Gimme that old-time religion -- but maybe just not on film: Shawn Justice's RECONCILER

TrustMovies makes it a point to try to view a 'Christian' movie once a year (which is a lot more often than he goes to church), and this year he is getting it out of the way early via a film entitled RECONCILER, directed and co-written (with Scott Galbraith) by Shawn Justice, shown below. The film is relatively short (just 86 minutes) and has a storyline that encompasses everything from a kidnap mystery and the supernatural (some would call this religion; I call it otherworldly) to estranged brothers, a devolving police partnership (shown at bottom), a father-son conflict, the importance of giving to religious charities, and of course faith in god.

The problem with most faith-based films I've seen is that their first intention is always to teach a lesson about the importance of faith in Jesus and god. And since I personally feel that this is the least of what human beings should be doing right now (or ever) and instead should be placing their faith in what they can see and hear and feel and understand with some rationality rather than a concept that organized religion (of all kinds) puts in place to keep power where it always remains -- with the wealthy and already powerful -- I find most of these faith-based films near-farcical and something that indeed preaches to the choir.

Reconciler (formerly known as The Reconciler), while doing absolutely all of the above, is at least a bit more entertaining than some of its brethren movies because it involves a kind of mystery: Who is kidnapping all these people and making them remain locked up in some way until they can solve their differences? It is also generally well-acted enough to not make one cringe. After a very nice opening (above), the movie begins bouncing back and forth between this original kidnap tale and that of a reporter who has been assigned by her editor to do some sort of investigation of the state of America and religion. Then, thanks to another "reporter" who is one of the kidnap victims, we start bouncing between various other tales involving the kidnapper's work -- who has evidently done this before to various estranged families and workplace partners.

That editor mentioned earlier is played by the late Roddy Piper (above), the wrestler-turned-actor who starred in one of the classic sci-fi/political films of all time, They Live. Here, Piper has a very small role, but he makes a perfectly professional job of it. The DVD also offers a very nice tribute to Mr. Piper from the director and his cast and crew. (That's newcomer Levi Davis, below, who plays the movie's needy son.)

Movie-wise, Mr. Justice has a lot to learn about storytelling and how to handle exposition. His film does seem to clunk along in second gear most of the way. On the plus side, he had roped in an attractive cast of actors, including a set of twins (Jeremy and Jourdan Steel) who play the kidnapped brothers, and he lets them all do their thing -- while the soundtrack provides some faith-based soft-rock music which makes a fine accompaniment to the simplistic message of "Come back to god, people!" A sweet and happy, feel-good ending offers up absolutely nothing to offend -- or to challenge.

You can find Reconciler on DVD now, available at Walmart stores across the country. Once February hits, it will spread to other venues, too. You can learn more about the film by clicking here.

Want an indie alternative to those Grey Shades? Rik Swartzwelder's OLD FASHIONED hits screens

“I don’t believe dating trains us to be good husbands and wives. It trains us to be skilled in the superficial.” So states a certain Clay Walsh, the sweet, stodgy but awfully hunky hero of  OLD FASHIONED, a guy who will neither step into a single woman's abode when she's alone nor allow her into his. Not until they're married, or there-abouts. Well, Clay, I would have to argue that your statement depends on what kind of "dating" one has in mind. Timed intention-ally to open on the same day as that expected-to-be-a-sexual-behemoth Fifty Shades of Grey, this new-fangled, ancient-idea movie -- written and directed by and starring Rik Swartzwelder (shown below) in the role of Clay -- turns out to be a reasonably enjoyable if predictable experience.

Almost from the first frame, the viewer also meets a young lady named Amber (a spunky, smart performance by Elizabeth Roberts, shown below), traveling to a new town with her cat in tow, and just happening to rent an apartment from our Clay. From the outset, it is clear that the movie-maker means these two souls to be destined for each other, but unfortunately it takes nearly two full hours to get them to that destination.

