Hidden Secrets

I try hard to give a lot of 'grace' to films from such a tight genre. The Christian movie scene has been glutted with really BAD films. But since Sherwood Pictures came along, there seems to be a marked improvement. When I saw that John Schneider had jumped into this I thought it had to be as good as Facing The Giants or Flywheel. BOY WAS I WRONG.

About every cliché Christian situation is going on here. The acting is HORRIBLE. Schneider is really good - the rest of them just climbed out of the choir loft to help out.

Some questions: Who roofs a house in their nice slacks and dress shoes? What church in America features that many different races? What church member in America is so vocally obnoxious during a worship service? Why is Building 429 playing at a secular bar? Why is "the big chill" band reunion just an overdub of Building 429? The same band that just finished singing? I could go on.

I went to the test screening - was audibly laughing out loud at the sorry quality of the film. Fortunately there was only 3 other people there.

Come on Christians - you don't have to sacrifice proper evaluation just because the movie is on our side. Be real - this one was an embarrassment.

This movie just popped up on my YouTube, & I thought I'd watch it because I saw John Schneider was in it. After about 10-15 minutes, it seemed so cliche' that I almost turned it off but didn't have anything better to do so I finished it. I will say without giving anything away that it really stepped up in the last 40 minutes and actually became interesting. As a sinner saved by grace myself, I like that it delves into hard themes and shows legalistic thinking for what it is...hypocrisy. Of course, John Schneider was the best actor in the film, but the others were good, too. It certainly is worth giving a watch to see for oneself.

If you told me that somebody decided to make a Christian version of The Big Chill, I'd be both intrigued and scared by the idea. It would involve a lot of dull talky scenes and most likely cringe-inducingly bad attempts at comedy as well as a ham-fisted moral lesson with all the brevity and subtlety of watching Superman fight General Zod.

That being said, let's look at Hidden Secrets.

In this film-

Wait, "Hidden Secrets"? If something is a secret, then it's meant to stay hidden and if something is hidden then by its very status is is something hidden!

When the title of your film creates a potential feedback loop, you're in trouble.

A man named David has just died.

How did he die? Well, he died because Plot is a cruel cinematic goddess who demands fictional blood be spilled in her unholy name.

David's sister Sherry has to make arrangements for his burial and that includes calling his friends to gather for the event.

While the opening credits roll, we see various characters preparing for a funeral

Yes, this is a character-driven Christian movie. Consider yourself warned.

To be fair, whenever the characters have a philosophical or theological discussion, the film borders on watchable. But just when you find yourself ready to describe a scene as 'tolerable' the script will crack the whip and force the actors to do something comedic. And the results vary from 'terrible' to 'soul-crushing.'

And most of the soul-crushing comes from Rhonda.

Oh, I cannot do this review without discussing a witch called Rhonda. She's meant to represent the judgmental, prideful, super Christian who drives people into Satan worship. Sometimes she's gently abrasive ( like a sandpaper swipe against a naked eyeball) and other times she is so hyper-zealous that she leaps beyond Rude and blossoms into Abusive.

Rhonda and Gary (John Scheider) have a little verbal collision when she learns that he works in stem cell research. I don't get enough manufactured drama reading X-Men comics, so moments like these warm my heart, just like spicy food.

Shocked, Rhonda runs back into the house and tells Sherry that Gary is no better than a murdering abortionist (and depending on whom you ask, that phrase sounds redundant). Going into Godly Overdrive, Rhonda almost shrieks that God's judgment will fall on the place because of him and I can only imagine that her unborn child is trying to squeak out, "Lady, this woman does not speak for me, I'm only along for the ride and the free food."

Exasperated, Sherry forcefully reminds Rhonda that she just put her own brother in the ground so maybe they should talk about this later.

DINGDINGDINGDINGDINGDINGDINGDINGDINGDINGDING!!!!!!

We have our First Moment Of True Entertainment in this movie!

Rhonda storms off, because compassion is something that happens to other Christians.

That entire sequence is just one (ONE!) example of what we get from Rhonda. Every time she opens her mouth, a part of you will shrivel in fear because By The Audience This Movie Dumbs, Something Annoying This Way Comes.

Have no fear though, since the other characters are less hate-inducing but that doesn't help.

Jeremy (who used to love Shelley) and Rachel are having relationship woes and the fact that Jeremy is forced to interact with Shelley isn't helping.

During a painfully long and uninteresting roofing montage, the guys start discussing why Jeremy and Sherry broke up. This is a good question: why can't two blandly blonde people get along? Jeremy doesn't know why she dumped him and the breakup did affect his faith. He admits to doing a few things he wasn't proud of.

It's okay, we don't blame you for Second Glance.*

There are so many horrible non-moments that I can't possibly recount them all here.

The actors all look embarrassed when they try to sound funny and bored otherwise. The only ones really trying are John Schneider as Gary the atheist and David A. R. White as Jeremy the…..guy.

*imdb it!

Given the rise in more aggressively made, and marketed, conservative films, many of which see Christ as nothing more than an excuse for a dollar sign, there's something almost admirable about the aims of this film. The characters have genuine conversations. They aren't there.to rant and rave. They go to great lengths to skewer a character whose excessive bitterness and judgmental behavior mirrors much of this movement today. And the performances are, for the most part, fine - certainly no worse than you'd see in many higher budgeted productions.

You do have to wonder if the film is trying to reach new audiences or is just preaching to the choir, but I can't exactly criticize the film for not being mealy-mouthed and instead being honest about its views on any number of hot topics (abortion, homosexuality, Judaism, a wife's role in a marriage, saving yourself for marriage).

There is one particular moment where the propaganda is unsure enough of viewer response that it needs to double down. The film's token gay character (well-played by Corin Nemec) gives a speech about being celibate and the difficulties in avoiding temptation. You're left being somewhat impressed with the restraint...until there's a few lines letting us know he was abused as a child, and another brief moment late in the film letting us know he'd almost killed himself a few days earlier. I'm sure the idea is meant to be comforting, and if people do find comfort in the character, I'm happy for them, but the pile-on.of trauma and loneliness serves as a reminder of just how demoralizing what is intended as an inspirational message can be.

I agree with Pat Chris. This was probably the finest Christian film I've ever seen. I was so involved with the real life circumstances that I didn't even bother to critique the film-making.

It's real life movie making. Outstanding. I hope I see many more like it.

In hindsight, the structure of the "working out" of the issues weren't as fluid or as realistic as one would hope to see, but there's only so much time in a movie and they did what could with what they had.

I heartily recommend it to anyone who wants to see "reality" in Christian film-making yet without the unnecessary garbage of inappropriateness. I have added it to my collection.

Update:

I've seen the movie a couple more times and its weaknesses are a bit more evident, but nevertheless, the acting overall was quite good and the messages in the movie are so practical and just as importantly, it doesn't have that "lame Christian movie" look and feel that so many have.

If you relate to that moniker, and would like to watch Christian movies that are a clear step above, then I think this will not disappoint.