The manipulated path
First, I'd like to say that I love God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit.
Having said that, on the other hand, I cannot stand much of the hypocritical and bigoted religious preaching and narratives. And this is the problem with most films with God, Christ or religious themes, they always fall into the same trap of the corny and manipulated way of telling a story, because religion itself, unlike God and Jesus Christ, tends to be hypocritical and prejudiced, and this film, even though it's a true story, prefers to be religious than Christian.
Cinematically is excellent, from the photography and editing, to the direction, filters and production, everything is impeccable, the only things that fluctuate a little are the soundtrack (excellent songs from the 60s and 70, but terrible original score) and some actors, where we have great performances by Jonathan Roumie, Kimberly Williams-Paisley and Kelsey Grammer against very weak by Joel Courtney, Anna Grace Barlow and Ally Ioannides.
If cinematographically it's in a high level (which justifies me not giving it a very low rating), conceptually it's more of the same among religious films, hypocritical, corny and empty, which is a shame, because as a Christian I'd like to watch higher content in terms of true human nature and spirituality.
Starting with the characters, 99% white and 100% heterosexual, and ending with the true story itself, which omits that Lonnie Frisbee was homosexual and drug user and that Greg Laurie was an anti-LGBT radical, the film opts for a vaseline and superficial script, which once again tries to convert people into the concepts of social hypocrisy, typical of the vast majority of the churches of the world.
I may be wrong, but my way of seeing God and Christ is very far from this proposal, much more focused on the concepts of love, truth and spirit than religious dogmas and social prejudices, even though I have often admired some specific ceremonies and religious texts, as well as I really like sacred art and music.
8 out of 10 for the cinematographic quality itself and also for the courage to make a film involving God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit at a time when mankind is increasingly distancing itself from spirituality and treating spiritual things as crap, and 1 out of 10 unfortunately for choosing the manipulated and hypocritical regiligious/church path once again. Trying to strengthen the pros more than the cons: a final 6 out of 10.
Having said that, on the other hand, I cannot stand much of the hypocritical and bigoted religious preaching and narratives. And this is the problem with most films with God, Christ or religious themes, they always fall into the same trap of the corny and manipulated way of telling a story, because religion itself, unlike God and Jesus Christ, tends to be hypocritical and prejudiced, and this film, even though it's a true story, prefers to be religious than Christian.
Cinematically is excellent, from the photography and editing, to the direction, filters and production, everything is impeccable, the only things that fluctuate a little are the soundtrack (excellent songs from the 60s and 70, but terrible original score) and some actors, where we have great performances by Jonathan Roumie, Kimberly Williams-Paisley and Kelsey Grammer against very weak by Joel Courtney, Anna Grace Barlow and Ally Ioannides.
If cinematographically it's in a high level (which justifies me not giving it a very low rating), conceptually it's more of the same among religious films, hypocritical, corny and empty, which is a shame, because as a Christian I'd like to watch higher content in terms of true human nature and spirituality.
Starting with the characters, 99% white and 100% heterosexual, and ending with the true story itself, which omits that Lonnie Frisbee was homosexual and drug user and that Greg Laurie was an anti-LGBT radical, the film opts for a vaseline and superficial script, which once again tries to convert people into the concepts of social hypocrisy, typical of the vast majority of the churches of the world.
I may be wrong, but my way of seeing God and Christ is very far from this proposal, much more focused on the concepts of love, truth and spirit than religious dogmas and social prejudices, even though I have often admired some specific ceremonies and religious texts, as well as I really like sacred art and music.
8 out of 10 for the cinematographic quality itself and also for the courage to make a film involving God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit at a time when mankind is increasingly distancing itself from spirituality and treating spiritual things as crap, and 1 out of 10 unfortunately for choosing the manipulated and hypocritical regiligious/church path once again. Trying to strengthen the pros more than the cons: a final 6 out of 10.
- Skipfishh
- Jan 1, 2024