2018, Comedy, Dean Cain, Drama, Gary Lee Vincent, Inspirational, J.W. Myers, Jason Campbell, JC Films, Michael Sigler, Richard Yocke, Robert Stark, Ryan Crossey, Stuart Stark, Timothy E. Goodwin, Timothy Goodwin, Veronica Rogers, Victoria Gates, Zoe Scarborough Leave a comment

A Child of the King (Movie Review)

Plot Summary

Dr. Wesley King and his late wife were called to the jungles of South America to aid the needy and those who were considered to be hopeless. However, after his wife died, Wesley became lonely in his mission. In the states, a woman named Donna began following Wesley’s story via the letters he sent back to his home church. Then, Donna feels called to join Wesley in his overseas mission field, and God brings them together to minister to the least of those in South America.

Production Quality (0 points)

Unfortunately, there are virtually no good aspects to this production as the audio quality is poor, including echoes in the background, a random soundtrack that sometimes interrupts lines, and some invasive outside noises. Similarly, the video quality is not quite what it should be, and there is some very poor lighting throughout the cheap sets and locations. Props also leave something to be desired, and the camera work is inconsistent at best. To top things off, the special effects used therein are very bad, and the editing is extremely choppy as some scenes drag on while others awkwardly or abruptly end. In the end, any small positives in this production are outweighed by the very obvious negatives.

Plot and Storyline Quality (0 points)

From beginning to end, the storyline of A Child of the King is very hard to follow since it’s filled with blank conversations between characters and lacks an overall focus or purpose. The stiff and awkward dialogue between characters makes it very difficult to relate to them as people, and the main character is basically perfect. The plot essentially meanders around without the viewer being able to easily follow its progression, and it’s really nothing more than an informational video or mock docu-drama about overseas missions. While there may be some good ideas lost in here somewhere, people who can relate these concepts to the real world are needed to bring them to life. Further, the narrative just randomly ends in an unexpected place without any warning or resolution because that would require something to resolve in the first place.

Acting Quality (1.5 points)

Surprisingly, the acting of A Child of the King is its strongest point even though it’s mostly pedestrian, generic, and boring. There’s neither anything special nor horrible about the cast members’ performances, despite the fact that they have little content to work with. One bright spot is that the cast, for the most part, is culturally accurate with real accents and dialects, which is unexpected based on the remainder of the movie. Nonetheless, this average section isn’t enough to save this failed effort from itself.

Conclusion

An international film should very rarely be made in conjunction with other projects due to the time and financial freedom it requires. However, 2019 was an indicator of how committed the JC Films team was to producing as much content as they possibly could. The result of this is even more low quality Christian films to crowd out the market. Hopefully, however, the tides are still turning since Christian audiences want and deserve better than half-baked ideas.

Final Rating: 1.5 out of 10 points

January 2, 2020January 3, 2020 by Box Office Revolutionary Categories: Drama, Inspirational, International, Movie Reviews, RomanceTags: 1.5 points, 2019, Amber Lee Vincent, Daniel Brooks, Dean Cain, Dennis P. Marburger, Drama, Gary Lee Vincent, Heather Mudrick, Inspirational, International, Jason Campbell, Jason Cantoni, JC Films, Jeff Moore, JoAnn F. Peterson, Katherine Elise Shaw, Kathy Patterson, Kathy Sanders, Kevin Winn, Luke Hansen, Mel Rivera, Michael Sigler, Phillip Penza, Phuong Kubacki, Romance Leave a comment

A Promise to Astrid (Movie Review)

Plot Summary

Astrid Nicosia lived in a small town and tries to do good to each person she comes in contact with. She freely gave the little money that she had to those who needed it. She also wanted to walk closely with the Lord and to make a difference with what time she had left. Those who were touched by her kindness and generosity made a promise to return her favors either to her or to other people who were also in need.

Production Quality (1 point)

As a 2019 production, A Promise to Astrid has no excuse to be as bad as it is. While the video quality and the camera work are okay, the audio quality throughout the film is quite bad, including loud background sounds, echoes inside of the sets, and an invasive soundtrack that sometimes interrupts dialogue and others times causes confusion since it doesn’t fit the mood of the scenes. In addition, the sets, props, and locations are quite cheap, and there are some obvious continuity errors between scenes. There are also other editing concerns, such as the quick and awkward cuts and transitions, the high number of fade-outs, and the fact that many scenes do not flow together and seem very disconnected from each other. In the end, this is an unacceptable effort with many unforced errors.

