Southern Gospel

You'll walk away from this film feeling hopeful. There are some really great performances and the music is so well done. I can't wait to listen to the soundtrack. The writer/director did not shy away from tough subject matter either.

It's so refreshing to see a Christian film deal with things like addiction, suicide, abuse, and even hypocrisy in the Church. We live in an imperfect world, but there is hope.

If you grew up in southern church culture, this film is for you. If you've walked away from church, this film is for you.

Faith-based entertainment is having a new moment in culture and this one is a great example of a thoughtful, real to life, gritty, TRUE story of redemption.

... but, until that story is written someday in the far future, this will do nicely. A tale of a young man with a talent for music but also has a passion for faith. Who carries his Bible with him everywhere. And has many adventures along the way, but ultimately returns to what he loves best. Preaching. To tell the truth, the absolute highest compliment you can give to a faith-based movie is that it does not make a fuss about its roots. This project from writer/director Jeff Smith has an almost two hour run-length, and it fills the time quite nicely. (And passes the Roger Ebert test, you don't look at your watch even once.) As an indie project, it is above average in every aspect. Tight script, solid casting, acting, and direction. Even the music is solid. In fact, you might even wish there was more of it. Recommended. And very under-appreciated. ((Designated "IMDb Top Reviewer." Please check out my list "167+ Nearly-Perfect Movies (with the occasional Anime or TV miniseries) you can/should see again and again (1932 to the present))

I was raised in a catholic family. I was baptized when I was almost three months old, I did my First Holy Communion when I was 11, but I grew up and paved my own path. Today I consider myself an atheist. My father was a Minister of the God's Word for years, and his "masses" (he wasn't a priest, if he was I wouldn't be even born) were the only ones where I felt something. But this something was not connection to God, it was pride of my dad. He loved doing that and maybe he still loves, and THAT was one of the points that strongly connected me to this film.

There are a lot of religion films that are absolutely restricted to people of that specific religion, and not all of them, but the most practitioners; and when they are aiming on people outside of that religion, it's a movie that usually tries to unnaturally convert its audience. "Southern Gospel" doesn't do that.

From the first scene, it criticizes the structure of the Church and the people who are in it. The movie clearly says "cathechesis is useless" (I wanted to use another word but it would not be appropriate here), it's something that draws you away from God more than it brings you closer. Another crucial thing here is the Holy Bible. The way it's used, interpreted in different manners by different characters, maintains the millenary debate about it open, allows the audience to interprete it freely, and for non-religious people, reinforces that "it's just a book".

In a nutshell, the religion here is, more than anything, the character's background. The story is not about religion, it's about a man trying to achieve his dreams. Max Ehrich (who reminded me of Andrew Garfield all the time) surprised me a lot, he seems to believe in every single word of what he's saying, and these compliments can be extended to J. Alphone Nicholson (who reminded me of Jonathan Majors all the time). The friendship between them seems genuine, and is the heart of this project. The rest of the cast is operant, except for Emma Myers. She is not a bad actress, but number one: Enid Sinclair, her character on "Wednesday", is too fresh in my head and she has the same posturing here; and numer two: Emma was definitely the wrong actress to that role, it was a grosser casting error than Sadie Sink in "The Whale", and what was that wig?

Also, despite the script hitting the bullseye on how it treats the audience on the religious aspect, it fails on telling its story properly, especially on the second half of the second act and the first half of the third act. Two essential informations are not well treated. I'm not talking about disrespect, it's far from the case, but about superficiality. Nicholson and Katelyn Nacon's characters deserved a bit more of attention (20 more minutes would help a lot). But I must be honest, I liked the ending. It's kind of a strange comparison, but it reminded me of "Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris". It almost had the intention of being "inspirational", so it was not surprising that it took this way. And predictable is quite different from bad.

I came from this film skeptical, but even being far from the target audience (yes, even being more accessible, it's still aiming on religious people), the film conquered me, dissolved my cinism and proved that not all religious movies are bad.

Do not look at the 5.7 that is the current rating for Southern Gospel. This is not a cheesy, church actors movie that has the potential to be good but fails miserably because it is so poorly produced. This is as well made as Jesus Revolution, a story of redemption and forgiveness and real life with real issues that can negatively shape our destinies if we let them. Some find their way out of the vortex of darkness by the light of Christ, yet others choose to take matters into their hands and suffer the consequences. Southern Gospel addresses topics such as child molestation, addiction, and suicide and might not be suitable for young viewers, but it has so much to offer as a faith-based movie and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Sothern Gospel is an amazing inspiring story. This movie is extremely well written and keeps you engaged since the beginning. Never surrender the dream God has given you even in the midst of hardship and trials is one of the main topics of this movie. Furthermore, it is inspiring to see how God's plans are revealed in the main character's life and how the dream becomes a reality even though they had to overcome hard times. Additionally, the cinematography, acting and singing is amazing and beyond my expectations for an independent film. It is worth the watch even if you are not a believer or religious.

I have seen it two times already, recommended it to family and friends from different states which all agree this is a fantastic inspiring movie. Plan on seeing it a third time before it is removed from theaters.

When is the soundtrack being released? The majority of the songs are also original and created by the director, Jeffery Smith.

Never surrender the dream!