Do You Beleieve? (FILM REVIEW)
Do You Believe?
Film Review
by Kam Williams
Strangers Lives Serendipitously Intersect in Transparent Faith-Based Adventure
If you’re familiar with the Best Picture Oscar-winner Crash (2004)
and Thornton Wilder’s classic novel “The Bridge over San Luis Rey,” then you have
a decent idea of what to expect from Do You Believe? Directed by Jonathan M.
Gunn (Like Dandelion Dust), the picture is a heavy-handy faith-based flick
which relies heavily on a combination of astounding coincidences and simplistic
sermonizing to deliver its message.
The overplotted
adventure litters the screen with more storylines than most would care to keep
track of, especially since, regardless of the issue, the tension invariably builds
up to the same basic question, namely, whether or not someone is a believer. My
guess is that this absence of subtlety is apt to wear on audience members’
nerves after awhile, whether they be Christian or heathens.
To its credit, the
film does feature a talented A-List cast which includes Lee Majors, Mira
Sorvino, Cybill Shepherd and Sean Astin. Everybody throws themselves into the
production with an admirable gusto, despite their ultimately being crippled by a
mediocre script.
Among the dozen main
characters are a veteran suffering from PTSD (Joseph Julian Soria); a married couple
(Shepherd and Majors) mourning the death of their only child; a homeless widow
(Sorvino) trying to survive on the streets with her young daughter (Mackenzie
Moss); and ghetto gangstas (Senyo Amaoku and Shwayze) ostensibly operating
without a functioning conscience.
Unfortunately, the
transparent proselytizing employed here is likely to elicit the opposite response
of what the director desires. The cinematic equivalent of a Jehovah’s Witness who
won’t take “no” for an answer getting his foot stuck in your door. More of an annoying
sales pitch than an entertaining, spiritually-oriented feature.
Fair (1 star)
Rated PG-13
for mature themes, an accident scene and brief violence.
Running time: 115 minutes
Distributor: Pure
Flix Entertainment
No comments:
Post a Comment