Seasons of Gray

We saw Seasons of Gray at the San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival last month, where if won the Audience Choice Award by a landslide. Granted, I cannot professionally assess the technical aspects of film making, but from my lay perspective, it was top notch! I was too engrossed in the story to come up with any criticisms.

We all LOVED the movie--the actors of the three lead characters, Brady, Kate and Chris, were perfect for their roles and did a fantastic job interacting. If Courageous were not entered in the contest as well, Seasons of Gray would have had my most enthusiastic support. (I hated that picking the one excluded the other, but am truly grateful to have that problem year after year as a result of the excellent quality of submissions to the Festival. I was comforted that Courageous won Best of Festival.) This is good storytelling: characters that drew us in, that made us laugh and cry and love and respect them, and a movie experience that stays with us and makes us eagerly look forward to watching it again in theaters as well as buying the DVD for ourselves and to give away as gifts.

I'm looking forward to more movies from Watermark Films!

The Old Testament story of Joseph and his odyssey from being cast out of his family right through his reunion is given a nice Texas twist in this Christian film with Andrew Cheney enacting the modern day Joseph.

Brady Gray is the second youngest of six boys and the first born of his dad's second marriage. He's the favorite and instead of a coat of many colors he gets a brand new pickup truck as per what Texans prize. That sends the other brothers over the edge and they beat him and send him on his way in the back of a truck across the state.

After that if you know the story of Joseph you know what's going to happen. One of those includes being falsely accused of attempted rape and as per modern times he's sent to the joint.

This is where the story gets dicey. Cheney gets all friendly with some black prisoners which just doesn't happen in prison, especially in red state prisons like Texas. And he's a sex offender. Scripture or no scripture you KNOW what happens to them in prison.

Cheney heads a nice group of unknown players in this ensemble. But I don't this makes it from church audiences.

So it starts off OK but then in the space of about 10 minutes 20 minutes in it peters out into very bad. I switched it off at the point his bosses wife who lets be fair is a bit of a monger, steps into the lift with the clairvoyant chap and starts flirting with him and u realize that those pretty bad bits you'd glossed over in the first 20 wouldn't come into fruition.

Unfortunately they do. I then realized it was like watching a mediocre 1980's American soap.

So the people who gave it this peoples award are probably not the people you'd take much substance from in normal life.

This movie is not for the faint-hearted. It involves many extremes, from butterflies to extreme violence. Usually violence does not combine with a Christian movie, but what Brady suffered by the hands of his brothers, is possibly not far from what Joseph suffered some 4000 years ago. Many, if not most details of this movie do obviously not coincide with the biblical story, but the movie never claims this nor is a close match required, because it is framed in subtle allusion.

PROS

+ Excellent actors. Brady is especially excellent.

+ Great plot.

+ Chris showcases the good samaritan, a behavior rarely seen in our age.

+ Wonderful testimony of reconciliation, of overcoming hurt and pride. And a good testimony of what damage broken marriages can cause.

NEUTRAL

• The scene were his brothers nearly beat him to death is hard to bear, and a car in a lake without a body is not credible, but it still serves its purpose - in a similar way Joseph's coat was used to simulate his death.

CONS

• I disliked the parallel drawn from a real estate agent to the Pharaoh's palace, but this is without doubt how the world thinks in terms of status. And it would not have been credible that Brady would have worked under the president of the US just years after starting a new life. But maybe here the movie should have taken a greater leap of faith and indeed portrayed a closer parallel to the biblical account.

Overall a clear recommendation.

Seasons of Gray is the inaugural production of Watermark Films. This film contains many of the hallmarks of a budget restricted independent, yet carries a story that appeals to a much wider audience. Its story is anchored by one of the Bible's earliest redemption stories and was converted into a faithfully written modern screenplay. Seasons of Gray delivers with good core plot lines, laudable acting, and an interwoven theme of pain and forgiveness that carts the audience through its 89 minutes. It is a good movie on its merits and is worth seeing.

Opening on a sweeping ranch in Texas, Brady Gray (Andrew Cheney) is a gifted and favored son among a gaggle of brothers led by Ryan (Jonathan Brooks) and alongside a widowed father, Jake (Mark Walters). The movie quickly establishes the enmity that Brady's brothers feel toward him especially when he is lavished with an expensive gift from their father. In addition Brady has a God given ability to see and interpret dreams. Brady's dreams include a vision of the family seeking Brady's help during some future time of duress. Brady discloses this to his family, who don't react kindly to it, furthering the wedge between Brady and Ryan in particular. The wedge ultimately leads to Brady's expulsion from the ranch and he is left with virtually nothing on the side of the road. Salvaged by a new friend, Chris (Akron Watson), Brady begins to rebuild his life, pursue a coworker (Megan Parker), and achieve some success in his new career. This all comes crashing down as he is framed for a crime he doesn't commit. In prison, as Brady is being ministered to by a small group of men, he comes to grips with who he really is. Strangely, his gift of dream interpretation sets him on a course of exoneration that ultimately ends face to face with the brothers who discarded him.

The movie's main plot line (primarily Brady's response to the circumstances that befall him) is buoyed by Mr. Cheney's commendable and genuine performance. His somewhat low-key approach to Brady has quality nuances, but it also does restrict him somewhat during Brady's peaks and valleys. Overall he is a likable hero. Some of the key family members that drive those circumstances also did admirable work. In this reviewer's opinion, Mr. Brooks deserved more screen time, not only to further the plot, but he was a worthy antagonist as Ryan Brady and his performance brought emotional weight to scenes he was in. Mr.Walters' performance also left the audience wanting more. Seasons of Gray's comedic elements and timing were pleasantly crisp and gave necessary balance to Brady's journey. This aspect was highlighted predominantly by some clever writing and Mr. Akron's talents.

One of the notable aspects to the film was the integration of scenes involving Brady's supernatural dream interpretation. The filmmakers do a good job at integrating this feature to the plot line while maintaining the audience's suspension of disbelief. Some low budget movies with similar aspirations fall short at that juncture, this one does not. In addition, much of the tight and intimate cinematography gives depth and structure to key scenes.

In light of the above praise, the movie is not perfect. It certainly lacks some of the technical and production polish of bigger budget films and more seasoned teams. There is disjointed editing on some transitions, particularly during cuts when significant time elapses. The storyline covers months and years of Brady's life, but from a watcher's perspective, in many respects it might as well have been a hectic three weeks for Brady. Also, the utilization and emphasis of musical score didn't appear maximized. The score played a subtle and underhanded role. In a dramatic film such as this, the musical score communicates emotional range that can be difficult for an actor or a camera angle to capture alone. This shortcoming was offset somewhat by the script and acting, but it was still noticeable. The filmmakers also could have further fleshed out a few plot characteristics and characters. The film was only 89 minutes and as such had room to accomplish this. Underdeveloped themes that come to mind include Brady's brothers' resentment of him, Brady's growing relationship with his prison colleagues, and Jake's anguish and family desperation in Brady's absence. The character introduction for "Bigs" also deserved more elegance and screen time, especially due to his impact on Brady. The combination of these components, along with some emotional scene build-up shots, could have heightened the crescendo of both the film's bottom as well as its ending.

Notwithstanding the above criticisms, the movie was a delightful, hopeful tribute to the Biblical story of Joseph. Its redemptive theme and Christian viewpoint on the hard topic of forgiveness is worth the price of admission and is a promising initial effort by Watermark Films. The movie wisely used its limited resources in the areas it needed to – storyline and acting. It is a meaningful contribution to movie making in light of an era when the industry has produced such a voluminous amount of drivel.