First it should be noted that I am a Christian. I am a follower of Christ and I am not ashamed to admit it. And so this is going to be a difficult review to write. I am honestly not what I would call a Kendrick Brothers fan. But, I'm not a non-fan either. I have some personal issues with some of the messages that their films portray, in that sometimes they go a little heavy on, what I would call, a health and wealth Gospel message. This was especially evident in Facing The Giants where, once the central characters finally and fully turned their lives over to Christ, they began to experience a plethora of blessings in the form of multiple state championships, and multiple births. If you have not seen the movie, then what you need to know is, that early on in the film, before a revival breaks out across the school, the main characters are unhappy for various reasons. The school football team has struggled, and the coach's wife has not been able to successfully bring a baby in the world. Like I said, all of that changes after they make full faith proclamations in the form of multiple championships for the football team, as well as mutliple children for the coach and his wife. That is a dangerous message to convey in a world where, Jesus Himself, told his very own followers that, because of Him, they would face much trial and tribulation in this world. Just because someone becomes a Christian does not mean that their troubles are over. On the contrary, living a Christian life does not somehow miraculously cloak the believer and keep him or her from problems. Jesus never promised an easy road. But He did promise that when things get bad, He will be there for us and He will never let us go. And so, now we have the new Kendrick Film, "Overcomer." Now, even though I'm a Christian, I cannot review a film and hold it to a different standard than I would a mainstream film. There is no doubt that the Kendricks have become much better filmmakers over the years, seemingly learning much along the way. But just because they haven't had access to the same resources that big Hollywood directors have access to, doesn't mean that I am going to overlook this films shortcomings. And there are many. So, let's start with the good. The movie looks good. Technically speaking, the Kendricks have made a very good looking film. It had some great cinematography shots that aided in the film's slick look and feel. It was also well paced. For a movie that was right at 2 hours long, it never really felt long...it never seemed to get bogged down with unnecessary characters or sub-plots. That helps when a movie doesn't have much strength in the acting or screenplay department. Which leads me to the bad. This was a poorly written script. There are no two ways about it. There were jokes that fell flat because they, either didn't need to be there, or they were executed very poorly. And there were many scenes in the film that were obvious forecasters, of some other scene or point in the film that was coming later on. And the mechanics of the actors (the way they carried themselves) were often awkward and disingenuous. At one point, one of the characters goes to visit people at a local hospital with his pastor. Then, while they're there, a nurse tells the pastor that since there are many people already visiting the patient, maybe only one of them should go in. Now, in a well-made film, getting that pastor to go into the room without the other person would have been accomplished in a more realistic way. But, the filmmakers don't really care about that, because the intention of the plot trumps the decisions of the characters. In other words, the characters do things and make decicions based on what the plot demands from them. Good filmmakers don't forecast their manipulation of their characters, thus allowing their characters to make decisions that would seem more realistic. Kendrick wanted his character out in the hall for a reason. He had to be out there so that he could, accidently cross paths with another character who ends up having a monumental impact in the film. Even the way Kendrick gets his character to cross paths with the other patient is awkward and unrealistic. He nearly gets run over by some people pushing a hospital bed down the hallway, so he has to jump backwards, and ends up jumping so far back he accidently falls through the doorway to the patient's room. Even writing about the scene is awkward. It just doesn't ring true, and because of that, the entire interaction seems false. Add all of that to an extremely melodramatic (the filmmakers, obviously wanting tears to fall, stop just short of sending someone into the audience to beat the tears out of them with a baseball bat) plotline and acting, along with a poor performance from many of the actors (including the main character that the film revolves around) and you've got a really bad film. I know I will incur the wrath of many here because of my opinion, but the truth's the truth. I cannot give the Kendricks a pass just because they are working with limited resources. And, when it was all said and done, this film cost 5 million dollars to make. It's the Kendricks' most expensive film to date. And even though 5 mil. is still considred low budget, it's enough money to hire some good screenwirters, as well as some half-way decent actors. Perhaps that's what the Kendrick's should be doing from here on out. Provide the resources...produce the films. Because producing does seem to be the one aspect of filmmaking where they really do excel.
