Todos los santos

Based on a true story. Great back story. Relax and escape the stress of your life while in the theater routing for the success of these people. Run, don't walk to the theater. The story line is one of determination and who doesn't need that right about now. Go see the movie and then hear me say, "I told you so."

In spite of the fact that I, myself, am a pastor, I'm not generally enamoured of Christian movies. They're too formulaic and entirely predictable to be truly interesting. But this movie did pique my curiosity. First, because it was a true story about a real church and a real pastor facing a real challenge that's so familiar to many churches today. Second, because it didn't sound as if it was a hard-sell evangelical type of story (it is, after all, about an Episcopalian Church - hardly a hotbed of fundamentalism) but was rather about the real journey of one congregation to redefine its purpose. All Saints was a small and struggling Episcopal Church in Smyrna, Tennessee that was slated to close because it could no longer afford its mortgage. Then, suddenly, a large group of refugees from Myanmar - who happened to be Anglican - moved to the community and started attending the church. Together with the pastor, Michael Spurlock (who was newly ordained and had been assigned to All Saints for the sole purpose of guiding them to their end - a sort of pastoral palliative care for a dying congregation), the newcomers transform the church by creating a farm on its property, and using the produce to both feed the refugee population and to produce income for the church, giving the congregation new life and convincing the ecclesiastical powers that be to keep it open as a mission church.

The story isn't exactly an "exciting" one - but it's very faithful and faith-filled. Not in a fundamentalist sense, but in the sense of a diverse group of faithful Christians who work together to find a way to make a difference, and who feel themselves led by God to a new way of being "church." It's a pleasant and inspiring movie to watch. It's not hard-sell Christian. Among those who contribute to the farm are Buddhists and even "nothings" (presumably atheists) along with long time congregational members and members of a presumably evangelical mega-church nearby. But this particular church and its mission drew together all of these folk who in the normal course of things might never have known each other or worked together.

I thought the cast - particularly John Corbett and Cara Buono as Pastor Michael Surlock and his wife Aimee and also Nelson Lee as Ye Win (who was the leader of the refugee population) - were strong, and the story resonated with me and should resonate with anyone concerned about the plight of the church in so many places today and who are looking for a sign that the faith still matters and the church still makes a difference. This movie accomplished that. Well done. 7/10

This is the true story of Michael Spurlock, a salesman turned Pastor of a small Smyrna Tennessee Episcopal church. It traces what happens after he's been told by the diocese he must close his church due to low attendances. The events that transpire over the difficult months that follow are as unlikely as they are remarkable. Nothing runs smoothly for Michael, his struggling family or his small band of supporters. The hardships they encounter are at times soul destroying but, hardships can also push people to work against impossible odds - in an attempt to turn them into goals that build community bonds. The outcome of this curious story is one that needs to be seen and won't be readily forgotten. What can be achieved by people of different cultures - when their ongoing communal existence is threatened - is powerful indeed. An unusual story of survival against the odds, told with intelligence, quality production values, good performances and a better than average music score.

It is so amazing to see a local story being told in a film. It is even more amazing that our news channels would rather tell you about every house that catches on fire or vandalism in our city rather than tell you about this miracle in our own backyards. Taking place in 2007-2008 in Smyrna, TN this is an inspirational story that seems almost too good to be true. But as you do some digging you will find that almost everything in the film is depicted just like how it happened in real life. It is shocking to learn about the genocide of the Karen people (a state in Burma) and realize that we never hear about this on the national news front. OK, forget the attack on our news channels...this is a fun and family friendly movie. It is so fun to hear about local places constantly in dialogue (Nashville, Franklin, Smyrna, Murfreesboro) and neat to see local areas like the old Music Valley Drive (the Trail West sign can be easily seen) outlet shopping area (boy does something need to be done with that area) being used as a movie location.

See this movie to see what can happen when we start thinking more about others, see it to challenge your faith, but see it because it is a local story that made it to the movie theater!

While Hollywood is loathe to admit it, while the studios often make money, a very large percentage of the public simply never goes to movies. Some of this, no doubt, is because movies often are filled with violence and other offensive content and many choose not to see it and spend their dollars on such films. Fortunately, in recent years various small studios have sprung up to fill this gap...and "All Saints" is among the best of these films I have seen.

This is the inspirational story of All Saints Episcopal Church, which is in rural Tennessee. The church was about to be sold as the membership had dwindled down to almost nothing. Reverend Spurlock (John Corbett) is brought in to close up shop, so to speak, but ended up leading an effort to try to save the church property because it had just become such an important part of a group of Burmese refugees' lives...and with their help he worked himself practically to death to save something many felt wasn't worth saving.

While technically speaking, there are films that look a bit better and feature CGI and huge stars, this one manages to entertain anyway and it sure didn't hurt that the picture had Corbett and a few other familiar faces. Overall, very well made and uplifting...the sort of film you could take anyone to see (unless, perhaps, they are Satan worshipers...I would take them to see "It" instead).