Thread to discuss the movie. Post comments if you’ve seen it or plan to see it.
The previews look really good. It’s a comedy with a Christian message. I think they kept it fun without getting preachy. YMMV
Basically a washed up former child actor is required by his Community Service sentence to perform in a Christian Passion Play. Naturally this egotistical jerk wants to play the biggest and most important role, Jesus. He’s trying to con these people that he’s a Christian. He eventually begins to change and actually get interested in the church.
Opens everywhere Jan 20. But there’s a special preview Jan 19 that I plan to attend.
I thought about opening a thread on this, but didn’t think of much of substance to say about it–I just find it very amusing that in the TV commercials, they always call the movie “Gavin Stone” even while showing the full title. Obviously they don’t want to say “The Resurrection of…” but in the process make the movie sound very boring and generic (much like calling John Carter of Mars “John Carter”)
As for the movie itself, it looks like a very, very generic, low-budget film like usually goes straight to basic cable. In a case of very strange bedfellows, it is being pushed into theaters by promotion by professional wrestling.
Fish don’t know that they are wet. For you, that trailer looks fine–for non-Christians (or even for non-conservative protestant Christians) that trailer looks hyperbolicly over the top preachy (and with the ending a foregone conclusion.) But that’s okay–movies like this don’t attract audiences outside their niche (and certainly don’t convert people) so might as well preach hard to the choir.
(My prediction for Rotten Tomatoes rating–a single-digit number, unless there are so few reviewers that it is skewed towards publications in the target audience.)
Just watched the trailer.
Looks like a film made for one of the Hallmark Channels. That’s not a slam, it just has all the beats, character types and plot “twists” that make up the friendly movies those cable channels air.
I see about 50 movies in the theater every year, and even with that amount I make sure the movies I’m paying $10 a pop to see are worth the time, money and big screen presentation. A movie like this I don’t see fulfilling those requirements.
Just for curiosity, what is considered a Christian themed movie? I watch and enjoy some Christmas movies, The Bishop’s Wife, It’s a Wonderful Life. I’ve also watched things like Going My Way and The Bells of St. Mary’s. These are pretty overtly Christian, and I don’t consider them too preachy. There’s also some less overtly Christian Movies. Is Sister Act Christian themed? It’s got nuns. How about We’re No Angels?
Not so much a Christian themed movie, but a Christian movie. I believe that distinction is important. A Christian themed movie involves people living out aspects of Christian culture. A Christian movie is about someone learning that they are actually a piece of scum, that Christians Are Right, and have a Conversion Experience, as Gavin Stone so very obviously will by the end of the movie.
An example of a Christian movie that I’ve seen is The Last Sin Eater. This is about a community of American settlers that believes that people’s sins can be taken on by someone known as a “sin eater,” who himself lives as a scapegoat outcast when he is not needed to take on people’s sins. Then a traveling preacher comes into town and teaches the people that the “sin eater” thing is all a bunch of silly superstitions, and that they really need to turn to Jesus for the forgiveness of their sins. People are saved, happy ending, credits roll.
Or, well, take a look at this trailer, where we learn that the good guy must change the future in which *people are able to watch movies where people can blaspheme! *(The same kind of people today have to be warned when a movie contains the word “gosh” or shows women in shorts.) Or C Me Dance (which has other fun reviews on the web and on Youtube, along with the whole movie–what do you know of hell, creature?)
I’d say the Christian Film genre is about movies made by and for Christian audiences. They tend to be fairly cheesy and family-oriented, and show Christianity in a good light.
Some recent examples have been quite successful in the US - Fireproof, God is not dead, The War Room.
I’d argue that Sister Act’s relation with religion is purely superficial, in the sense that Whoopi Goildberg could have ended up in a Shaolin monastery or a group of cyberpunk cosplayer nerds- it’s a movie for general audiences in a Catholic setting.
Just saw the preview for The Shack, another apparently Christian themed movie. It’s interesting how all of these movies encourage people to attend in packs. I guess they can’t expect people to actually come and see movies as individuals, but have to shame their church congregations into coming together.
That may not matter, as the audience for this sort of film isn’t responsive to critical reviews. Now, if their pastors say bad things about it, that might affect its performance.
Okay, that explains why on the Thursday afternoon before release there are 0 reviews listed on Rotten Tomatoes. (And there probably won’t be any late Thursday night showings.)
Religious films generally like to avoid previews for reviewers because they know it does hurt the box office. If the target demo didn’t care at all about reviews, the distributors wouldn’t avoid reviews.
Getting the name of the movie into the pages of local newspapers is cheap publicity after all. Clearly the " … as long as they spell my name right." attitude doesn’t hold here.
(xXx: Return of Xander Cage was slow to show reviews. Suggesting a stinker. It’s at 60% at RT but a small number of reviewers. Maybe a stinkette once more are in?)
I disregard movies that present misinformation – like The Bishop’s Wife and It’s A Wonderful Life which present angels as dead humans. I also don’t think either of these is Christian-themed. They aren’t presenting the beliefs of Christianity with the goal of converting anyone.
I’d say there are two types of “Christian movies”. Ones that show the characters living life in Christian ways, and the good that comes from that (not that offensive to non-believers), and the movies that show their audience how very very special Christians are, and how evil everyone else is (God is Not Dead, the Left Behind series - very offsenive).
The movie has to show that Christianity is real, correct and special. So It’s A Wonderful Life is not such a movie. In the movie, God is real, and people are believers, but that’s just “normal.” George is rewarded by a visit from his guardian angel not because he is a special Christian, he gets the visit because he is a special* human*. A subtle difference. (It still might be offensive to non-believers, but that isn’t the movie’s reason to exist.)
A movie can even have it’s core theme be Christian, such as City of Angels, the Prophecy, or The Rapture, and not be a “Christian” movie. For example, you can watch a vampire movie, knowing full well that vampires don’t exist, but in the world of the movie you can accept that they do, and enjoy the movie. Same with the angels in IAWL. You don’t have to believe in angels to empathize with Seth in City of Angels*, and the sacrifice he made for love. That story can resonate with anyone who did that. But “Christian” movies assume the audience does believe as the filmmakers do, and that belief is necessary to enjoy the movie.
*Yes, yes, people hate that movie. Well, I don’t. so let it go.
Yeah, and it is perfectly fine to make movies for a specific audience (there are many, many movies that I’m not the target audience for.) But it is interesting to see the level of insular cluelessness that goes on with some of these movies. I remember back when (the first version of) Left Behind was about to hit theaters, groups were encouraging people to bring as many “lost” friends, family, and colleges as possible to see the movie, sure that the movie would be so compelling it would lead to a large number of salvations. And the aforementioned C Me Dance, which the director/writer/producer/male lead similarly thought would be appealing and enlightening to a general audience.
(It goes for non-religious movies, too–I remember a soundbite interview with a woman who camped out for tickets for Gigli, assuming that there would be sell-out crowds.)
I like to call movies like Rosemary’s Baby, The Exorcist, The Omen and The Prophecy “Christian mythology”, since their plots center around Christian beliefs (in exorcism, angels, demons, etc) even if those beliefs arose after the Bible was written.
And, by the way, The Prophecy is one of my favorite movies with a fun performance by Christopher Walken.
