So you want me to review this? Fine,
here's your freakin' review! Numerous people have asked me to go over
this gem of a film even though they mostly already know my thoughts
on it and the only reason I haven't done it already is because I know
a lot of people who will freak out over it. I am of course talking
about the surprisingly profitable 2014 Christian drama film God's
Not Dead. Before I begin, I think it would be helpful to point
out that I am an Evangelical Christian. Therefore, I think I am
qualified to fairly critique this film, especially since (as we'll
see) God's Not Dead was made
with people like me in mind. And as always, these are simply my own
opinions so feel free to disagree. Also: spoilers
ahead.
We begin with Josh
Wheaton (Shane Harper) on his first day of college as he heads to his
first-year philosophy class, which is taught by Professor Radisson.
The professor is played by Kevin Sorbo, who honestly gives the only
solid performance in the whole flick. Radisson is an overbearing,
arrogant, yet slightly insecure teacher who wants to save time by
avoiding pointless debates and so he tries to force all of his
students to declare that “God is dead”. But Josh can't do it
because it conflicts with his faith. Appalled, Radisson then
arbitrarily challenges Josh to a series of debates judged by the
students to prove God's existence, which will result in the wasted
time Radisson was trying to avoid. If Josh loses, he fails the
course.
Yeah,
I'm sure this is all kinds of legal. But instead of, you know, doing
something sensible like speaking to the dean or contacting a human
rights tribunal, Josh decides to commit all of his time and effort
towards defending his faith and winning the debate. (Yeah, this is
one of those college movies where the main character seems to work
only at one course. I guess he's choosing to fail the others?) The
problem with this debate is that it doesn't please Kara, Josh's
girlfriend of six years, also a Christian, but evidently not a very
good one. She wants him to throw the debate because she thinks that
losing will hurt his chances of becoming a professional...
something-or-other, it wasn't very specific. Upon learning of his
intentions to see the debate through, Kara dumps Josh. Really? After
being together through all of high school and (I'm assuming) most of
middle school, this is
what ends it? After this scene Kara simply vanishes from the rest of
the movie, and what's more, Josh doesn't even seem all that bothered
by this loss. So yeah, they must've had a lousy relationship.
In the
meantime, we have a multitude of undercooked subplots that we need
catching up on; thank goodness that they're full of people speaking
in plain expository dialogue for us. One of these people is Amy, a
stereotypical, obnoxious, atheist, left-wing blogger who (I'm not
kidding) confronts Duck Dynasty's
Willie Robertson about how hunting and praying on national television
is bad. You sure you don't want to ask him about the gays instead?
(Lol, couldn't resist!) Amy is dating a self-absorbed, douchebag,
rich, businessman named Mark (also atheist). Or at least she was
before she broke the news to him that she's found out that she has
possibly terminal cancer. That's right; Mark (Dean Cain) instantly
dumps Amy because she now has cancer and he blames her for ruining
the fancy dinner they had planned that evening. This scene is so
abjectly cruel that I laugh out loud every time I see it. They
somewhat try to build a sympathetic case for Mark later on by having
him visit his dementia-stricken mother, but by that point it's
hopeless; the guy even treats his own mother
like crap, too. There's another subplot about Mark's sister Mina. It
turns out that Mina (a Christian) is dating Radisson, who talks down
to her every chance he gets, even going so far as to humiliate her in
front of his colleagues at a dinner party. What a jerk! Why does she
like this guy? Subplot #7832 focuses on Reverend Dave, a local pastor
whose rental cars keep stalling, preventing him and his friend Jude
from going on a road trip to Knott's Berry Farm. Riveting...
Nevertheless, this does afford him the chance to give guidance to a
girl named Ayisha. Yes, in our last subplot we follow Ayisha, a
student from a Muslim family who keeps her Christian faith a secret
from her father. But her good-for-nothing little brother tattles on
her, leading to Ayisha's dad beating the ever-loving crap out of her
and throwing her out into the street!
