When a film is described as “faith-based”, it seems to be a seal of fate for audiences who are ready to will it away if they don’t necessarily share the same beliefs. For filmmakers, it’s a tactic to deflect those same movie goers (and some critics) away from their work. But Overcomer, the latest film from Alex Kendrick (Fireproof, Courageous, War Room), could be a watershed for both sides.
Let There Be Light, a directorial feature debut from Hercules’ Kevin Sorbo, is the latest entry in the faith-based sub-genre. This Christian family film has been a passion project of Sorbo’s, with an added bonus of being able to work closely with his wife, Sam (who co-wrote the script with The Hurricane’s Dan Gordon). While mirroring certain details of God’s Not Dead (another devout drama Kevin Sorbo starred in as a similar atheist), Let There Be Light gives audiences…
Let There Be Light is a gratuitous entry into the popular faith-based sub-genre, but it acknowledges some interesting albeit heavy-handed ideas about being open to change.
The Devout is a new addition to the faith-based genre, and it’s actually a pretty cool flick. You don’t often hear “cool” in the same discussion as recent faith-based cinema, so I assume I already have your attention.
God’s Not Dead had an interesting concept, but a boring execution. It made me feel bad for the teenage extras who had to sit through pages of long-winded dialogue as a devout student went toe-to-toe with his atheist professor.
By: Addison Wylie I believe the saying goes: everybody gets one. Screenwriters Chuck Konzelman and Cary Solomon got theirs last year with the highly successful faith-based picture God’s Not Dead. I was indifferent towards the film featuring an Atheist professor and his devout student debating God’s existence because I genuinely felt the screenwriters didn’t know any better. I even shrugged off the tasteless ending where the film flips the ultimate bird towards non-believers. A year later, I’m…
By: Addison Wylie I go out of my way to see faith-based movies – I’m oddly obsessed with them. Not because of the beliefs and not necessarily for the theatregoing experience itself, but because for two-hours, I get a glimpse into a whole other world. A world where prayer can be described as the only reliable resource and be discussed as a way to salvation, and problems can be solved by asking the lord for…
By: Addison Wylie God’s Not Dead – one of the many mainstream films to be released this year that central around religion – is a project that’s easy for select opinionated movie goers to pile on. With its earnest ambitions and its obvious preferences as to who the film is geared towards, some are ready to stamp Harold Cronk’s movie as manipulative pap just by viewing the trailer. Well, curiosity got the best of me…