And yet... Getting there provides a certain amount of fun because the journey, as they say, is often as important as the arrival. I should tell you upfront, maybe warn you, that Old Fashioned is one of those Christian faith-based movies that come with increasing frequency from a little studio known as PureFlix. And although you won't find the movie mentioned on the PureFlix web site (even when you do a search for it), you can spot the logo in the credits themselves and on the poster, shown at top.

However, unlike some of the PureFlix films I've encountered, this one does not preach Jesus at you till you're ready to cry uncle. There's only a single scene taking place in a church and little mention of Christian specifics. Further, there is an important-to-the-plot, inter-racial couple (the soon-to-be-hubby of which is played by LeJon Woods, above) shown in the film, and even a nod or two to Judaism, if I'm not mistaken. So this is not your usual white-southern-fundamentalist bullshit. For this alone, plus the charm of its two leading performers, I was ready to give the movie at least a passing grade.

More than that? I'm not so sure. For all his hang-back civility and just-repressed-enough-to-be-very-hot sexuality as a performer, in his writer mode, Mr. Swartzwelder comes up somewhat short. His characters must be pretty much all or nothing examples -- for the good, as demonstrated by our Clay, or for the bad, as his college friend who still possess a frat-boy mentality, played by Tyler Hollinger (above), so crassly embodies.

The movie finally does not even make good on its initial premise that modern dating is superficial. For all the pretty scenery, landscapes, sky, clouds and "non-dates" that involves toasting marshmallows (above) or furniture-making (below), we don't really know -- in anything approaching a deep fashion -- much more about who these people are at the end of the film than we did at the beginning. They both seem superficially "chaste," just as another couple might seem superficially "lewd" because they've chosen to explore their sexuality while dating.

But at least Old Fashioned comes off as relatively non-denominational in its faith-basedness -- the single prayer around the dinner table of Clay's smart aunt (a nice job by Dorothy Silver, below) is a silent one -- and there is actually some suspense produced by our wondering just how long this perfect-for-each-other pair can be kept apart by plot shenanigans such as the sudden return of an old girlfriend or Clay's crisis-of-faith.

There is also some decent humor provided initially by Amber's means of getting Clay to handle his "landlordly" duties and thus be able to at least converse with him. There are also a strained bachelor party scene, a bit of a mystery regarding Clay's checkered past, and even some rather sophisticated inter-cutting of two scenes early on that shows some exploration of film technique.

So if the slick-and-textured look of wealth and bondage promised by Fifty Shades leaves you cold or simply hankering for something a little more cozy and sweet, try a dose of Old Fashioned -- which opens on Valentine's weekend in theaters literally all across the country. Distributed theatrically by Freestyle Releasing, and running 115 minutes, in the L.A. area, it plays the Torrance Rolling Hills 20 and in New York City at the Regal E-Walk. You can check out all the many playdates, with cities and theaters shown, by clicking here and scrolling down, down, down.....

God's back -- and Pure Flix has got him! Gabriel Sabloff's film, REVELATION ROAD: THE BEGINNING OF THE END, hits DVD

TrustMovies watching a Christian movie? Yes, indeed. He tries to do this at least once yearly, just to note what those proselytizing folk of a certain faith are up to, film-wise. Whether it's something like Alleged (which attempts, poorly, to counter Darwinism) or What If... (which tells, and pretty well, a Christian-themed fairy-tale/fantasy), it is interesting, if generally depressing, to watch faith trump reality time and again with nary a nod to actual history, science (which, unlike "faith" and those "scriptures," grows and changes over time), psychology or for that matter poor, tired humanity itself.

This year's watch is a little movie with a very long title -- REVELATION ROAD: THE BEGINNING OF THE END -- far too lengthy to fit most movie marquees, so I am guessing that it must be god's will that it's going straight to DVD (and Blu-ray soon after). Note to film buffs: Do not mix this one up with either Reservation Road or Revolutionary Road, or you'll be in for a big surprise.

Directed, co-written and edited by Gabriel Sabloff, shown above, and starring David A.R. White (below, who is evidently Christian film's current go-to guy for leading roles) and Brian Bosworth, the former football player and short-time movie action star, who now seems to have graduated into villain roles (which, if this film is any indication, prove a better fit than did his attempts at playing hero during the 1990s).