Plot and Storyline Quality (0 points)

Even though it’s based on a book, A Promise to Astrid is not what it should be, mostly due to the lack of substantial characters. Although this is a heavily character-based plot, dialogue is usually a bit clunky and awkward and does not adequately develop character personality or motive. Additionally, it’s very difficult to understand the true purpose of this narrative beyond random people doing random things. The vague ideas behind the storyline might be interesting, but without effective connections with the audience, it really has nothing to show for its meager efforts. Essentially, the plot meanders around as a collection of random scenes before suddenly ending and leaving the viewer wondering why they just watched the movie, which is why this section warrants zero points.

Acting Quality (1 point)

While the acting of A Promise to Astrid is not entirely bad, it’s very marked by incompetent attempts at obviously fake accents. Also, some cast members seem unsure of their roles, even though there’s not much to work with in the beginning. Further, other cast members are either clearly overplaying their roles or half-heartedly trying. Throughout the film, line delivery and emotions are uneven but not all bad, which is enough to warrant at least a point out of this section. In the end, however, this is a very sub-par movie.

Conclusion

Based on their 2019 slate of films, it’s evident that it was the goal of the JC Films team to flood the market with as many movies as they could squeeze into their limited budget. This was an old model PureFlix used in the early 2000s and 2010s, and they had some success due to lack of many other options. However, as the calendar turns to 2020, times have changed in Christian entertainment, and higher quality is demanded. Thus, it’s better to save your funds to make one good film or series and then to see how you can build off of the success of one quality project rather than to get ahead of yourself and to over-extend your means.

Final Rating: 2 out of 10 points

January 1, 2020January 3, 2020 by Box Office Revolutionary Categories: Drama, Inspirational, Movie ReviewsTags: 2 points, 2019, A.T. Lantz, Barry Michael Dailey, Becky Rosser, Carson Campbell, Cindy Timms Pulice, Dean Cain, Drama, Emma Hansberry, Gabby Christie, Gary Lee Vincent, Grace Hansberry, Heather Mudrick, Inspirational, Jamyson Posey, Jason Campbell, JC Films, Jeremy Gladen, JoAnn F. Peterson, Katherine Elise Shaw, Kathy Jones, Kathy Sanders, Keith Hastman, Luba Hansen, Maddox Mudrick, Mazzie Christie, Michael Sigler, Mike Tourville, Phuong Kubacki, Richie Acevedo, Solon Tsangaras, Suzanne R. Neff, Timothy E. Goodwin, Timothy Goodwin, Tom Peterson, Veronica Rogers Leave a comment

Not For Sale (December 2021)

Coming to streaming and direct to DVD release in December 1, 2021

Writer(s): Jason Campbell?

Director(s): Jason Campbell

Producer(s): Jason Campbell

Starring: TBA

Plot Synopsis: A new feature film made exclusively by law enforcement depicting multiple true stories of underage victims of sex trafficking in America.

May 28, 2019January 27, 2021 by amg16 Categories: Upcoming Movies and SeriesTags: human trafficking, Jason Campbell, July 2019, Not for Sale, Upcoming Movies and Series 1 Comment

One Church (Movie Review)

Plot Summary

Cornelius Barlow is a devious politician who has had a vendetta against organized religion ever since his daughter was killed by a cult. Instead of eradicating religion, however, once he becomes President of the United States, he decides to make his own united religion by bringing all faiths together and by forcing them to work together. Unfortunately, this doesn’t go as simply as he planned as he faces opposition from a secret resistance who claims that they know the only truth of salvation: Jesus Christ. Will their numbers be able to survive the coming persecution?

Production Quality (1.5 points)

One Church is one of those Christian suspense films that bites off more than it can chew in the production department. This is evident by the shaky camera work, the loud soundtrack and sound effects, and the inconsistent audio that is sometimes muted. There are also a lot of tight shots and a weird aspect ratio, along with some randomly blurry camera shots and odd camera angles. Some scenes also cut off very abruptly as if this is an early cut that wasn’t finished. However, not all is bad in this production as there are some elements that are fine throughout, such as the sets, locations, and props, which keep this production from being below average. Even still, if the funding and resources aren’t there for a good suspense plot, it’s better to not make it.

Plot and Storyline Quality (0 points)

While this is an interesting attempt at a different type of plot, it’s based too much on far-fetched concepts and ‘bad’ characters that are total strawmen and get worse as the film progresses. The premise also progressively become more unrealistic, and large time jumps hurt any hope there was of plot and character growth. Time is mostly spent on montages, which leaves characters shallow and the purpose of the film unclear. One thing happens after the next in very rapid fashion, and expository dialogue is used as a shortcut. There are too many vague ideas that are started without backup or follow-through, and sequences of boring activities are used in place of actual conversations between characters that could help us get to know them as people. In the end, the story ends in a very awkward and abrupt fashion that makes it even more unclear why this movie was even made.

