BootDigest Such a frustrating disappointment

Intcatinfo A Masterpiece!

Baseshment I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

Mandeep Tyson The acting in this movie is really good.

TheCinemaMan Other reviews have more than adequately covered the excellence in this film. There are only a couple of observations to be made that will, hopefully, distinguish this review from being simply a rehash. I don't hold with the blithe accusation of the Mac character as being a 'racist'. After all, his son was killed by a black person so of course he's going to have strong feelings about that especially give the very strong memories that he carried for Toby years after his death. Whatever feelings there might be re "race", they played a far distant second fiddle to this. The second item of note is that the movie was shot on a Red camera! This digital beauty shows how far things have come in the digital age: it isn't obvious that this is a digitally based production. Finally, special nod needs to be given to the, yup, special features. The "making of" is itself a mini drama and Memphis is to be heartily congratulated for its unusual support, dedication and just plain unselfish giving.

dhenry68 I came across this movie quite by accident, or maybe divine intervention. I say that because this movie come to me at a time where it 's message helped me. This movie may suffer in ratings as mainstream people tend to shy away from 'religious movies' as they're called. This movie does not preach. Instead it uses a good storyline to teach a valuable lesson. Mainly we learn to put things in context, and that many people out there who are mean, or horrible to others are themselves hurt. The walking wounded who become bitter and set on a path of destruction. If we can see the other person's hurt, we can understand where they are coming from and possibly meet them half way. Instead of hating them, we need to love them. The movie itself tells of the strained family relations after a devastating accident, how the even changes the family members individually and how one person't faith can indeed make a difference. It's a story about grief, growth, healing, family, and salvation. There is one part of the movie that warrants being written down and remembered; I know I did that! I am very thankful for this movie and think that like minded and open minded people will enjoy it. Happy viewing.

pastorjeff-989-167211 I thought Director David Evans first foray into directing was well done. While he necessarily had to tip toe around some of the thematic elements in order to maintain an acceptable rating for his target audience, he avoided some of the pitfalls of other Christian movies that tended to sanitize the movie by showing the characters offer up a simple prayer of salvation,or a need to God and magically life came together for them. David Evans, allows us to wittiness the inner turmoil of the characters, and their struggles to make sense of the issues they face.-Mack struggling with the loss of His son, and the turmoil and degradation of his family that is the result of his own unresolved anger which has turned to bitterness and borders on hatred for all of humanity. Simultaneously we see Pastor Sam as he struggles with loving his neighbor(Mac) whom is a racist. These are complex issues that certainly could have been explored more in depth with a larger budget, professional actors, and an R rating, but given the circumstances, and purpose of this film, I think the movie does an excellent job of allowing the audience to make the connections to the deeper issues at play. I wish all Christian based movies had the courage to tackle such while doing an equally good job of resisting the urge to put God in a box and relegate him to a fairy God mother sitting around waiting for His followers to offer up a prayer request that he can snap His fingers and answer in a 2 hour time frame. I give it 8 stars, but rate it 10 above to off set the lack of grace that many professional critics will use when rating this film.

editor-530 I knew nothing about the movie before seeing it, except I heard a brief rave on Christian radio so I was inclined to go. Even though I am giving this film a 6 out of 10, I was touched and moved by several scenes. The low score is due to the heavy handed feel of the film, and the choppy editing that made the acting seem worse than it was. My wife thought the acting was amateurish, but I think bad directing, editing and camera work made their acting seem worse than it was.Michael Joiner's character, Bill McDonald, was unrealistically morose. He blames himself for the death of his first child and resents the second child who lives 17 years later. I blame the director for the character' unrealistic grief. I think it would have been more realistic if he tried to put on a normal demeanor, kidding around and striving to be professional with bursts of behavior that would betray the underlying grief and anger that he carried around.Another example of directing that should have changed regards the son Blake (played by Robert Erikson) after the counselor (who is a Christian) suggests the son try to reach out to the hurting father. For the amount of conflict that had already been established between father and son, I felt the portrayal of the boy's effort to be nice was too sunny and cheerful. The director should have had more struggle on the son's part to be nice for it to be believable.As for Bill McDonald's recently assigned partner, Sam Wright (played by Michael Higgenbottom), who also was a black pastor promoted as a police Sargent, I thought the Christian family portrayed was too happy and loving. It was almost stereotypical of Christians. Particularly concerning Sam's regard for his missing father. It was like the missing father was only written into the story to be a touchstone of sympathy for Sam's character when he talked to Bill. Otherwise it was a meaningless element of the story that should have been built up to give more realistic depth to Sam's character and family.Nevertheless, the film had an edifying message, so I don't regret seeing the movie.