Power of the Air (Movie Review)

Plot Summary

David Williams just wants to live a regular life, but one day, after being convicted by the message of an African missionary, David and his wife decide to stop watching secular movies due to their objectionable content. David is ostracized at work for this decision, but he feels strongly that he needs to do more to reach others for the Gospel. He wants to air a radio ad, but the city’s largest radio station is standing in his way. Will they be able to air the ad on every radio station???

Production Quality (2.5 points)

The Christiano team has come a long way since the old days of their films. Power of the Air has a very professional production with only a few errors. Video quality, audio quality, and camera work are all compliant with industry standards. Sets, locations, and props are also good. The only concerns in this section relate to editing, which leaves something to be desired. Nonetheless, this isn’t enough to prevent a very high score from being awarded here.

Plot and Storyline Quality (0 points)

Full of information-dump dialogue and expository conversations that are designed to push messages, this narrative is lacking in depth. Empty characters are simply pawns of the plot, which is full of generic Christian propaganda. The philosophy of the writers is very closed-minded and tone-deaf when it comes to real life. Administering heavy doses of legalism, the creators exchange actually story for an outdated view of society, implying that basically all media is evil. The only thing that keeps the screenplay running on fumes is a ridiculous ongoing conflict about when to air a radio commercial, and this experience is full of absurdly forced drama, trying to make the viewers actually care about this stupid first-world problem. In the end, with no potential to be had, this aspect of the movie can’t receive any points.

Acting Quality (1.5 points)

Throughout Power of the Air, the acting is acceptable without much good or bad to point out. Most performances are fairly pedestrian. Emotional and line delivery are passable. However, there’s simply not enough dynamic to warrant a higher than average score for this section.

Conclusion

Via this film, the Christiano team raises valid points about how American Christians unnecessarily consume too much objectionable entertainment. However, the very existence of Power of the Air only furthers the problem because it demonstrates why many Christians seek entertainment outside Christian circles: Christian entertainment, as a whole, is just bad. Power of the Air is no exception to this general rule. Why should Christians want to watch a screenplay like this? What’s the point? Until Christian creators learn why people watch what they watch, we’ll just keep having the same problems.

Final Rating: 4 out of 10 points

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May 27, 2021 by Box Office Revolutionary Categories: Drama, Inspirational, Movie ReviewsTags: 2018, 4 points, Breezy Sharp, Brian Brightman, Christiano Brothers, Dave Christiano, Dave Christiano Films, Drama, Five & Two Pictures, Five and Two Pictures, Grant Fonda, Inspirational, Jaydelise Volquez, Karyn Williams, Lauren O'Quinn, Melanie Davies, Michael Shippy, Nicholas X. Parsons, Patty Duke, Rich Christiano, Sallie Glaner, Scot Smith, Todd Squires, Tracy Goode, Trenton Fiscus, Veryl Jones, Wendell Kinney 4 Comments

Grace of the Father (Movie Review)

Plot Summary

When a family’s mother dies, the father decides to move with his kids back to his wife’s birthplace. Tired of being under the thumb of a ruthless land owner, they want to have a farm of their own like the mother always wanted. However, the adopted son doesn’t want to live their new life and promptly leaves when he’s old enough. Will he come to his senses and return to the family who loves him?

Production Quality (1 point)

Despite acceptable camera work and video quality, the lighting in this production is inconsistent, including some dark indoor scenes and weird soft light in random places. Audio quality is all over the place due to poor microphones, background echoes, loud background sounds, and a generic soundtrack. Special effects are very cheap, and production elements, such as sets, locations, and props, don’t adequately portray what they’re supposed to represent. Nonetheless, some slight production improvement in the film’s second half is enough to earn a point for this section.

Plot and Storyline Quality (.5 point)

Although the characters in Grace of the Father are slightly realistic at times, they mostly tend to be stereotypical due to obvious dialogue and circular conversations. The perfect Christians have unrealistic responses to tragedies and seem unaffected by a key family death, choosing to rely on mindless platitudes and exhibit random emotional outbursts that don’t fit the contexts. Elsewhere, it’s difficult to know what to focus on as the random subplots are simply strung together, causing the narrative the aimless wander in purposelessness. Valuable time is wasted on musical montages that accomplish nothing, and the story meanders all over the place without giving the audience a reason to be interested in it. However, in the final fourth of the plot, a slightly interesting twist is revealed that could have been interesting. Nonetheless, it’s not enough to redeem the other pointlessness in the movie, and many viewers will never make it far enough to see the ending. Thus, only a small score can be granted here.

Acting Quality (1 point)

For the most part, the acting in this film is passable even though the emotions tend to be flat and unrealistic. There’s nothing particularly dynamic or awful about these performances. However, they trend negative as the movie progresses. Therefore, only a point can be warranted here.