Acting Quality (1.5 points)

For the most part, the acting is fine without any major problems, even though it’s underwhelming and vanilla at times. Sometimes, dialogue is slightly mumbled, and line delivery is under-performing at times. It seems like some cast members become more and more dramatic as the film goes on, and other case members don’t do enough to make up for these poor performances. However, the early acting does enough to keep this section average, which rounds out an overall blah movie.

Conclusion

The JC Films team still hasn’t found itself in movie-making. They are disjointed and disconnected from both reality and relevance in the film world. They have a lot of ambitions and want to try different things (sometimes), but they have no foundation or basis for what they do. This likely won’t change until they begin retaining real screenwriters and actually put their funding and resources to good use.

Final Rating: 3 out of 10 points

February 2, 2019February 2, 2019 by Box Office Revolutionary Categories: Drama, Movie Reviews, SuspenseTags: 2016, 3 points, Asif Khan, Barry Piacente, Bill Coen, Bill Rahn, Brandy Allison, Britt Barlow, Catherine Trail, Charles Landers, Chip Wilt, Chris Horton, Christopher Luther, Chuck Clark, Clarence Harris, David Schifter, Don Brooks, Drama, Gogo Lomo-David, Hershel Scott, Hunter Lee Manning, Jason Campbell, Jason Frederick, JC Films, Jeremy Carr, Jessica Lynch, Juan Rivera, Kayli Maree Tolleson, Kera O'Bryon, Laura Palka, Luis Carlos Machicao, Sarah R. Cook, Savannah Johnson, Suspense, Tim Ross, Todd Long, Tri-Rahn Pictures, Vanessa Ore 5 Comments

DiVine Appointment (status unknown)

Status currently unknown

Writer(s): Tara Lynn Marcelle

Director(s): Tara Lynn Marcelle

Producer(s):  Jason Campbell, Tara Lynn Marcelle, April Kennedy

Starring: Chris Minor, Jenni Kennedy, Darwin Shaw, William McNamara, Kera O’Bryon, Matthew Lloyd, Micah Lynn, Troy Means, Mai Arwas, Bryan Michael Nunez, Timothy Goodwin, Gabrielle Diaz, Joe Estevez

Plot Synopsis: After a tragic accident, Jordan Travis is forced to quit his band at the start of their success. Empty and broken, he finds a job in the wine vineyards of Northern California. What follows, is a series of people and events that lead him back to his first love, and ultimate destiny, which can only be found in a ‘Divine Appointment’.

January 29, 2019January 26, 2021 by amg16 Categories: Upcoming Movies and SeriesTags: April Kennedy, Bryan Michael Nunez, Chris Minor, Darwin Shaw, DiVine Appointment, Gabrielle Diaz, Jason Campbell, Jenni Kennedy, Joe Estevez, Kera O'Bryon, Mai Arwas, Matthew Lloyd, Micah Lynn, Tara Lynn Marcelle, Timothy Goodwin, Troy Means, Upcoming Movies and Series, William McNamara 1 Comment

Megan’s Christmas Miracle (Movie Review)

Plot Summary

When Meghan and her father were forced to move to West Virginia when he lost his job, she absolutely hated it.  However, in the future, as she looks back upon this time, she likes how she was able to teach some local girls how to dance and how she was in a Christmas play that year.  She was able to reestablish her relationship with her father, which still affected her as she grew older.

Production Quality (.5 point)

Megan’s Christmas Miracle, though it’s a 2018 production, is one of the cheapest-looking in recent memory.  Although video quality is fine, the camera work is a wild ride that includes bizarre camera angles and roving shots that are dizzying.  Besides this, the limited sets and locations are very cheaply lit, like this was literally filmed in somebody’s extra house, and the props are also lacking.  There’s also weird audio quality with obvious background sounds and barely any soundtrack, and there is no editing to speak of or any substantial transitions between scenes.  This rounds out a very poor production effort for 2018.

Plot and Storyline Quality (0 points)

It was a monumental struggle to even fabricate anything to write for the plot summary of this film because it’s so wanting for content that it’s sad.  With basically no storyline or plot concept to work with, the characters are extremely empty and cheesy due to flat and uninspiring dialogue.  Other than predictable Christmas concepts and stereotypical small-town and ‘bad teenager’ characters, there is little to sustain this movie’s painful runtime other than drab conversations and riveting activities of daily living (ADL’s).  For a brief moment, some confusing ‘magical’ elements are teased out of left field before they disappear just as soon as they came.  Essentially, as one thing after the next happens with no organization or continuity, there is little to no nope of potential in this ‘story.’

