Directed by: Jon Erwin and Andrew Erwin
Starring: KJ Apa, Britt Robertson, Gary Sinise, Shania Twain, Nathan Dean
I Still Believe is a faith-based romance about Christian singer Jeremy Camp (Apa), who rose to fame after the death of his first wife from cancer. I didn't give away a spoiler. He meets the beautiful Melissa (Robertson) while as a roadie for Jean Luc (Dean), another rising Christian music star.
Jeremy spots Melissa in the audience, and it's love at first sight. Jeremy and Melissa are a good-looking couple and seem nice enough, but their conversations are either about God or the universe.
They must get stuck when trying to discuss the weather. The same goes for nearly everyone else in the movie.
The issue with certain faith-based movies I've seen is that the characters, even ones based on real people, are simply vessels for screenwriters Jon Erwin and Jon Gunn's awkward dialogue about faith and spirituality. The people in I Still Believe don't discuss anything else; not the weather, not their individual likes or dislikes...nothing. Surely, Christians talk about other things than their faith sometimes, no?
Apa and Robertson are appealing, and the people in I Still Believe don't have a mean bone in their bodies. But they are not allowed to be human, unless their faith is tested because Jeremy's wife is stricken with cancer at age 20 and his younger brother was born with birth defects. As pretty as Apa and Robertson are, they are not helped by being given such dullards to play. When Melissa spouts off about God's plans for her and shining stars, I can't imagine Jeremy's eyes not glazing over. Gary Sinise and Shania Twain are also featured in the cast, and maybe have ten lines between them.
Jeremy performs some songs, which don't really distinguish themselves much, but the epilogue states he's won awards and sold over five million albums in his career, so someone obviously liked them.
The Erwins are not subtle in foreshadowing what will happen in a scene and thus robbing it of its power. Late in the film, a distraught Jeremy enters his room and the lingering closeup on his guitar sitting on the floor lets us know it will likely be smashed to pieces. Or later while Jeremy is performing, a pretty young lady is seen walking around and we know she will one day be Jeremy's new love interest.
I've seen previous Erwin Brothers films such as Moms' Night Out and I Can Only Imagine. Each film, including this one, is handled with the subtlety of a sledgehammer to the face. Is there a way to make a faith-based film that isn't treated with such heavy handedness? Maybe there is. I just have yet to witness it.
All you non-Christian critics of faith based movies need to put your distaste away for Christianianity. In today's world of hate, the Love of God is the only way we are going to get through the hate that is being spewed on an ever increasing level. Please take a moment and put yourselves in the shoes of God fearing people and be tolerant of how we feel. Isn't that what you on the left are always 'preaching' to us?? I see NO tolerance from the left, and it is getting more and more critical by the day. We need more Gid in our lives, and more people living as God loved us by sacrificing his son for us so we can actually have a loving relationship with him. The more we push God out of our lives, the more the world gets messed up. Movies like 'I Still Believe', 'I Can Only Imagine', 'Courageous' to name a few are just examples of movies about our struggles and how faith in God can help us to persevere and come out stronger on the other side. My only hope is that those who show an indifference to God and his believers somehow get the point about God and his love and then we become a stronger and better people because of it. Stop the hate and look inward and upward and maybe you will realize what you are missing and come to believe. I Still Believe that God can overcome those who hate in this world and turn us around...can you believe??? GOD bless us all.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate your thoughtful feedback. You took the time to read my review and comment on it, and I thank you for that. My goal here was to review the movie, not Christianity or any sort of faith. I do not equate giving an unfavorable review to a faith-based movie to rejecting someone's belief or spreading hate or intolerance. I base my reviews on whether a movie accomplished what it set out to do, and while many may feel I Still Believe did just that, I thought it fell short due to the reasons I specified. I respect your right to disagree with me and to bring your own views to the table...it comes with the territory.
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