A Father's Promise

I wanted so much to love this, for precious Daniel Barden's sake, but as much as I love and care about this child I never met, it was all the more reason I came away from this so frustrated.

This made me hate the democrats even more than I thought I could. They are truly evil, and they only pretend to give a damn about innocent children and ordinary people's grief when it may benefit them, at least the politicians featured in the archival footage of this film. The democrats jumped all over the Sandy Hook shooting when it happened because they want guns taken, all of them, and all for the wrong reasons. That makes everyone opposed to having their 2nd amendment rights violated, believe insanity like "Sandy Hook was all a hoax", which anyone who thinks that is just as effing stupid and extreme as the modern liberals.

Life is all about balance. If there is one piece of advice I could give to the world, and what I believe to be humanity's greatest flaw, it is that. I'm not for taking guns away, absolutely not, I'm for what Sandy Hook Promise, Nicole Hockley, and Mark Barden are trying to fight for, and say that they want, which is balanced and rational, and that is not to allow civilians to own automatic rifles, and to make it mandatory for training and background checks to be given to anyone who wants to purchase a gun. Like getting your driver's license, it should be mandatory to take safety courses, and tests, in order to have a license to carry. I hate the democrats for worming their way into this and the families, pretending to be on their sides for their own political gain.

If its a matter of safety like the conservatives are saying, and again, I agree, especially living in Memphis TN, then handguns and standard hunting rifles are all civilians need. The only way a total of 20 children were riddled with 3 to 11 bullets each, is because the shooter was able to have such a powerful weapon. If he had had something less, then maybe 10 kids would have died that day, not 20. Anything more powerful than handguns and rifles, and you are just trying to stroke your ego, or do something worse.

I will always remember these children, and that horrific tragedy, but this documentary could have been so much more, with better editing, and time spent. I only gave this as many stars as I did for the Barden family, and all the other families. Precious Daniel deserved a better documentary made about his life, and his presence, something that wasn't infiltrated by leftist politics and their pretending to care for the upcoming election.

Greetings again from the darkness. For viewers who value unlimited gun rights over the safety of children, this documentary will probably not convince you otherwise. For everyone else, it's a gut-wrenching story. Mark Barden and his wife Jacqueline have experienced two devastating events in their lives. On December 14, 2012, their young son Daniel was one of twenty first-graders and six teachers shot to death while at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. Barden then dedicated his life to getting legislation passed that would help prevent such tragedies in the future. He and his family were in Washington DC when the Manchen-Toomey Public Safety and Second Amendment Rights Protection Act failed to pass.

Imagine the pain of losing a young son in a school shooting, and then have lawmakers at the federal government level tell you that they place more value on the shooter's rights than your own kid's safety. If it weren't true, it would be unthinkable.

Documentarian Rick Korn's previous project, HARRY CHAPIN: WHEN IN DOUBT, DO SOMETHING (2020), chronicled the singer's life story, and this time out, he discovers music plays a key role in Mark Barden's life. We get a brief background on Mark's childhood and how he became a rising musician in the Nashville scene as an enormously talented guitarist. It's where he met his wife, Jacqueline, and they ultimately moved to Newtown to raise their three children (Daniel was the youngest).

After the shooting, Mark admits he was "re-wired as a person". Music was something he had shared with Daniel and now was not something he could pursue. Instead, he committed to activism ... even as additional mass shootings occurred around the country. His calm, yet passionate demeanor, and ability to articulate pain and a reasonable and worthy path forward, made him a welcome speaker as he pursued legislation for background checks.

It took some time before Mark was able to let music back into his life. Some in the music community joined in to show that 'music can transcend the spoken word'. Derek Trucks, Susan Tedeschi, Karen Fairchild, Sheryl Crow, and Bernie Williams (former NY Yankee), all joined Mark on his mission ... as did many others. As Mark played guitar, it motivated his daughter Natalie to join in singing, as well as taking up the torch for activism.

We learn about the 26 new playgrounds named in honor of the Sandy Hook victims, and we learn of the work of Sandy Hook Promise, an organization formed to drive awareness and change. Director Korn covers much of what's happened since 2012 in regard to mass shootings and the citizen push for some gun control measures. This includes the 2022 Uvalde, Texas shooting and the ensuing impassioned "What are we doing?" plea from Senator Chris Murphy. This is also likely the first time John Lennon's "Bed-in for Peace" has been mentioned so closely to the name of Alex Jones, someone whose story is so disgusting, we can assume you already know. The film solidifies a couple of thoughts for us: Mark Barden is a man to respect, and we can continue to hope that the lobby for rational thought will someday be as strong as the lobby for unlimited gun rights.

The film had its world premiere and opened theatrically on Friday, December 8th in Manhattan. Additional cities to follow.