Mr. E
After a recent view of "I'm in Love with a Church Girl" this reviewer can readily see what is happening with American Evangelical Christianity's love affair with the materialistic world-view. From the very first scene one can tell directly that the film was made as an evangelistic tool to draw in a certain element of society caught up in the very real world of drugs and crime. However the portrayal of this world is presented in such an unrealistic way that it is hard to imagine that any goal could be accomplished in reaching this certain target audience. What is clear, is that this movie sets out to establish that American Evangelical Christianity can give you more than the world has to offer; in fact, it can beat the world at its own game! From the very first scene of presenting 'cool' Christian rap music that is portrayed as just as good if not better than the world's music without 'sounding lame' we can see the setup. Christian Rap is hardcore after all. When the main character Miles went to church as a kid, it had lame music after all. What? Not anymore. Christians got the cool music. Everyone wants to be cool after all. Duh!How about the cool worship pastor with the white Lamborghini and gangsta clothing? Looks to me like he made it bigger than Miles with this game! He didn't even have to sell any drugs! Again, Miles was bored out of his mind as a kid with traditional worship, but now he has a cool guy that can relate to him! WERD! I need to get me some of that! And the 'church girl'? It's okay to go date a thug, because missionary dating is cool! In fact, girls, get out there and get to work! It will all work out in the end! Just ignore your crazy strict mom when she asks your non-Christian boyfriend some simple questions. She does not understand! Mom, it will turnout all right! Don't worry so much! To top it all off, once you get caught for your wicked lifestyle you can always just say a prayer, and it's all good! You can even keep your material goods! Because, it's all about you!What's not to love about a Materialistic world-view?
Amari-Sali
Like many people, when I saw this film I was cautious because it had all the signs of being bad. A rapper turned actor; a Baldwin brother; Michael Madsen; and then former Cheetah Girl Adrienne Bailon. Then, to add on top of all that, the title itself lets it be well known that this is a faith based film. Heck, God is listed as an executive producer to show you what type of direction the film will have.Characters & StoryThe story for the movie deals with one Miles Montego (played by Ja Rule) who is a former gangster who seemed to get out just at the right time and go legit. But, though he may have left the thug life, he still hasn't dropped the people he used to roll with who lead the DEA and IRS to watching him. He doesn't take much note of them though and still works in his legit business of creating events. For example, in the film, he has one event called the "Old School Funk Fest."But, even with a million dollar home, $300,000 dollar car, loving parents and friends, the man is missing something in his life. Enter Vanessa (played by Adrienne Bailon) who re-introduces him to the idea of a love in god as he finds love through her. Leading us to watch the two fall in love, as Miles rediscovers his faith.Praise One thing I must admit, I came into this movie with the lowest expectations possible and yet was surprised by how much I enjoyed the film. Ja Rule, I think, could possible fit that gap DMX left once he started handling his life the way he has, and could possibly just as much play a gangster as he could a love interest. Bailon too was also a bit surprising. Though her character wasn't well defined, she still played a good enough love interest to make it so you could see why a man who could have anyone, like Miles could, would want her by his side.Also, I must admit I liked how there was some attempt at not having any of the groups in the film be undeniable protagonist or antagonist. Mind you, the DEA/IRS seem a little prejudice when you first meet them as they question how Miles has all his wealth, but with time some of them you realize are just doing their job. This even, to a point, extends to Miles' friends. Though we see them threaten lives, bust people's windows and sometimes act like they are in a rap video, at the same time you see this friendship between them and Miles which shows that there is something more to them than simply what is visually presented on screen.Criticism Leading to one of the big criticisms I have with the film, outside of Miles, no character gets a lot of development. Bailon's Vanessa, for example, has one line about her future and life outside of Miles in which we can assume she maybe in college trying to be a doctor, a nurse, or something in the medical field. Outside of that, she is a love interest with a strong, almost cult-like, love for Jesus. Which leads to another big issue in the film: it is alienating. Throughout the film, there is such a heavy handed approach to making sure you know this is a movie about Christians and what a faith in god means to them, and could mean to you, that it sometimes drowns out genuinely decent scenes.Then, to make things worse, not only are you drowned with Christian faith, but when they have the film set in church the music is horrible and there is no sermon which makes you want to shout "Amen!" If anything, all you see is this mega church, a pastor in a Lamborghini and you can hear the argument in the back of your head how these people are being scammed so some guy can support a ridiculous lifestyle.Mind you, they do show some positives of going to church, like how community based it is, but I feel like the mixing of them having Miles and his friends, then having Vanessa in her means of finding god in everything, just didn't mix well. To me, it felt like they tried to balance the film by having Miles racing in his car, and having a few gangster moments, but it overall feels like the opposites don't really mix together as much as awkwardly grind side by side.Overall: TV Viewing It is hard to outright recommend this film because it is so uncompromising with the topic of faith. I'd even think someone who was a Christian would be like, "enough already, I get it. You're a Christian, surely there is something else which defines you." Then, to add onto the film's issues, it is two hours long and feels like the type of film you watch for a while, see what else is on, and then come back to it. And because of that, I say it is worth TV viewing.
KaSteesha Cosby
I was able to go experience the tour for the movie in Mississippi. All of the clips had me "coo coo for cocoa puffs' so I knew that I would be going to the theater soon. I was glad to not have been disappointed. The movie was shot really well (great cameras) and many of the actors and actresses were phenomenal. Being able to attend the tour, it was cool to know the background story of what actually happened and the connection that T-Bone had with Galley (Montego) in real life years ago. God is real, God is powerful, and God can and will redeem. The very name of Jesus sends chills through my body because of what He has done and what He is doing this very day. This movie should be able to reach anyone. It wasn't made necessarily for Christians to be entertained, but for the "yet to believe" folks to come to hear about a mighty God of grace, love, and His relentless pursuit to have an intimate relationship with His children. I received from this movie that people can't change people no matter how pure our intentions nor can we give up on others despite how things may look. God didn't give up on us in which He used someone else to share Him with us. He does the work. We are only His vessels.
cmcdermott1480
Finally Hollywood is putting out a movie that teaches values and morals without the use of guns, drugs, cursing, violence, sex, etc. This movie is so different and unique because of the fact that it had values that can actually help the youth. My wife and I left the movie feeling refreshed and positive about our society. PLEASE Hollywood, listen to the example of this movie and realize that you can actually have a positive impact on today's youth. The movie is a great story of forgiveness and redemption and it seems that some critics are putting it down because it outwardly mentions God and Jesus Christ as the source. I wish more movies were about this and used God as the focus. Look around and you will see that we have strayed far from what is moral. Maybe if we turn back to God we can live in the world that we all envision. More movies like this can help that happen. Thank God for the courage of all those involved in the movie, especially Ja-Rule.