Acting Quality (1 point)

Understandably, a majority of the cast members in this film seem bored and uninterested with the job they’ve been subjected to, and who wouldn’t be with this little amount of lines to work with?  No coaching is evident as lines are half-heartedly delivered and as emotions are flippant.  While some cast members appear to actually care about this film enough to put forth some sort or effort, it’s only enough to keep this section from being zero, which surprisingly makes this area the best of the film.

Conclusion

What exactly is this film going for?  I feel like we ask ourselves this question a lot when reviewing Christian films – especially Christmas ones.  It would be one thing if Megan’s Christmas Miracle was from the early 2000s, but 2018 films are expected to be higher quality than this with the recent upgrades and newfound advantages for independent Christian films, especially in the area of production.  A production this bad is unacceptable in this new era, so any production below average is basically an automatic disqualifier because there’s no more excuses.

Final Rating: 1.5 out of 10 points

December 5, 2018December 30, 2018 by Box Office Revolutionary Categories: Christmas, Inspirational, Movie ReviewsTags: 1.5 points, 2018, Barry Michael Dailey, Brooklyn Nelson, Camey Suder, Christmas, Dean Cain, Deven Bromme, Dorian Cleavenger, Gant Montgomery, Greg Puckett, Inspirational, Jason Campbell, JC Films, Katherine Elise Shaw, Lacey Nelson, Nevaeh Suder, Noah Hamrick, Rachel Stefursky, Ronda Suder, Shane McCourt, Theresa Bender, Timothy E. Goodwin, Tyler Suder, Veronica Rogers 1 Comment

Nail 32 (Movie Review)

Plot Summary

Buck Livingston was a sport cowboy who always ran from God, but when a tragedy leaves him lost and confused, he finds himself turning to God, even though he is told there’s no such thing as a Christian cowboy.  Even so, Buck gives his life to God and to service in the church.  However, he always had a passion for the cowboy sports, and he wrestled with how he could serve God there.  In the end, Buck’s life had a great influence on all those around him.

 

Production Quality (2 points)

Unlike previous JC Films projects, Nail 32 has a mostly respectable production.  This includes good video quality and camera work, especially in the action sports scenes.  However, there is some odd lighting throughout as this film is trying to have an unusual vintage look.  Nonetheless, the sets, locations, and props are great and demonstrate good historical authenticity.  Moreover, this production is mainly held back by the use of awkward fadeouts, choppy editing, and lagging scenes.  In the end, however, this production is still above average.

Plot and Storyline Quality (.5 point)

This intriguing true story was meant to be presented as an epic, but it unfortunately fell flat due to a large amount of unnecessary hand-holding narration.  This allows the plot to just hit the high points of the main character’s life without developing enough substance or true-to-life characters.  As the story jumps from one thing to the next, the characters are stunted due to flat and rushed dialogue, and there is far too much content shoved into this short time span.  While this could have been an interesting movie, we are not given the opportunity to learn about who these characters are as people as time speeds by in route to the conclusion.  Though there was potential here, it was not met.

Acting Quality (2 points)

However, this section does have plenty of positive as the costuming is realistic and there are plenty of good performances here.  While the acting is sometimes underwhelming due to some mumbled lines and muted emotions, this cast is mostly fine, and some are better than others.  Emotions and line delivery are adequate, which overall rounds out an average film.

Conclusion

Movies like Nail 32 are very well-meaning, and they have a lot of good things going for them, especially the true story elements.  However, in order to be the epic type of movie that they want to be, they have to go the extra mile in all categories, especially plot.  It’s very difficult to handle this much content in a balanced way while at the same time developing all of the characters adequately.  Thus, sometimes it’s better to focus on a portion of a character’s life, if possible.  In the end, Nail 32 is a fine movie, but it could have gone further.

 

Final Rating: 4.5 out of 10 points

 

February 3, 2018January 1, 2019 by Box Office Revolutionary Categories: Historical, Inspirational, Movie ReviewsTags: 2015, Ashla Soter, Bill Rahn, Brad Johnson, Brandy Allison, Brian Wallis, Chad Eubank, Charles Landers, Charlotte Lewis, Chase Ryan Jeffery, Cheyenne Harris, Devin Skyy Williams, Epic, Flying T Entertainment Group, Historical, Holly Spears, Inspirational, Janae Hatchett, Jason Campbell, JC Films, Jeff Gore, Jeff Tucker, Joshua Briscoe, Lea Penick, Lynna Eller, Mark Soter, Melinda Tucker, Scott McClannahan, Scott Mendes, Shelton Murphy, Sports, Summer Madison Rahn, Timothy E. Goodwin 4 Comments

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

 

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