Mr. Sabloff brings a professional eye to the visuals and gets decent performances from his actors. He hasn't staged the film's biggest action/gunfight scene very well, however, so that we don't at all believe that the threesome of two good guys and a gal could possibly survive the onslaught from a biker gang headed by Bosworth (shown sneering below).

This scene, which takes place at a roadside gas station/
convenience store, introduces us to the "family" that takes in the character Mr. White portrays, a man who clearly has been some kind of assassin or government operative and is now trying to live down his past. In these movies, the best way to do that, of course, is to become a Christian, so the store owner, played by the always capable Ray Wise (below, who often wipes the floor with the actors who surround him) goes into "conversion" mode.

By this point you will have noticed that rather a lot of bizarre storm and lightning effects have dotted the screen periodically, indicating, perhaps, god's wrath. (Or perhaps his goodness: He's so damned inscrutable, that god. Sometimes I think he must be, well, Asian!). All this leads to -- that's right -- The Rapture, a staple of these Christian films. As shown here, though it doesn't hold a candle to the version in the movie of that same name by Michael Tolkin, it still has its charms.

As does this entire, silly little film -- which will "convert-some-more" the already converted and leave the rest of us to chuckle and/or snicker, depending on our tolerance for fantasy passing itself off as religion. Or is it the reverse? In any case, those who enjoy this sort of thing will have more in store, as the finale leaves the door wide open for a sequel (or three) -- in which Logan White (pictured below), the lady who plays Bosworth's naughty-but-nice daughter, is sure to have more to do.

Revelation Road: The Beginning of the End, from Pure Flix, hits the street on DVD this Tuesday, March 12, with a Blu-ray version expected the month following on April 16.

PARADISE RECOVERED? Not quite--but for a Christian movie, this one's at least worthy

The first thing we hear is one of those Christian radio broadcasts informing us that America was founded as a Christian nation. So what? It was also founded as a slave nation. Let's start again. Whoops: here's a supposedly good Christian family making a big show of praying to god--in public, yet--even though Jesus exhorted his flock not to make such a show of things but rather to pray in private. Once again it's that "direct pipeline to god" that these people claim to have that rankles TrustMovies most. But wait: As we get farther into the new-to-DVD movie PARADISE RECOVERED, it appears that the filmmakers share this view. Shockingly enough, here's a Christian film that acknowledges doubt and is willing to accept non-believers as worthwhile, without insisting on converting them. Well, at least not right away...

The film's director Storme Wood (shown at left) and writer Andie Redwine insist on giving us a wider and fairer picture of Christians, particularly the fundamentalist type, than we're used to seeing on film (try Alleged, What If... or Suing the Devil for examples of the other sort), and the effect is bracing and worthwhile. The story deals with a young woman named Esther who has become part of a splinter sect that, the more we learn about it and its "rules," the more it begins to sound like a mash-up of the looniest parts of Christian Science, Seventh Day Adventists and low-end Christian Fundamentalism, southern style. And, yes, it turns out to be run by a television evangelist who leaves something to be desired in the ethics department.

Esther, played by Heather Wallis (above) with an interesting combination of reticence and slow-burning fire, lives with the preacher of the local branch of this sect and has become a kind of live-in maid for his family and the prospective bride for his son. But because times are bad economically, she asks if she can take a job in a local health food store, where the manager --- a nice kid named Gabriel (Dane Seth Hurlburt) -- takes a shine to her.

Young Mr. Hurlburt (above left, with Oliver Luke, who plays his goofy friend Mark) projects a genuine sweetness that never smacks of anything more or less than a decent and kind young man trying to make his way in the world--and with Esther. Hurlburt a has sweet sense of irony and a low-key charm that helps keep the movie on track. The rest of the cast, all unknown by me prior to now, are pleasantly professional and allow the movie to roll along in tune. Their characters, as written by Ms Redwine and directed by Mr. Woode, are also a bit more nuanced than one finds in many would-be Christian movies.

