Christmas Oranges (Movie Review)

Plot Summary

Rose is an orphan girl who lives in Mrs. Hartley’s orphan home.  However, when Mrs. Hartley and some of the children die of illness one fateful month, all of the orphans are sent to other places.  Rose and some of her friends are sent to live in the orphanage of the angry Mr. Crampton, who has strict rules and doesn’t want children messing around with his stuff.  However, the more Rose learns about Mr. Crampton, the more she learns that he is hurting during the holiday season and needs someone to love him.

 

Production Quality (2 points)

As usual for John Lyde and his creative teams, Christmas Oranges is a professional production.  This is evidenced by good video quality, audio quality, and camera work.  The soundtrack is somewhat generic, but it is fine for the genre.  Locations are mostly fine, even though there are few of them, but the sets are limited in scope.  There are also some random scenes that are poorly lit for no clear reason.  However, on the flip side, the editing is surprisingly effective.  On the whole, this is a high quality effort that has become commonplace from this group.

Plot and Storyline Quality (1.5 points)

In a different turn from other stories from John Lyde and company, Christmas Oranges has a uniquely substantial plot that contains the accessible struggles of relatively believable characters.  Though there is narration that hurts things, the child characters are actually pretty good, even if the orphan premise is slightly cheesy.  There are also some silly ‘kids’ sequences and montages, along with some strawman characters.  However, for the most part, the dialogue and the ideas therein are mostly meaningful and do their best to avoid cliched Christmas concepts involving orphans.  Probably the best element of this storyline is its use of realistic character backstories to humanize the ‘bad’ characters.  On the whole, while this movie did not go as far as it could have, it is still enjoyable and is worth a watch.

Acting Quality (2 points)

While most of the cast members are definitely professional, this section still tends to be a mixed bag.  Some cast members seem to be overdoing their performances just a bit.  However, on the whole, emotions are realistic, and line delivery is on point.  As a side note, costuming is historically authentic.  Overall, this rounds out a very professional effort.

Conclusion

The Covenant Communications\Paulist Productions\Mainstay Productions collaboration has been working for years to make respectable films, and for the most part, they have succeeded.  However, they have been plagued by an inability to get over the last proverbial hill that stands between them and film greatness.  Nonetheless, they have all the tools necessary to do so.  Thus, we believe that sometime in the near future, they will finally break through and make that dynamic film that has alluded them for years.

 

Final Rating: 5.5 out of 10 points

 

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December 21, 2017January 2, 2019 by Box Office Revolutionary Categories: Christmas, Historical, Inspirational, Movie ReviewsTags: 2012, 5.5 points, Abigail Hiller, Abigail Scott, Aiden Beagley, Aimee Lynne Johnson, Anne Burton, Annie Milne, Bailee Michelle Johnson, Barry Evans, Ben Sowards, Benjamin Lyde, Bill Gillane, Brandon Avery, Brooke Wight, Bruce Newbold, Caitlin E.J. Meyer, Cate Allen, Christian Vuissa, Christmas, Cooper Daniel Johnson, Covenant Communications, Danna Louisa Wilson, Danny James, Demitria Cline, Edward Herrmann, Elizabeth Hales, Emily Hallows, Ethan Hunt, Ethan Lyde, Ethan Scott, Grace Hallows, Hannah Hunt, Historical, Inspirational, James Schafer, Jaren Riley, Jaxon Hunt, Jenny Krompel, Jill Adler, John Lyde, Joshua Hunt, Juliette Lyde, Kelsey Carter, Kenneth Applegate, Kenzie Carter, Kimball Stinger, Koleman Stinger, Linda Bethers, Lisa Spurrier, Madalynn Wight, Maggie Scott, Mainstay Productions, Max Moody, Michael Hughes, Nancy Stafford, Norma Olsen, Paul D. Hunt, Paulist Productions, Ron Brough, Rylee Kaye Stones, Sage Adler, Sahara Yasmin Krompel, Sally Meyer, Savanna Kylie Lewis, Stephanie Breinholt, Sydney Peebler, Taryn Bedore, Thomas J. Post, Tyler Doyle, Yolanda Wood Leave a comment

