Directed By Jon Erwin and Brent McCorkle

Starring – Joel Courtney, Jonathan Roumie, Kelsey Grammer

The Plot – Inspired by a true movement, the film tells the story of a young Greg Laurie (Courtney) being raised by his struggling mother, Charlene (Kimberly Williams-Paisley) in the 1970s. Laurie and a sea of young people descend on sunny Southern California to redefine truth through all means of liberation. Inadvertently, Laurie meets Lonnie Frisbee (Roumie), a charismatic hippie-street-preacher, and Pastor Chuck Smith (Grammer) who have thrown open the doors of Smith’s languishing church to a stream of wandering youth. What unfolds becomes the greatest spiritual awakening in American history.

Rated PG-13 for strong drug content involving teens and some thematic elements.

Jesus Revolution (2023 Movie) Official Trailer – Kelsey Grammer, Joel Courtney – YouTube

POSITIVES

Unlike a majority of other faith-based movies, “Jesus Revolution” is blessed with the backing of a big name studio (Lionsgate) in supplying it with a through production value that keeps you from losing interest on visuals alone. This is a dual benefit, in that it not only looks and feels like a real movie made entirely for the big screen, with meaningful imagery and cerebral camera placements, but also in conjuring the essence of its period piece setting, with golden-hued cinematography from Akis Konstantakopoulos giving the film’s aesthetics a timely energy in radiance that compliments the subdued-but-effective production values of wardrobe and set decoration effectively. Equally vital in this aspect is also the expansive collection of flower power favorites in the film’s soundtrack that consistently channels the vibe and social commentary of its war-torn citizens. This prescribes insight to the make of the land long before our storytelling really even has a chance to, and with the ultimatum between drugs or Jesus motivating so many people looking for any kind of circumstantial escape from the perils of Vietnam, much of that desparation and helplesness seeped into the seduction of the songs, in turn serving as the loudest representation of the decade that transfered seamlessly to Erwin and McCorkle’s direction. Beyond some of the technical merits, the film’s script also has its head in the right place, leaving the familiarity of persecution complexes and religious propaganda at home for a narrative with a surprising amount of maturity and depth to its appeal. For what feels like the first time in my experiences with these films, religion points a finger at itself in being the unfortunate divider that has alienated much of its people, in turn recognizing the problem from within and remedying it with the kind of unity and love for one another that simultaneously spoke volumes for why such a movement extended so far during a time of peace and harmony. With it, there are no shunned atheist characters, which I personally appreciate, and no existence of self-victimizing with an outside world that tries to condemn religion for no reason but conflict. Instead, we receive a compelling narrative during a unique time for both religion and the world, and one that serves the extent of the performances tremendously from a completely solid cast, though with a few show-stealers along the way. Grammer is warm, inspirational, and imperfect, outlining a protagonist with his own fearlessness to challenge the reforms of religion, and the duo of Roumie and Courtney equally charm with the kind of endless charisma and scene-captivating control that constantly makes each of them a delight to engage with, especially in the confines of Roumie’s laid back ‘Lonnie’, a compassionate hippie that sets the message off on the right foot by a chance meeting on the side of the road.

NEGATIVES

Despite this being among the best religious films I’ve ever reviewed, there are a few problems that ultimately kept it from being exceptional, mainly within the confines of the screenplay that sometimes got the better of it. For a nearly two hour movie with plenty of angles and directions to attack along the way, the scope sometimes far exceeds its reach, leading to lazy evolutions in characterization and conflict that sometimes materialize out of thin air. This can be felt the loudest with the former, where motivations are sacrificed for the convenience of the narrative, leading to these sharply abrupt instances of contradiction in designs that not only made me question the merit of the production’s editing, but also occasionally made this a bit jarring during the overflow of backstory flashbacks during the film’s first half, where flashbacks of heavy-handed exposition invade our current day narrative with no conveyed warning in visuals or character psychology to alert us to their submersion. Speaking of abrupt instances, easily my biggest problem with the film is the abundance of abrupt tonal shifts that it articulates during a film that sometimes feels tone deaf as a result. In my opinion, the film works best when it’s a lighthearted engagement, with some surprisingly effective moments of humor that occasionally garnered a laugh out of me. Diverting away from this for the sake of dramatic heft, and quite so often, made the film desparate for some semblance of stakes and circumstance, and as a result left the film’s climax during the third act reeling from convoluted exhaustion that finally felt the weight of its near two hour runtime. Finally, a majority of the dialogue is a bit corny and flat in lacking believability. This is especially felt during the first act, which doesn’t exactly get the dynamics of each character interaction off to the most compelling of starts. It does settle down a bit as the film progresses, but every once in a while stock lines of heavily-written off-screen influence convey a distraction to the authenticity of the true story narrative, with far too many groans to capably ignore it during the sweet and sentimental that flourish throughout.

OVERALL
“Jesus Revolution” is far from infallible, but it is among the best religious films I’ve ever reviewed, with a combination of heart and humor that constantly feel like they’re in the right place at the right time. Though some undercooked elements keep it from being downright inspirational, the charms and sincerity of its ensemble make it a delight to indulge in nonetheless, leaving me happy that this revolution was televised during a time of uncertainty in American culture.

My Grade: 7/10 or B-