The preacher's son, for instance, well-played by Austin Chittim, (above, right) is no villain; he's just out for his own best interests and want to take Esther along for the ride. As pleasantly enjoyable as the movie initially is, it grows more obvious and less believable as it heads into a climax that is far too easily achieved.

Along the way there are also some too-heavy-handed scenes -- Esther's make-over (above) is one of these -- that make you wish the filmmakers had stuck with their earlier, quieter moves. (Esther also looks a hell of lot better before her supposed make-over than she does after it. Whether the director and his crew realize this is up for grabs.)

Still, it's such a nice surprise to find a religious movie that allows space and time for beliefs other than its own, that I'd recommend Paradise Recovered for this alone -- not to mention its able cast and budding talent behind the camera. Interestingly, the movie has achieved only a 2.4 rating on the IMDB. Whether this comes from fundamentalists taking out their ire on a film that finds fault with their unthinking surety, I don't know. But I wouldn't be surprised. The movie (95 minutes, from Monarch Home Entertainment) makes its DVD debut this Tuesday, April 24, after playing the 2010 Heartland and Austin Film Festivals.

A juicy Malcolm McDowell in Tim Chey's SUING THE DEVIL: good, Christian schlock

TrustMovies understood even better the bedrock appeal of Christian fundamentalism from the very beginning of the scripture-thumping movie SUING THE DEVIL, when the film's hero, Luke (played by an angry, too-often one-note Bart Bronson), tells us what a terrible year he's had and then wonders aloud, "Why does the good lord let Satan get away with so much?" You'll notice that there is no mention of either Luke, himself, or the rest of us poor humans in his query.  Nope: He and we are off the hook because the responsibility for bad stuff, doncha know, lies solely in the lap of the good lord -- or with that other fellow, down below.

Granted, toward the end of the film, personal responsibility does rear its little head. But like so much else in this silly Aussie/American mish-mash of a movie, it carries only tendentious sermonizing rather than any real weight. Satan -- as played with lip-smacking villainy by one of the world's great lip-smackers, Malcolm McDowell (below) -- is indeed sued by Luke and, for reasons known only to the movie-maker (writer/director Tim Chey, shown at left), decides to make an appearance in court -- bringing with him a battery of the world's finest (and of course sleaziest) lawyers to defend himself. How the court -- its judge, jurors and attendees, not to mention the media -- actually knows this guy is the real Satan is as cursorily handled as everything else in the movie. You either shrug and buy it wholesale, or simply stop watching. The "surprise ending" (I guess you could call it this) reduces the entire affair to pointlessness, in any case.

To give just one example of lazy screenwriting, "Are you really Satan," asks one woman of McDowell, as he approaches the courthouse. He grabs her and twirls her around, as he says, "How about a little dance with Satan?" Well, I ask, why not "How about a little dance with the devil?" Get some variety, not to mention some alliteration, into your screenplay, please.

At another point, Satan yells out, "You're all losers!" and one tends to agree with the guy. Our hero Luke (above) is said to be a genius, but the basis for this assessment is never remotely visible. And when his co-attorney tells him "That was amazing!" after a particularly ludicrous courtroom scene, you'll realize that all this is only working for those already converted. Further, Luke has a "mother" scene in court that is beyond embarrassing in its heavy-handed faux emotions.

In terms of any kind of law, lawyering or judicial believability (that's Ros Gentle, above, as the judge), the movie simply stinks. McDowell does get one good speech at the film's climax, which he delivers with relish. The denouement, however, is just another sermon, and then as previously noted, the ending pulls the rug out from under everything that has taken place. Overall, Suing the Devil deserves a big, fat raspberry.

One further note of interest: Mr McDowell is listed in the credits as the film's producer. This is at least the actor's second brush with fundamentalism in the movies (watch, if you can bear it, The List, for another example). One dearly hopes that this sort of thing will not becomes a habit for this fine actor. Suing the Devil made its nationwide On-Demand debut this week (check your local TV reception provider for details), and it is also available for pre-order via Apple iTunes.

