Mercy Rule

As a Christian, I'm often a little disappointed by some films that come out labeled as such. Usually the writing is sub-standard and the cast has a handful of people who can act surrounded by folks who have yet to refine the skill.

"Mercy Rule" isn't just a good Christian movie, it's a quality movie in general. Kirk Cameron plays the role of John Miller, a business owner, husband, and father of two. Like any decent American boy, his son, Cody is obsessed with baseball. While the elder Miller sees his business under attack by an environmental lobbyist who is trying to regulate the business into the government control, the younger Miller is fighting to see more playing time on the ball field.

In supporting roles, Tim Hawkins plays Miller's hilarious goof-ball brother, and Bas Rutten is Cody's odd baseball coach. Both bring humor to an otherwise stressful time in the family's life.

While it's entirely plausible that a local government makes a play to take over a recycling center for political reasons, the lobbyist's character is a bit over the top.

If you're looking for a family movie, even one that isn't too preachy, this is a great choice. It's funny, clean, and teaches the importance of family and not giving up. Some of these other reviews here are clearly people angry about Christianity and famous Christians. While they are entitled to their opinion, I doubt they have watched the movie. Right now it's available on Netflix, and it's worth checking out.

Realistic people come to a film like this with sane expectations. It's low budget and it was made with the stated purpose of simply being an enjoyable film for families to watch together. In that, it succeeded.

This is, to keep it real, a movie made for Christian families, or at least for families with some sense of faith and God. It's not an evangelistic movie but is certainly one written from the Biblical world view.

The music was a bit much at times. It reminded me of Ron Howard's 1991 movie, "Backdraft" where a very good soundtrack by Hans Zimmer was overused and left me a bit worn out mentally.

And there are other things that I would have "tweeked" if Kirk Cameron would have had the decency to call and ask me before he wrapped up production. (Some of you reading this may need to be told that I am being sarcastic here.)

But compared to the incredibly immoral and filthy garbage that families have to weed through in order to find decent family viewing, this movie was a very nice piece of work. My wife doesn't like movies, but she found this to be more than just tolerable and we heard her LOL several times. That was worth the price of admission for me right there.

It's just a simple movie about persevering through trials. But I liked all of the low-paid actors (again, keeping things real) and I believe they made you love or hate the characters they played, accordingly.

One thing I was VERY happy NOT to see was some spoiled brat kid that needed smacked (it seems like nearly every "family movie" has that obnoxious teenager in it and this one did not, thankfully).

I would recommend this for family viewing. Absolutely. Other thoughts:

1. Not enough Tim Hawkins. That guy is just plain hilarious.

2. Another happy ending? I want to see a "family movie" where the family loses it's business, loses their home and still remains faithful.

3. One of the best overall casts in a low-budget Christian movie since the 2002 Rich Christiano film titled, "Time Changer".

4. Great video production. As mentioned, the music was a bit much at times (except the drastic change at the end when the little league title game is over, which was a nice change).

5. A lot of people simply hate Kirk Cameron for expressing his beliefs and convictions. But I like Kirk. And I think that will have a lot to do with whether a person likes or dislikes this film.

So, watch it and enjoy.

Don't get me wrong I love Kirk Cameron I love even corny lower budget Christian films but this....is not a movie, nor Christian. I would say about an hour of this movie is montages of music and random scenes sometimes replayed over and over again. Not sure what the point was, the storyline, it was confusing. There was no Christian point and what was with the cigarette cravings? Just awful-hate to say it but please don't waste 2 hours on this, should of turned it off at 30 minutes instead of hoping it would get better-it doesn't trust me. The people that rated this a 10 had to be staring at their phones while watching this.

Everybody has a miss from time to time and this is one for Kirk Cameron. Really disliked this chopped up, weird movie. What the heck is up with all the strange camera angles and slow motion? I don't need to watch someone fry bacon and make pancakes in slow motion. And the creepy softball coach? Is he mentally sound? Not someone who would have ever been my kids coach! Even those cute kid roles I could not get behind. This is not a fun family movie. It is boring, long & drawn out, political and stinky. I think I watched the whole movie with a look of disgust on my face. What were they thinking??

I totally got lost on this movie more than once. I was hoping for it to be a good Christian film which glorifies God. Maybe I zoned out one too many times, but I don't ever recall them honoring God, seeking God, or praising God. Yes, it was clean & wholesome, but I was expecting something along the lines of other Christian films like Fireproof, Flywheel, Facing the Giants, Courageous, God's Not Dead, etc. I realize they are different companies and should be evaluated differently, but I was not a fan of this one at all. The story didn't really seem to be going anywhere and it kind of closed up in one sequence. I love baseball and some of the things in it bothered me as well..(like why he got mad he couldn't do anything in right field, yet never once backed up the first baseman? lol) In general, it got 3 stars because it is a movie based in faith and intentions were good, but I will probably never watch it again.