Gwen Shamblin: Starving for Salvation

I have to admit that I had never heard of Gwen Shamblin before. I've seen various interviews by Jennifer Grey about this movie and that piqued my interest. I googled Gwen Shamblin and her lifestory is very interesting and at the same time it is frightening how seemingly easily she became a questionable prophetess. I am fascinated of Jennifer Grey and her way of portraying Gwen Shamblin. 10 points for Jennifer! The way in which Gwen Shamblin seems to have lost her own self more and more without noticing it is implemented very well in the film (of course also by the great leading actress). I think I will watch this movie once again. It's very interesting from the first minute til the end.

I would give 0 stars if possible. Jennifer Grey did a great job but this is not the true story. If you want a more accurate account watch the HBO MAX documentary, The Way Down. My husband was the lead investigator on the Smith case and Gwen was never interviewed by the police, not for lack of trying. She refused to speak with the police and left the church during the search warrant (which is not shown in this version). The smith tape was recorded during a church session, when the Smith's called live into the service. It wasn't a private phone call with Gwen and the time lines are out of sequence. The Smith's were members of this church via the internet from Atlanta. They also do not go into the Smith case at all, which was for the murder of their son. This portrayal was very Hollywood and overdramatized.

Like previous reviewers, I had never heard of Gwen Shamblin.

The story itself was mildly interesting, but that's it. The acting, with the exception of Jennifer Grey, was atrocious. The sets looked like they had been built in someone's garage, and the script was choppy and amateurish. The wide-eyed parishioners behaved like brainwashed Moonies who hung on to her every word.

Just like Jim Bakker, Robert Tilton, Ted Haggart, Jimmy Swaggart, and other "Christian" leaders, Gwen became money-hungry and obsessed with her church. She believed herself to be above her own rules, and believed that she was specially chosen by God. This is an old story, told and retold many times --- only the names are different. **yawn**.

Don't waste your time with this one. Do something more interesting, like watching your grass grow or wallpapering the bathroom. You will thank me.

I'm sure there's a good story there somewhere and I persevered for sometime. Lots of annoying features but mainly the acting.

Sadly Jennifer Grey's facial work is so severe she sadly looks very weird (a little similar to David Beckam's wife). I continued watching until she changed her hair (yikes) and was eating the cake- she could hardly open her moth to get the cake in! The reaction to it was OTT.

Why were the staff no eating the cake - did I miss something?

How I dislike the US show bizz churches with brainwashed followers. I wanted to carry on watching but the weird face was way too much.

Jennifer Grey deserves an Oscar for this. I'm not kidding. She was so genuinely good. Her hair also deserves some sort of award. The hair was giving. It grew. She grew. But the real life hair was higher than depicted. Think about that. This was not an exaggeration. It was underplayed. Google it.

I don't know the whole story I came strictly to comment on hair. I also am watching a lot of old school lifetime movies. I think this is one for the books. It's no Cheerleader murder mystery but I think it's for potential to go down on the books. I loved it enough to write a 600 word review.

Also the real lady is a monster. Duh.