Kevin Sorbo and Kristy Swanson in Dallas Jenkins' Christianity-themed WHAT IF...

What if Hercules found Jesus?  What if an angel, disguised as a tow-truck driver, showed him how his life should have turned out?  What if his career as a fast-track investment wizard paled beside the chance to be the preacher at a little white church?  What if a Christian sermon in the shape of a two-hour movie presented itself for your viewing pleasure?  Would you bite -- while hoping to high heaven that the movie itself did not?

WHAT IF..., no surprise, is the title of the film in question, and to be honest, it's not Hercules who finds Jesus, but rather another character played by actor Kevin Sorbo, the very ship-shape fellow whose career took off when he starred in the popular television series as that Greek hero of antiquity. That was fifteen years ago. In the meantime the man has learned to act -- and do it pretty well -- if this film, directed by actor/producer/director Dallas Jenkins (shown at right) is any indication. Sorbo, shown below, plays Ben Walker, a man who walked out on his girlfriend years before and, due to religious circumstances beyond his control, is suddenly thrust into the life he might have led, had he not done that "walking."

Films these days seems to be arriving to TrustMovies in themed pairs: two surfing movies in the same number of weeks, and now two Christian films over the same time period: last week's The Least Among You and this one -- which is by far the more slickly produced: soft rock music, nearly "name" actors, and a real feel for the kind of sentimental, feel-good goo that mainly-TV-watching, mainstream Americans might enjoy. And all of it bundled neatly into a package clearly labeled Christianity's the only answer.

If you're already familiar with this blog, you're no doubt wondering why an agnostic reprobate like me would even bother with a film that wears its religion on its sleeve (and on its shoes, pants and undergarments). Well, I received a request to take a look at this movie, so I did. And now my comments will address both the film as film and as proselytizing.  As to the former, think of What If as a kind of Jimmy Stewart/Donna Reed-lite: It's a Pretty Good Life -- pleasant, competently acted, written and directed, all-in-all quite professionally put together. And awfully predictable.

If religion were not almost always front and center, we might better be able to overlook the movie's proselytizing. But from the moment, early on, that the angel (played by John Ratzenberger, above, as a chummy, no-nonsense kind of guy as ready with his fist as with his mouth) corners our hero, forcing him to play along with everything because it's all god's doing, the film begins pounding away.  The already-converted will likely love it; others may roll their eyes.

The movie is full of signs and signals: The fish insignia on the car; how often the Bible is quoted; the heavy-handed, pre-marriage counseling session; the near-total white breaded-ness and single faith of the populace of the town where everything good happens to our hero -- whose younger daughter (one of those wise-beyond-her-years mini-adults) comes out with a prayer that is nearly barf-inducing in its sanctimoniousness.  And yet, "Everything in life boils down to this," we are told. Sorry: everything in life does not boil to anything this simple-minded.  It would, of course, if we gave it our "total surrender," as the angel explains is necessary -- and which all fundamentalist religions demand of their followers, whether they be the Christians in this film, right-wing zealots in Israel who want to destroy Palestinians, or the Muslim men who flew into the World Trade Center towers.  As usual, when you're right, you're right. No questions, no comments, no deviations.

Through all of this Mr Sorbo is very good. He's aging well, still looks real and possesses the kind of speed and intelligence that is able to quickly register depth and complicated thought processes (as in the moment in which he realizes that his older daughter is a "negotiator" and consequently a chip off the old block) in ways that I don't recall him doing earlier in his career. Kristy Swanson (above and below) is fine, too, as the woman he left behind, though she is called upon to do little but be the good Christian wife who stands by her man -- once she has helped corral him back to the wonders of his former religion.

What If, from PureFlix, began its theatrical run a couple of weeks ago in select theaters around the country and will continue playing in many cities nationwide the country during this end-of-summer/into-the-fall season. Click here to find cities, dates and theaters.  Look for a DVD release in early 2011.