Conclusion

Lazarus Filmworks consistently puts out screenplays but has never been able to hit the average mark. They seem to mean well in what they do, but there’s always too many things holding them back from better ratings. Grace of the Father is no exception to this tendency, and there’s simply no more room in Christin entertainment for subpar efforts. In the future, creative teams like this one need to reassess their current direction and see where God wants them to go in the future. Collaboration is likely the best option for most creators.

Final Rating: 2.5 out of 10 points

September 23, 2020 by Box Office Revolutionary Categories: Drama, Inspirational, Movie ReviewsTags: 2.5 points, 2015, Caleb Emery, Darren Dowler, David A. Russell II, David Carleton, De Miller, Drama, Elizabeth Corbett, Inspirational, Isabel Myers, John Denny, Kibwe Dorsey, Lazarus Filmworks, Leja Apple, Mark Gould, Matt Connors, Matt Hyland, Michael Joiner, Nick Mazzini, Phyllis J. Chapman, Prodigal, Ron Foos, Ryan Carter, Sallie Glaner, Sue Miller, Susan Hashley, Susan O'Gara, Suzanna Leigh Leave a comment

The Turnaround [2017] (Movie Review)

Plot Summary

After Marquise tragically loses both of his parents, he is raised by a family friend and tries to find his way through life.  His parents had always taught him the Christian faith and how to live, but he is confused about Christianity since he feels like God took them away from him.  He is tempted to get involved in drugs with a friend since he cannot seem to find stable income elsewhere.  But he is also in love with a pastor’s daughter, and the pastor sees great potential in Marquise and wants to disciple him.  Which path will Marquise ultimately choose?

 

Production Quality (1.5 points)

The Turnaround has a better production than you might expect, but it still commits some rookie errors.  Video quality and camera work are fine.  The audio quality is good except for the awkward soundtrack that sometimes overpowers the scenes.  Sets, locations, and props are average but demonstrate effort.  The biggest problem with this production, besides the useless time subtitles, is the extremely choppy editing that leaves the audience very disoriented and confused.  Scenes jump from one thing to the next with no warning, which hampers the experience.  Overall, this is an average production that has clear areas for improvement.

Plot and Storyline Quality (0 points)

As previously mentioned, the scenes cut back and forth so quickly and jump all over the place so much that the story is next to impossible to follow.  It is difficult to see how the characters and their situations relate to each other, except for some loose associations.   There is probably an interesting story in here somewhere if it were ordered and organized better.  In the aftermath of the confusion, characters are left under-developed due to empty and wanting dialogue.  There are too many unrelated subplots interspersed with random narration.  It feels like there were too many people writing these ideas and not enough people organizing them in a way that would help the audience appreciate them.  Essentially, this is a nice try but no success.

Acting Quality (2 points)

The acting is actually the strongest element of The Turnaround and keeps it from being in the complete basement of Christian entertainment.  The only real problem to point out with the acting is the fact that there are too many scenes that have people talking over each other.  Otherwise, emotions are mostly believable and line delivery is acceptable.

Conclusion

The Turnaround, though it has some good elements, is one of those films that will easily be forgotten due to otherwise avoidable errors.  We believe that the creators of this film meant well, but in order to make this sort of plot work, the characters have to be realistic and accessible by the audience.  The characters are what make audiences interested in the movie, so without them being properly developed, little interest is generated for the film.  Perhaps the creators will heed this advice in the future.

 

Final Rating: 3.5 out of 10 points

 

July 8, 2017January 8, 2019 by Box Office Revolutionary Categories: Inspirational, Movie ReviewsTags: 1st Dibz Productions, 2017, 3.5 points, Albert Alcantara, Alencia Singleton, Alexa McGrory, Alvin Aki, Amanda Marquis, Benjamin Bernard, Beverly Otis, Bonnie Cobb, Brandon Shade, Carl Gilbert, Charlie Ivon Maisonet, Christina Carmona, Christine Jones, Cynthia Webster, Daniel Augustin, Dayana Rincon, Debbie Seiber, Demetria George, Dewayne Colley, Diana Lovell, Dominik Hopkins-Payden, Dynell Ma'aseia, Edward Wilson, Emelyn Stuart, Emmett Hunter, Erik Grey, Germaine Brooks, Heather Walker, Hisham Abul Fotouh, Inspirational, Ivan Pagan, Jamel Jackson, James C. Hunter, Jasmine Yampierre, Jay Gourdine, Jim Huss, Jimmy Dempster, Kelly Haser Pickens, Kibwe Dorsey, Lorenzo Carswell, Melannie Sanchez, Mellissa Thomas, Michelle Viana, Milton Dorta, Mina Ownlee, Moises Shephard, Nicole Abisinio, Phil Bernardin, Robert Wayne Harris, Robyn Jones, Sallie Glaner, Scott Webster, Sean Nelson, Sh'Kia Dennis, Sharlyne C. Thomas, Sonya Hunter, Taisha Perez, Tiffany Edwards, Tracy Wiu, Tre Brooks, Troy D. Williams, Vincent DeMarco, William Roebuck, Yolando Dorta Leave a comment