God Bless the Broken Road
Film
Review by Kam Williams
Military
Widow Loses, Regains Faith in Cliche-Ridden Tale of Redemption
Sergeant
Darren Hill (Liam Matthews) was just days away from finishing up a
tour of duty in Afghanistan when he died during an ambush of his
unit. The shocking news
devastated his wife, Amber (Lindsay
Pulsipher), and their young daughter, Bree (Makenzie Moss).
In
fact, Amber was so embittered, she Amber stepped down as her church's
choir director, moaning, “Look where my faith in God got us.” And
pep talks from Pastor Williams (LaDainian Tomlinson) and her BFFs,
Bridgette (Jordin Sparks) and Karena (Robin Givens) fail to bring her
back into the fold.
Two
years later, and we find the grieving widow struggling to keep a roof
over her head. Waitressing at the local diner simply doesn't pay
enough to keep the bank from threatening to foreclose on her house.
When
Amber's served with a notice to vacate the premises, she borrows $800
from a loan shark at a usurious rate, a short-term fix certain to
come back to bite her. It takes hitting rock bottom for her to
rethink turning her back on God.
Thus
unfolds the opening act of God Bless the Broken Road, a faith-based
drama directed and co-written by Harold Cronk (God's Not Dead 1 and
2). Unfortunately, the cliche-ridden, modern morality play is less
concerned with character development than with hammering home a
heavy-handed message about the virtues of Christianity.
Quite
predictably, Amber's fortunes do improve, but only after her faith in
the Lord is restored. Meanwhile, the screen is littered with
one-dimensional caricatures who bear no resemblance to real people.
A
simplistic, sermonizing parable strictly for the Bible-thumping
demographic.
Fair (1
star)
Rated PG
for combat action and mature themes
Running
time: 111 minutes
Production
Studio: 10 West Studios / A Really Good Home Pictures
Studio:
Freestyle Releasing
No comments:
Post a Comment