The Blind

I did enjoy the photography but that was all. Phil and Kay tell their stories in a mid-life chat held with a friend. It's a fictionalized, family-authorized "true story" that's equal parts "Where the Crawdads Sing" and a classic Christian redemption story of the "Sergeant York/Apostle" variety. We see the selfish, childish hellion Phil was before alcoholic rages and the near end of his marriage led him to Jesus. A classic narrative of white Southern culture that is wildly loved by those with hard lives who recognize the turning point that faith might have offered them. Still, the film is sometimes amateurish. It lets the Robertsons have it both ways by boasting Phil as a s-kicker and ties his success in life to his Baptism. One cannot vouch for the truth of the Robertson family lore related here. The acting is indifferent, the production values single-wide/wrecked pickup cheap, with a score built on plaintive violin solos and cut-rate covers of pop oldies. Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top covers "La Grange" for a version for use in the film's 1970s scenes. Whatever potential it had, the film just isn't very good, with or without fact checking. Redemption stories work for a reason and done right, it touches people. Director Andrew Hyatt can't make this one work and the script's humorless, emotionally flat treatment of the material smothers "The Blind" in the crib.

I've only seen a couple of episodes of Duck Dynasty, but I know a little bit about the family, the Robertsons, and as a Christian was eager to see this movie The true story of Phils redemption was interesting, but nothing we haven't seen in movies before. I enjoyed learning the story of Phil and Ms. Kay, but the quality seemed a bit low budget and came off more like a Lifetime/Hallmark TV movie. The acting and directing were not the best, but what was most frustrating is the lead actors were very hard to understand and you miss a lot of the dialogue due to the accents and mumbling. Phil, especially, barely moved his lips. I couldn't understand half of what he said.

The theater said this was a special showing/production so we couldn't use our Regal Unlimited, (which would've been nice to know ahead of time) so had to pay full price, as well is traveling a bit further to one of the limited theaters it was showing at. Was it worth it? I love movies, so I'm glad I saw it, just wish it had of been a better quality of movie. IMHO! 6.5 stars 10/2023.

Went to see this movie for three reasons. 1. I'm from Louisiana, so I was curious about if they would get the accent right. 2. I'm Christian and like a good faith-based movie. 3. I'm a fan of Duck Dynasty, the Unashamed podcast and the Duck Call Room podcast.

Happy to say that I really liked this movie.

Storyline: stayed true to what I've heard Phil and Kay talk about in interviews.

Scenery: good and enjoyed seeing all the vintage stuff.

Acting: A+ and never thought it was anything less. The accents were good and were not overdramatized.

When the movie ended, my first thought was, "it's over already?" For me that is a sign of a good movie. Not once did I check the time, to see how much longer till the end.

Reading some comments, I think some people missed the entire point of the movie, which was not to present us with cinematic perfection. However, on one point mentioned I agree with, it was hard to understand the actors at times. Subtitles might've been appropriate. Not that this takes away at all from the gospel message, of course, which is the thing that several people here in the reviews seem to miss, surprisingly even Christians are missing that point. I'm pretty sure that Phil Robertson was even worse than depicted in the movie-some things can't and shouldn't be shown I'm sure. All one has to do is observe him in real life to see that Phil Robertson was beyond quite the scoundrel at one time. So maybe the movie didn't even present the worst of it. But the gospel is what's important here and it was front and center and shining through. That was Phil's entire point. He succeeded. Or should I more accurately say God did.

Started off great. If you have read the books by both; this was a disappointmemt. The actors just dont cut it. It was like watching a cheap C movie at best. They left a load of the story out. I dont understand why it stopped in the 80s? They talked about God but it was more of a backround thing. A few of Phils siblings was missing. Also, timeline seemed off. A bigger production and casting company should have been in charge. It was way way too sugur coated. They didet even really show any of the story about the duck calls. They never explained how Kay made money when he was drinkimh. Just much wrong.