In the beginning, we are faced with a character who is a terrible father and husband, a ruthless salesman, is in debt, and is lost in faith. This movie supposes that only addressing one of those issues is enough to solve all of his combined problems (I'll leave it to you to guess which one...) Still, chronicling one man's discovery of faith isn't this movie's problem, and in fact it could have been it's main strength; Christian values have their places in movie dramas, but this movie uses charm as an excuse for blandness and its boasted do-it-yourself/preaching attitude as a cover up for uninspired writing/acting. It's especially painful when the movie reaches the end of the road and makes its point halfway through the running time, but then decides to spend the rest of the scenes rubbing our faces in it, making sure that it's ingrained enough in your head.
Most of all, even though this movie has a lot to say about what we should believe in, one thing the writers definitely don't believe in is a personal conscience - the power of oneself to extend goodwill to others based on right and wrong, not because a threatening God is judging everything you do. I guess I just have a little more hope for humanity than they do....
If Carl Dreyer could see how low the state of spiritual movies has fallen, he would be rolling in his grave.
Most of all, even though this movie has a lot to say about what we should believe in, one thing the writers definitely don't believe in is a personal conscience - the power of oneself to extend goodwill to others based on right and wrong, not because a threatening God is judging everything you do. I guess I just have a little more hope for humanity than they do....
If Carl Dreyer could see how low the state of spiritual movies has fallen, he would be rolling in his grave.