I picked this movie because I like orphans on their own stories. I loved "About Scout", "Chestnut", "Rabbit Proof Fence", three of my 10 star ratings in the genre. Unfortunately, nowhere did I read that "Raising Izzie" was a fundamentalist Christian propaganda film with Jesus as a main character (never on screen of course). Frankly, if I want to be preached at about the miracle of prayer, or lack thereof, I want to see it advertised in the plot line.
What saved the movie from being nuked with the delete button was the relationship between the two orphans. Izzie, played by Kyla Kennedy (A Gift Horse, a much better movie I rated 8 stars) is the every optimistic little 8 (?) year old who is being taken care of by her 14 year old sister Gracie, played by Victoria Staley who is a pretty good mother. Better than most, if I do say so. What kept me watching was to see how they would survive. I really don't understand why they cast a 19 year old as 14, I suppose they wanted Gracie to appear more mature than her character's age.
The adults were disasters. I hated them both: the gorgeous, sweet, prying, nosebag schoolteacher and her Jesus brainwashed husband. Rockmond Dunbar, playing Greg, the meddlesome school teacher's husband, was funny now and again but had a confused character simultaneously being quite loving and at the same time a grump about kids. The school teacher (played by Vanessa Williams) just plain made me angry for getting involved in obviously non-abused children's private lives, all behind a passive-aggressive smiley face.
OK! I gave the movie as a whole four stars based only on the relationship between the two girls. If everyone else in the movie disappeared I might give their subplot a much higher rating. Otherwise I would give the movie a 1 star based on being fooled into watching a Christian faith movie with too much preaching, unpleasant adults (not mean, just unpleasantly self- righteous), a overcooked plot-line and an ending one could accurately predict the first time Mr. Greg pulls the car over for a long, rambling prayer shortly followed by another predictable result.
What saved the movie from being nuked with the delete button was the relationship between the two orphans. Izzie, played by Kyla Kennedy (A Gift Horse, a much better movie I rated 8 stars) is the every optimistic little 8 (?) year old who is being taken care of by her 14 year old sister Gracie, played by Victoria Staley who is a pretty good mother. Better than most, if I do say so. What kept me watching was to see how they would survive. I really don't understand why they cast a 19 year old as 14, I suppose they wanted Gracie to appear more mature than her character's age.
The adults were disasters. I hated them both: the gorgeous, sweet, prying, nosebag schoolteacher and her Jesus brainwashed husband. Rockmond Dunbar, playing Greg, the meddlesome school teacher's husband, was funny now and again but had a confused character simultaneously being quite loving and at the same time a grump about kids. The school teacher (played by Vanessa Williams) just plain made me angry for getting involved in obviously non-abused children's private lives, all behind a passive-aggressive smiley face.
OK! I gave the movie as a whole four stars based only on the relationship between the two girls. If everyone else in the movie disappeared I might give their subplot a much higher rating. Otherwise I would give the movie a 1 star based on being fooled into watching a Christian faith movie with too much preaching, unpleasant adults (not mean, just unpleasantly self- righteous), a overcooked plot-line and an ending one could accurately predict the first time Mr. Greg pulls the car over for a long, rambling prayer shortly followed by another predictable result.