Faith Based

I accidentally came across this project. I do not fully understand what really interested me - the title, the abstract or the poster. But I firmly decided to spend 4 hours of my time watching this video.

And he did not regret it.

It's hard for me to call what I watched a comedy. To be honest, I smiled only in two moments and never once laughed out loud.

But there is something in this film. The picture is not full of philosophical meanings about the meaning of being and true friendship. The characters make you feel for them. Perhaps you can see yourself in them - an adventurous and talented person who cannot or does not want to put all of himself into business or simply find his niche in life.

It's a 7/10 and not a point below. I recommend watching.

I want to dispel a seemingly common belief about this film: this film is NOT about dogging on people of faith, or Christianity. Instead, it exists as a satirical commentary on people who exploit the faith of others for financial gain, which admittedly, has the potential to be a huge problem for the faith in general. Arguably, if the critique is listened to, it could ultimately serve the church well. Christians are hungry for wholesome media, and this is continually exploited by money-driven production companies who care more about the bottom line than quality/production value, and have no incentive to deliver a great product because there's not really any alternative for people who are looking for faith-based media.

Luke and Tanner's characters' imperfections serve the story line well and make an otherwise absurd undertaking feel oddly relatable, in a way almost reminiscent of the way The Good Place's four central humans. Tanner is an id-driven player who finds meaningful connection as he learns to serve something bigger than himself. Luke struggles to find acceptance in places where he feels like an outsider and learns the importance of being honest and following through on promises, and making keepable promises in the first place.

They really, truly nail the church parts. Parts of the film took me immediately back too my religious days over a decade ago, but in a good way; the feelings it brought back bordered on a pleasant nostalgia and I didn't feel antagonized for formerly having that belief system.

The movie is comical, and light/easy watching. A great film to watch while chilling out after work. The execution and production value is exceptional when you consider how low the budget was; the only truly "bad" parts are the parts that are supposed to be bad.

My one criticism is that of the tangential love story in it: I wish that it had been a bit more fleshed out. Tanner's love interest almost feels like whatever the conservative Christian/evangelical answer to a manic pixie dream girl is in some ways. We don't really learn about her much at all, but she seems responsible for a large portion of Tanner's character development. I wish we could have seen more of that relationship grow and the timeline around it felt a little clouded.

Overall, it's a solid film with an interesting premise. Can't wait to see what Tanner, Luke, and Lone Suspect do in the future.

Go in to it expecting what it is, a low budget indie comedy and enjoy the ride. Faith Based tells the story of two friends who are stuck in the doldrums of life and then decide that they want to get rich making a Faith Based film. It is silly, it has drug use and foul language and it is brings laughter along the way. Slows down a little towards the 3/4 point of the film, but finishes strong enough.

While it touches on sensitive topics and could have been mean-spirited or cruel it is none of those things. If anything it actually leaves you the feeling that each person should do their own thing and that's cool. There is poking of fun and humor about religion, but its a pretty good story.

I actually ended up watching it second time because a friend wanted to see it and found it to be worth the re-watch, there are little details in the scenes that you may miss the first time. The jokes and humor are still good, some even better, the second time around.

Plot had potential but didn't deliver. Seems like it was filmed in a few days without much thought.

Even the premise of the film isn't that original but I wanted to give it a shot, since Jason Alexander was in it and could be a fun movie to laugh along for an hour or so.

What a giant let down. I did chuckle a few times at the beginning, but gradually it turns out none of the jokes are landing, none of the characters are well established, and you find yourself not rooting for anybody in the film because nobody has a developed character.

I get that the film is low budget, but the plot didn't need to be this ham-fisted and devoid of any interest whatsoever. There are better student films on a lower budget than this.