Movie Review: Southern Gospel

 

Michael's Movie Grade: A

A wonderful Christian film. 

What makes this film so great is that it does not simplify anything nor does it play itself strictly to a Christian audience. It wasn't too long ago that Christian films treated their messages with incredible simplicity and preached strictly to the choir. However movies like this give me hope that Christian films are truly maturing to a point where they can tackle heavy subjects (without ever talking down to its audience) and appeal an audience more diverse than who you would normally think of going to a Christian film. This movie does that wonderfully. In many ways this film is a biopic and a redemption story. It tells the story of a preacher's son, who after a tragic accident leads a life of sex, drugs and rock and roll. After finding this life empty and a near death experience, he goes back not only to his faith but to his boyhood dream of being a pastor like his dad. What is fascinating is that while most movies (even most secular ones) would focus on the emptiness of his life of sex, drugs and rock and roll, this movie instead focuses on the rocky road he goes down after giving his life back to the Lord. This that only makes this film unique for not going down the obvious route but it also makes for a movie that looks at difficult topics that most similar films would ignore. One of the big questions raised in this movie is what effect it has on our salvation and sanctification when we give our lives to the Lord but still give into our sins at times of weakness. This film does not give this question an easy answer but instead treats this complicated topic with all the complexity it deserves. The movie also doesn't lie to us and say that things will become easier after becoming a Christian. In fact the opposite happens to our main character. Though he now has a purpose in life and there is no longer the emptiness there was before, his life if anything has only gotten more difficult after he turns his life back to God. In fact this leads to scenes that are so dark and heartbreaking that they are simply hard to watch.  Yet beneath all this there is a lesson about finding hope in even our darkest moments and this message simply would be nowhere near as effective if we didn't see the darkest moments in all their bleakness. This movie also has an important message about forgiveness and again it displays this in a real and powerful way. We ourselves as the audience have a hard time forgiving some characters ourselves at times and because of this we have to learn about forgiveness just as much as our main characters. This movie never makes forgiveness look easy but does not fail to show why it is so important. 

Yet despite all this and the film having to do with a pastor, it never feels forced or preachy. Instead the message comes naturally from the story and characters. The story and the characters are also truly wonderfully. This is a film that will pull at your heartstrings and there were scenes that made me even tear up a little. Much of this is due to how wonderful our main characters are. These characters are easy to relate to and care about. They are also quite flawed individuals but this never gets in the way of us caring about them. In fact if anything it just makes them more real to us. However even the film's supporting characters and antagonists are deeper and more complex than first meets the eye. In fact some of these characters go through character arcs of their own that are often just as effective as those by our main characters. All this works heavily because of a truly great cast. There is not one weak actor or miscast actor in this film. This movie also benefits from truly great songs. These songs include some country, some gospel and some rock and roll. All of which I could easily see myself listening to even if they were not part of this movie. 

This is a truly great movie and shows a true maturity in Christian films that I hope to see continue.