Jesus Revolution

A pastor in Costa Mesa (Kelsey Grammer) is concerned about the counterculture's obsession with drugs and loose sex, but also his dying church that isn't connecting with the youth. His daughter (Ally Ioannides) brings home a hippie "Jesus freak" (Jonathan Roumie) and he sees that he's genuine and gifted. The team-up sparks a movement that spreads for the next several years.

"Jesus Revolution" (2023) is a well-done account of the Jesus Movement in SoCal between 1968-1971. It's made in such a way that anyone who's interested in that era and the social upheaval that was going on will appreciate it, similar to "Forrest Gump" except with more overt spirituality. For instance, there's Janis Joplin, Timothy Leary and several iconic songs, e.g. "Free Ride," "Listen to the Music" and "War."

While I'm somewhat familiar with Greg Laurie and his ministry, I wasn't aware that he got his start in the Jesus Movement, nor was I familiar with Chuck Smith or Lonnie Frisbee, the latter of whom "backslid" and died of AIDS at the premature age of 43 in 1993.

Grammer and Joel Courtney are effective as the main male protagonists, Chuck Smith and Greg Laurie respectively. Meanwhile the lovely Anna Grace Barlow is a winsome revelation as Cathe, Laurie's potential girlfriend.

While not as inspiring as "War Room" (2015), it's arguably superior to "Do You Believe?" (2015), "God's Not Dead" (2014), "God's Not Dead 2" (2016) and "Overcomer" (2019). It's at least on par with any of 'em.

The film runs 2 hours and, was shot in Fairhope, Alabama, which is just southeast of Mobile, with several other scenes shot on-location in the coastal Los Angeles area.

GRADE: B+/A-

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.

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.

This is how you make a Christian movie.

This is how you make a movie that makes a person think and feel a certain way when you leave the theater.

Like i've said many times, i rate movies by what they are suppose to accomplish and not the other hyped up things that dont matter.

This movie hits the nail on the head perfectly (for me anyways). It preaches to ALL audiences saved or not, and makes you think and makes you FEEL what the writer wants to say without hitting you over the head with a bible and losing 99% of the audience.

Very well written.

Very well acted.

Great sound track.

Awesome cinematography.

Didn't feel intrusive or too 'preachy'

It was a little preachy, but not in the same way most christian movies are.

I didn't know coming into this that this was also about Greg Laurie and his beginning. It didn't affect anything for me. Actually, it fit perfectly for me.

Watch this. You will NOT 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.