Are
you starting to notice a pattern here? Pretty much every
non-Christian character in God's Not Dead
is a horrible, completely unlikable caricature of an atheist. I've
often heard this movie being characterized as a straw man film and I
can kind of see why. Rather than building convincing arguments and
putting forth some thought-provoking ideas of its own, God's
Not Dead seems more content to
point out the flaws and issues surrounding its atheist characters.
Granted, those issues are sometimes why people in the real world
don't accept the gospel, but not to the extremes seen here. Real life
isn't often this black-and-white. And wouldn't you believe, half of
these secondary plots have nothing to do with learning whether or not
God exists – which is, you know, the whole point of the movie!
Anyways, at first
the debate doesn't go very well for Josh. But this doesn't stop
Professor Radisson from tracking him down, cornering him, and
threatening him into stop “making a fool out of [him]” in his
class in an unexpected, over-the-top manner. As the debates go on,
and as Radisson's wife/girlfriend (finally) leaves him, Josh begins
building momentum and winning over some classmates to his side. In
the final debate, Josh gains the upper hand, forcing Radisson to
admit that he hates God because He didn't save the young professor's
mother despite the prayers. Pretty much everybody in the class then
declares Josh to be the debate's winner, including Martin, a foreign
student from China whose father has forbidden him to talk about God
lest his whole family back at home become blacklisted.
After this, the
different plots all start to converge upon this Newsboys (a real-life
Christian pop-rock band) concert at the thinly-veiled not-Staples
Center. (By the way, this concert and band was amusingly
over-promoted, ad absurdum throughout the whole film.) Here Amy tries
another spiteful, backhanded interview, but instead breaks down and
ends up praying along with the band members. It seems that everybody
wants to go see the Newsboys; Ayisha is there, Mina is there, and so
is Josh, who takes Martin with him. Willie Robertson is also there to
tell the audience – both the concert's and the film's – to spam
message everyone they know the words “God's not dead”, which they
all do. Well, I hope you like the USA, Martin, because you probably
won't be allowed to go back home now! Willie and the Newsboys
congratulate Josh on his efforts; yes, apparently the debate has
somehow become major news.
Even Professor
Radisson, now struggling with his beliefs, wants a piece of this
action and starts heading for this rockin' concert. On his way there
he gets mowed down by an SUV and left for dead. But that's OK,
because Reverend Dave and Jude are there to guide him through a
deathbed conversion in his final moments. “This is a cause for
celebration, my friend,” says Jude, in spite of the corpse still
lying right in front of them. Also, Dave took the dead man's mobile
phone. What a nice guy. And so our movie draws to a close. (By the
way, Ayisha's story remains unresolved, so yeah, I'm going to go
ahead and assume that she's now homeless.)
And that's God's
Not Dead, a very one-sided, unfocused, poorly acted (except for
Kevin Sorbo) straw man film. Aside from those issues, the movie just
looks cheap – like, straight-to-DVD quality. The editing and camera
work is uninspired, although there are a few funny shots of Radisson
looming over and watching Josh like some kind of Batman villain.
But by far the
biggest problem with God's Not Dead was just how wasteful it
was; it is a film that challenges no one. It was made for people who don't want to learn anything new, people who already know what they
want to hear and are only looking for their beliefs to be validated.
This movie won't make Christians rethink their beliefs and it won't
challenge their faith. Likewise, it probably won't win over many
non-Christians because it isn't trying to present a fair conversation
about whether or not God exists. This movie is simply preaching to
the choir. A wasted opportunity. I'm guessing non-Christians will
probably dislike this film. However, some friends and I have found
that it's good for a laugh; to me at least, this movie falls firmly
within the so-bad-it's-good category.
Now if you liked
God's Not Dead, then that's OK. More power to you. I'm not
here to take that away from you. I'm just stating my opinion on it,
and personally I guess I just wanted something more
thought-provoking.
Rating: one out of
five.
P.S. - If you are a
fan of God's Not Dead, and you're thinking “What the heck,
man. You just crapped all over my favourite movie,” don't worry.
Next week I'll be a little more constructive; stay tuned for my list
of things that could have been done to make God's Not Dead better.
See you then.
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