Movie Review: The Jesus Music

 

Michael's Movie Grade: A- 

A truly fantastic documentary about Christian music from the late 1960's until the early 2000's.

What makes this movie work so well is the filmmaker's obvious passion for the subject matter. As you watch the film their love of Christian music shines through in every second. Everything about this movie is extremely heartfelt. This can be seen even in the interviews with the artists. They are laying everything out on the table for you to see in a completely open and honest way. There are even times when you can see them getting emotional onscreen as they talk about some of their experiences. This makes this movie much more personal to its audience than most music documentaries. The interviews also are incredibly informative and will give those who think they knew all about this type of music something they didn't know. This is not to say the entire film is simply people talking. Uses of concert and TV clips, as well as acted out reenactments of some of the musician's childhoods make this film just as must of a visual treat as an auditory one. One fear I had before watching this documentary was the sheer scope of what it was covering combined with a runtime that is less than two hours. Naturally I felt this film couldn't do justice to this whole subject. I was wrong. While this movie doesn't cover everything or every great Christian group, it gives you a strong feel of each era, how the music effected the culture around them, how the music changed and evolved and where the music come from without ever feeling rushed or forced. This was not an easy feat and I am amazed at how well it was carried off. 

This movie also addresses a serious subject that most Christian movies would shy away from. That is prejudice in the church. It does this in a very intelligent and heartfelt way. As a Christian and as someone who believes prejudice, whether it be for someone's skin color, way of expressing themselves or taste in music, should have no place in the life of a Christian, this was a message that I greatly appreciated and was very satisfied at how the filmmakers handled this. The Jesus Music is a sadly rare Christian film that will inspire much discussion after it is watched.

All in all this is a top notch documentary.