La revolución de Jesús

This is a great movie; I enjoyed it very much.

Being a movie nut and all, I have to say that that the production quality was top notch. I saw no glaring continuity problems, the camera work was well done and the "designs" were fabulous (costume, scene, etc.). I also think the script was terrific. As one other reviewer noted, the scripts and acting in some "Christian" films showing at regular cinemas in recent years has been a bit rough. Not in this movie; it's all great.

I was there. In the years 1971 to about 1973, I sat in the front pew (if there were space for me) in that church in Riverside, CA (aka All Saint's Episcopal Church) within 20 feet of Greg Laurie (sometimes being amazing at the length of his beard). I had some of those tracts he designed and I listened to Love Song and many of the other popular bands of the day. I went down with a bunch of kids from the Redlands/Yucaipa of So. CA; we went to our own church services, at various churches, in the morning then we would jump in several cars (yes, one was a VW van) and drive to Riverside for the evening service at All Saint's Episcopal Church with Greg (and the bands, of course). The song book we used (illustrated by Greg), the tracts, the cassette and 8-track tapes for sale, were all Calvary Chapel and Maranatha! Branded. It was a heady time and deserves a place in American religious history.

I thought all of the acting was great. I especially loved Kelsey Grammar in the role of Chuck Smith. When, I heard he was going to play Chuck, I let out a loud YES! Of approval. He was an excellent choice. I simply thought that, yes, he could do it. He could pull off Chuck Smith.

As the movie began with a very accurate presentation of the time, I expected the movie to continue that way so I was disappointed at parts in the middle and end that seemed to take "artistic" license with some of the events, people and locations.

The movie avoided some tough stuff; which was probably the right thing to do, maybe leaving it for a future movie or book. I'll avoid specifics not to spoil things for those who have not yet seen the movie but trust me, there was some tough stuff to the movement too.

I loved this movie. It took me back. And it adds to the record and the significance of the Jesus Movement in American religious history.

It's a religious revival drama set from 1969 to 1973 in Costa Mesa, California. It recounts the early history of the Christian Jesus Freak movement from the perspective of one of its early leaders.

The movie begins on two tracks that gradually merge. Chuck Smith (Kelsey Grammer) is the middle-aged pastor of a small non-denominational Calvary Chapel composed chiefly of elderly parishioners. He's out of touch with his daughter, Janette (Ally Ioannides). One day Janette brings home a hippie, Lonnie Frisbee (Jonathan Roumie), who has struggled with drugs but is now a fiery charismatic Christian with a strong Pentecostal bent. The film follows Smith's gradual integration of Frisbee and his friends into his church, which gradually explodes with non-traditional young people searching for a more long-lasting truth than drugs.

The parallel story follows Greg Laurie (Joel Courtney), the teenage son of a dysfunctional alcoholic mother (Kimberly Williams-Paisley). Greg goes through his own druggie period, during which he meets Cathe Martin (Anna Grace Barlow). Cathe leaves the drug culture first, and eventually, both are attracted to Calvary Chapel because of the charismatic Lonnie Frisbee.

"Jesus Revolution" follows some of the conflict and rupture between Chuck Smith and Lonnie Frisbee and takes us to the beginning of Greg Laurie's ministry at age 20.

"Jesus Revolution" was better than I anticipated. The editing and cinematography are of good quality. However, the script is relatively narrow and avoids addressing some key questions. It paints the conflict between Smith and Frisbee as personality differences and Friebee's hogging the spotlight. In actuality, their theological perspectives were very different. Frisbee believed in miracles and speaking in tongues; Smith did not. The film also avoids controversies that arose later around Frisbee, who also helped inspire the later Vineyard movement. The film ends at the apex of the Jesus Freak movement in 1972, after which it began a relatively swift decline. Smith and Laurie remained more subdued and ended up in the Southern Baptist Convention. Unfortunately, Kelsey Grammer looks the 20-years-older than the man he is portraying; someone else should have played Chuck Smith.

Thankfully, "Jesus Revolution" sticks to storytelling and does not try to convert the viewing audience. Persons with an evangelical background from the early 1970s might well enjoy this historical review.

Nostalgic and relevant! Love the way the people are portrayed. This is not just good Christian filmmaking it's just good filmmaking. The people are flawed, real and multi dimensional. The story is well worth watching. And it is a true story. Times were so similar to today. The Holy Spirit is thriving. Even if you are not a Christian, you'll like the film. Young people will be able to see what their grandparents were like. As in the movie, we can still learn from each other and we all need acceptance and love. It's better than the competition this weekend (Cocaine Bear. Really?) Give it a shot you won't be disappointed.

I was pleasantly surprised by this film; it was a Faith-based Christian film that didn't feel like it was trying to get me to drink the Kool-Aid (and I say this as a devout Christian myself). And although the Christian Faith is central to the film's plot, you absolutely do not need to be a Christian to enjoy it. The movie centers more on how we all are imperfect - broken - and it's up to us to believe in Jesus or not. Great quote from the film: "Don't be so arrogant that you think God can't work through your mistakes." That, in a nutshell, is the core meaning of this movie; it's not so much about who Jesus is, but rather, who people are (or can be) with Jesus.

Like much of the Christian drama genre, Jesus Revolution suffers from lots of stilted, VERY on-the-nose dialogue that prioritises getting the message across over sounding natural.

But unlike most of the Christian drama genre, the film is shockingly well-focused, prioritising it's characters and their stories just as much as it's religious messages that do admittedly preach to the choir.

There's a lot of care put into this movie; it's shot and acted with plenty of artistic prowess, and the story is refreshing in how it is purely centred around its flawed human characters as they work on their broken lives, bad habits, and strained relationships.

The familial element of religion is what helps them find the purpose they're looking for, and it's refreshing to see a Christian film that really tries to tell a compelling story about fleshed-out characters rather than just peddle a message without a beating heart and visible soul.

Although the film is too long-burdened by repetitive scenes that don't add anything new to the story-and the dialogue is often clunky and unintentionally silly, I was impressed with how much this does right when it comes to filmmaking and storytelling. It's infinitely better than most in this subgenre.