Saving Sarah Cain (Movie Review)

Plot Summary

Sarah Cain used to be a successful column writer, but lately she’s been experiencing writer’s block.  To make matters worse, her Amish sister, whom she hasn’t spoken to in years, suddenly dies, leaving Sarah as the legal guardian of her five Amish nieces and nephews.  In a moment of desperation, Sarah writes a column about the children and accidentally stumbles upon success.  Therefore, she agrees to take the kids to her Chicago apartment in order to secretly continue writing about them.  The five children discover that they are in the midst of culture shock when they must assimilate into big city life on a steep learning curve.  In the end, they will all have to be honest with themselves and each other in order to find the lives they were meant for.

 

Production Quality (1.5 points)

As a part of the Fox Faith era of Christian film, Saving Sarah Cain enjoyed increased production success compared to movies before it.  The camera work is good, but the video quality could be better.  The sound quality is a little above average while the use of music throughout is actually really good.  This is something more Christian films need to do effectively.  The set and locations are believable and diverse.  The editing is pretty good, though there are some parts that leave you scratching your head as to what is actually going on.  Overall, there is really not much else to say regarding Sarah Cain’s production; it all comes out as just average.

Plot and Storyline Quality (1.5 points)

Adapted from the innovative Amish novel The Redemption of Sarah Cain by Beverly Lewis, this film almost captures the original purpose of the book, but not entirely.  The elements are there, but there just isn’t much feeling in this movie.  The characters are portrayed as very one-dimensional, not putting forth the depth they should in this highly character-driven plot.  Since the storyline is so linear, the characters have to take up the slack, but they do not go as far as they need to.  This is likely because the dialogue is very pedestrian and safe.  Safe is actually a good word to use to describe this film.  No risks are taken and no rewards are reaped.  While it is an interesting fish-out-of-water tale, it’s not dynamic enough or deep enough to warrant a higher score.  While there are some interesting psychological elements and backstory throughout, the ending is enough to put a damper on anything creative in the rest of the movie, as it leaves viewers wondering what they were supposed to learn from it.  This film is basically a nice try, but not good enough.

Acting Quality (1 point)

Unfortunately, the acting really drags down the characters.  Most of the characters are cast very poorly; some seem like they are forced into roles not suited for them.  There is the usual touch of Michael Landon Jr. evident in over-costuming the cast members, including those playing Amish characters.  Emotions are overplayed throughout and line delivery is forced most of the time.  While there are some funny moments, the acting is overall a disappointment.

Conclusion

Honestly, this is an instance when the book is better than the movie.  The movie removes meaningful elements from the novel, which is probably why they ended up with the paint-yourself-in-a-corner ending they did.  In addition to being safe, Saving Sarah Cain is also forgettable.  Were it not for its creative use of music (it’s sad that other better movies are not doing this), we probably wouldn’t even remember this film.  While it has plenty of potential, it is a very forced screenplay that unfortunately had little to no impact on Christian films.

 

Final Rating: 4 out of 10 points

 

June 20, 2016January 16, 2019 by Box Office Revolutionary Categories: Inspirational, Movie Reviews, RomanceTags: 4 points, Abigail Mason, Amish, Austin Sharette, Bailee Madison, Believe Pictures, Beverly Lewis, Brian Bird, Brittany Landon, Caitlin E.J. Meyer, Cindy Kelley, Danielle Chuchran, Elliott Gould, Fox Faith, Ian Reed Jones, Inspirational, Jeff Olsen, Jennifer O'Dell, John F. Cruz, Kalburt Dallof, Lisa Pepper, Mark McKenzie, Max Whitaker, Michael Landon Jr., Monique Lanier, Phil Abrams, Redemption Films, Robert Gros, Romance, Scott Christopher, Soren Fulton, Tanner Maguire, Tess Harper, Tom Markus, Tom Tate, Whitney Lee, Yolanda Wood 4 Comments