The Favorite

I'm obviously in the minority here but I just found this faith-based film to be quite awkward and strained in its presentation, with quite a lot of stilted dialogue and acting.

We see in the closing credits that the movie is actually based on the miraculous recovery, from an auto accident, of Luke Benjamin Bernard, who stars in the film and also wrote the screenplay. However in the film itself, Matthew Fahey portrays Luke with Bernard in the role of his brother Ben.

There's also a concurrent theme here of a brother's deep resentment that his father was constantly favoring his sibling. I felt the movie handled this healing process in a heartfelt manner.

Overall, faith-based films are not usually my cup of tea, but as one can see other reviewers found more in this movie than I could.

What I loved about this movie is that it had something for everyone in our family. There is romance, action, and a solid story line about relationships that everyone can relate to. I was deeply touched by the message and it got me doing some real soul searching. I was very impressed with the quality of acting and production. I would not recommend this for smaller children as there are some fighting scenes that are very realistic, but I found nothing offensive that made me uneasy about having teenagers there.

I was most awed by the story behind the story and how the true life experience of Luke Bernard was woven into his screenplay--which was a second, unique story in itself. Bravo!

A good movie meant for teens and up. Some of the content can be emotionally intense for some viewers, as the plot involves some very emotional scenes with yelling, crying, and arguing. These scenes may not be suitable for sensitive viewers. The acting, while sometimes melodramatic, is overall heartfelt--in an effective way. You could sometimes feel the characters' emotions--or at least understand their emotions/reactions to certain situations. These emotions are deeply expressed through the emotional acting. Sure, some of the performances could use some changes for the better, but nevertheless, the acting is overall good. However, it could definitely use some changes in dialogue. The dialogue was pretty cheesy at times, with some cringe-worthy one-liners that didn't feel realistic. These lines could have been left out of the script; the dialogue could have felt more realistic as a result. Nonetheless, one great aspect of the film involves the cinematography. The cinematography brilliantly conveys characters' emotions, displaying a reaction or emotional feeling using effective methods. These methods could also help add to the emotional aspect of the film. Bottom line, The Favorite is a good movie that is worth a watch, while very emotional at times.

Watched the movie with granddaughter. Very glad we were able to see it. Best movie ever