HardSteelMill

Before watching "The Getaway," I thought it would be a decent, entertaining, 70s-style action film - not a classic, but a solid, enjoyable movie. Steve McQueen was known as one of the first "cool" movie stars, and rightly so. Sam Peckinpah was known for directing movies that were violent, stylish, and fast-paced. With "The Getaway" he scored one out of three. What little violence there is isn't even entertaining, since it's not "action," per se, but rather criminals murdering other criminals.

For a story about bank robbers on the run from the police and other criminals, "The Getaway" is surprisingly lifeless and anemic. The plot has no drive or momentum. There are a couple of head-scratching segments that seem completely out of place, as if the screenwriter ran out of ideas and had to stop and think for fifteen minutes before writing the next scene. On top of all that, Steve McQueen and Ali MacGraw both play unsympathetic characters, and the numerous scenes with Al Lettieri and the woman who becomes his hostage/lover just hurt your eyes.

"The Getaway" has no redeeming qualities: it's boring, it's unpleasant, it's sleazy, it's too long, and the plot makes little sense. In fact, if this movie had been made with an unknown director and unknown cast, it's unlikely that it would be known today at all. That's how bad "The Getaway" is.

"Tengers" has been marketed with taglines such as "A Small Adult Comedy with a Big Kid's Heart," and "Political Correctness Challenged," neither of which does the film justice or describes it accurately. Rather, it is an animated black comedy about a very dark subject: violent crime. However, violent crime itself is never treated as an object of humor. Instead, the film deals with the dehumanizing effects of living in a very violent, dangerous place like urban South Africa. Even if you're not a victim, you're still affected. Characters respond in very different ways: some try to honor the victims of violent crime, some try to grasp onto anything that will make them feel more valuable or important, and some become criminals themselves. At one point, a character wonders what it would be like to be proud of being from a certain area instead of ashamed of the problems associated with it. Another character nods in agreement, as a theft occurs right outside.

The stop-motion animation is pretty raw, with characters made out of clay living in a bleak urban landscape, but it suffices for the subject and tone of the film. "Tengers" is decidedly not for children, with a character referring to his region as the "murder capital of the world," and the film featuring one of the most genuinely shocking moments in any animated movie I have ever seen. But if you're reading this review at all, you could probably figure out that it's not for kids. If you're an adult, and don't mind unusual animated films with very serious undertones, consider it recommended. The last lines of dialogue are particularly great.

"A criminal threatens to destroy Washington, D.C. with a nuclear bomb unless seven people with 200+ IQs can solve all the world's problems in one night." How's that for the premise of a Christian film? It sure beats "A pop star struggles with her faith," or "A man must convince his brother-in-law of the importance of Christ in the Christmas season." A lot of people, including many Christians, dislike Christian films because:

1. They tend to be lower-budget and lower-quality, cinematically speaking, then most other films.

2. In an attempt to be "family friendly" and "wholesome," they often avoid or trivialize serious issues.

While "The Genius Club" can't overcome the first criticism, it seems as if the filmmakers recognized the second criticism, and decided to make a film that does nothing but address serious issues. Welcome to a Christian film that is not family-friendly. I can't think of a single other Christian film where characters make statements like, "Cancer hasn't been cured because that would mean the loss of millions of jobs in a booming health care industry."

"Solving the world's problems" takes the form of a debate between the seven genius characters and the villain. As time goes on, the stakes get higher, and they go from talking about things like politics and war to things like good and evil. As long as the debate is going on, which is most of the film, the dialogue is pretty well-thought-out and covers deep ground (it slacks off during the breaks, though). You might expect a character to make a statement implying that all the world's problems would be solved if everyone became Christians, but that does not happen. Instead, the film's thesis seems to be that we need to let of greed, let go of hate, and love one another. One of the seven is a seminary student and another is an atheist, and there is some debate about God, Jesus, and religion, but it is not antagonistic like in, say, "God's Not Dead," since the seven characters are seen as working together against a common adversary. Actually, the villain here is a more reasonable and rational character than the professor in "God's Not Dead."

Overall, I enjoyed "The Genius Club" as much as I enjoy movies that I would normally give an "8," but I have to give it a "7" instead, since some of the dialogue and acting was very unconvincing, especially towards the very beginning and the very end. Even so, I consider it one of the better Christian films I have seen, as it has meatier and more mature content than most others. I recommend it to people who are open- minded about Christianity and, for that matter, budgets.