my parents, tim & jill, diana and i hoped to see this one together on our date night, but unfortunately it was sold out. later the next week diana and i went on our own to see it. first off, i must confess, i was not looking forward to seeing this. my hesitation had nothing to do with the storyline, its about a husband and wife who are on the edge of divorce when the husbands dad convinces him to try a 40 day plan to win her back. rather, my hesitation came from the back that it stars kirk cameron and is a christian movie. i have seen my share of christian movies, and i have not been impressed. the general perception is that christian movies are for actors and writers who cant make it in hollywood, leading to most of them being quite terrible. its a perception that is rightly deserved in most cases. knowing this, i was not too keen on seeing it, but i must say, i was completely shocked at how good it actually was! the story was well written and well told, the actors did a good job in their roles, and the relationship is surprisingly realistic! kirk cameron does a great job of getting us to believe his struggles and desire to fix it and find a change in his life. the relationship stuff works well, as does the comedy relief: cameron is a fireman who spends much of his time working at the fire station. the other guys working there are quite funny and allow for some great laughs. there is even a couple action sequences involving a car wreck and a burning house- a little something for everyone!my mom and dad saw is soon after we did, i talked to my dad about it and he said it best: this is a movie that every married couple should see. i totally agree.
oh, and on a side note, kirk cameron looks exactly like my brother. it was really, really creepy...
i was very surprised by this movie. i went in expecting some hack job, tearing apart bush and totally making fun of him. it is directed by oliver stone, after all. but i was shocked to see a moving portrait of a man who struggled with his place in an aristocratic family, an ivy league school, and huge expectations placed on him. it shows him constantly failing and disappointing his father. after he tries to get life under control he finds God. another situation i would have thought that they would mock him about, but the movie never looks down on him for his faith, it just explains how that faith drove him forward. a portrait is painted of a man struggling with his family and himself trying to do right by God. he finds himself in over his head, mostly through bad advice and good intentions. bush is portrayed as a modest man of modest dreams who is called to reach for the stars, but just cant quite reach high enough. everyone in the film does an amazing job, josh brolin is pitch perfect as bush, as are the rest of the cast. the actors dont so much do impressions as try and convey the spirit of each person through their performance. well, except for thandie newton as condie rice which almost ruins the whole movie! everyone was going for subtle, but she seems to be going for SNL...
