This movie is sweet, if a bit slow. I got the overall message but I don't think the director pulled as much out of the story as could have been. I liked it but it was a on the dull side.
An example of how the movie missed on depth and emotion was the early scene with Jason Stevens setting fence posts. The scene simply showed him doing the job. No close up shots of him sweating. No anger, no sense of accomplishment both in the fence post work but also in the lesson he was learning. Just dull.
The part that I had the most difficult time with was the death of Emily Rose. It just killed the movie for me. Her death drew my attention away from the movie. I know it's real life that kids will die but she was such an important character that I felt as if she was the lead story, and the director killed the lead. Not good.
Many reviewers suggested this was a Christian movie. I am a Christian and while the movie had "nice" themes, "nice" people, "nice" scenes, there were only the thinnest mentions of church within, and I don't think the name Jesus was spoken once. So if you're a non-believer this might seem Christian but it totally misses the mark as an evangelistic movie. Without reading that this was a Fox Faith (didn't know that existed) creation I wouldn't have thought of this as a Christian movie. But having seen quite a few "Christian" movies I guess my review isn't much of a surprise to me.
I don't know why but directors simply seem to make dull faith based movies. They're all this way. Oh it's certainly nice to watch a movie that isn't full of swearing, drinking alcohol, taking drugs, or having sex without knowing the partners name. But I want a movie with some passion and depth and these just don't cut it. Fireproof, Courageous, Facing the Giants, and others like them are all nice movies to watch but the all fail in the same way. They are sweet, slow, and superficial. I long for a good solid movie of this genre that is a 10.
An example of how the movie missed on depth and emotion was the early scene with Jason Stevens setting fence posts. The scene simply showed him doing the job. No close up shots of him sweating. No anger, no sense of accomplishment both in the fence post work but also in the lesson he was learning. Just dull.
The part that I had the most difficult time with was the death of Emily Rose. It just killed the movie for me. Her death drew my attention away from the movie. I know it's real life that kids will die but she was such an important character that I felt as if she was the lead story, and the director killed the lead. Not good.
Many reviewers suggested this was a Christian movie. I am a Christian and while the movie had "nice" themes, "nice" people, "nice" scenes, there were only the thinnest mentions of church within, and I don't think the name Jesus was spoken once. So if you're a non-believer this might seem Christian but it totally misses the mark as an evangelistic movie. Without reading that this was a Fox Faith (didn't know that existed) creation I wouldn't have thought of this as a Christian movie. But having seen quite a few "Christian" movies I guess my review isn't much of a surprise to me.
I don't know why but directors simply seem to make dull faith based movies. They're all this way. Oh it's certainly nice to watch a movie that isn't full of swearing, drinking alcohol, taking drugs, or having sex without knowing the partners name. But I want a movie with some passion and depth and these just don't cut it. Fireproof, Courageous, Facing the Giants, and others like them are all nice movies to watch but the all fail in the same way. They are sweet, slow, and superficial. I long for a good solid movie of this genre that is a 10.