Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters

STRONG FATHERS, STRONG DAUGHTERS is such a fun, inspiring, and meaningful film. Based on the New York Times bestselling book, by Dr. Meg Meeker, the film focuses on a wealthy businessman, Steve Parston, and his three daughters. Steve has dreamed of building a strong business with his eldest daughter since she was a child, so when the perfect opportunity arises, he expects things to fall right into place. The problem is, his daughter, now a grown woman has other dreams, other plans.

This is such a fun film, and the Parston family is easy to relate to, with a workaholic dad, supportive mom, and three unique daughters who each have different needs and dreams. There are many poignant scenes between this father and his daughters as he tries desperately to hold some assemblance of control over their lives.

I love the blend of angst, fear, adventure, trust, control, passion, and love this film encompasses. And although it provides plenty of laughs, it also reaches deep into viewers hearts, touching spiritual and meaningful places. It showcases the importance our earthly father and our Heavenly Father carries in our lives.

I loved this film. The story is so touching that something as simple as a solitary balloon at the end brought tears to my eyes. It carries gentle yet powerful messages of hope, love, and letting go.

Letting go and letting God...

Many thanks to Pure Flix for providing a sample of the product for this review. Opinions are 100% my own.

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This was a good movie that's been ruined by terrible acting. Bart Johnson was intolerable and was just trying too much throughout the entire movie. I have personally loved the cinematography and the storyline but this is one of those movies that are decent but just ruined by an amateur (aka coach Bolton) being put as the main cast.

If you like comedy which exaggerates, especially about all the humorous pitfalls of meeting the family and wedding planning, then you will love this. I don't. I have a particular dislike for that time of comedy. I don't think Bart Johnson as Steve, the bride's dad, helped my outlook on this movie. I think he was over the top even for this kind of movie.

I expected something that would emphasize how a strong and loving father helps a daughter to grow up strong. That theme was definitely there. I just didn't expect it to be in a movie where families from two different cultures meet and plan a wedding.

The story follows a lot of the usual lines for that type of movie. The comedy is about dad embarrassing himself, not to mention being unreasonable and demanding. I guess it did that well enough. Then toward the end, as you'd expect, it turns serious and half the characters change their personalities 180 degrees.

I enjoyed the movie overall, and can still understand/support some of the criticisms of other reviewers.

The premise of the movie is true to the summary: a father has a hard time giving his grown daughter his full support (blessing) to get married in what he perceives as a 'whirlwind' decision.

In reality, the couple have known each other for 7 months, and it sounds like they spend most days together, which (in my eyes) boosts how well they know each other. I can also see the father's feelings, but the movie's premise identifies the Dad as being a little overly attached.

The strengths of the movie are the dedication to family it seems to portray. Thanks to the teen sister (rebel), there is a realistic sense of the push/pull that even the closest of families must endure; her role seemed to serve the purpose of showing that this family is not perfect, and even the most dedicated parents fall out of favor with their headstrong children.

The other strength was a sense of hope, because lines of communication ultimately stay open (a rarity in this present era). I liked how Abby was always respectful, because had I been in her shoes, I'm not confident I would be.

The downsides are that I wish the two sets of parents were more bonded, or that Oz (groom) had been given more screen time with the Dad. Seeing the 'enemies' grow closer naturally would have been a greater joy, and boosted the value of Christian perspective as well.

I personally disagree that the Dad was portrayed as deferring entirely to his daughter. He turned to prayer as his guide, and continued to have a backbone when challenged by his other daughter (Zoe). The latter story line served an important purpose, which was to highlight that there is a time for parents to stay strong in their decisions, and there is also a time when they have to realize that their child is independent - and let go.

The last scene of the father smiling as he reflects on the entire situation was long, and could have been game-changing by having a little montage of memories showing his daughter's transformation from child to woman (like a replay of her life in the span of 10 seconds). It probably would have made me cry.

I loved the small scene when Bridget (littlest daughter) asked Dad about divorce, mentioning her friend's parents getting a divorce; the dad actually says "i'm sorry they are going through this" -- it just made me happy to hear him acknowledge the pain of others, rather than bypassing that detail. That showed me that the character wasn't selfish.

I appreciate the efforts to bring faith and our current world together; nothing can be perfect, but this movie was an easy watch for me.

This movie was all over the board. It's mediocre at best. They made the dad out to be the bad guy when I felt like it was more of the fiancé. The mom let the dad be bad cop all the time. I don't like how the dad had a change of heart in basically the snap of the fingers. This movie was such a downer and I hated the way it ended. Happily Ever After - maybe. They barely know each other and then to go and do mission work for 3 years?? I feel like this movie would be better as a book so it could explore each character more. The characters are complicated and I felt like they just quickly tied up the ending without really solving anything.