Caught

With the money they take in, the Billy Graham Ministry under the banner of Worldwide Pictures should be able to produce a film with better production values than some of the religious films I've seen. That in fact they did in the film Caught. Would that the story and direction and acting matched the technical stuff.

The film was made to take advantage of the International Conference of Itinerant Evangelists taking place in Amsterdam which among others featured Billy Graham. Graham himself is seen in sermons before the conference woven into the plot of the film.

Which centers on two people, American kid John Shepherd and Indian Amerjie Deu. Amerjie is in Amsterdam for the conference, but Shepherd came there trying to find his birth father. Seems he just learned that he was an out of wedlock child to Jill Ireland when she was living with a Dutch student during the hippie sixties. The knowledge has given him an attack of teenage angst.

Of course when in the Netherlands that notorious sin center of Europe he falls prey to all kinds of temptation and winds up selling drugs and selling himself in Amsterdam. But in a series of incredibly coincidental meetings with Deu, Shepherd reevaluates his life and since this is a Christian evangelical film, you know what that means.

Which brings me to an interesting observation. Whoever wrote and researched the film must have had a knowledge of homo-erotica and fetishism that's not usually learned in bible college. I also wonder how a Christian filmmaker managed to learn about Amsterdam's notorious spot for rent boys.

Of course it's made abundantly clear that Shepherd is gay for pay. Note that none of the other really gay kids out street hustling is even attempted to be evangelized. The producers knew well to stay away from that topic.

Caught will never exactly be a prime candidate for any film honors. Still it's a curious work considering who produced it.

It is easy to define it as a Christian film in the frame of International Conference of Itinerant Evangelists. But it is more. First, for delicate theme, the use of homoeroticism being so obvious than provocative becomes a soft term. The drugs and the find of father are, in same measure, sources of questions for their define.

Sure, significant must be the so predictable end.

And the nice acting.

But it remains, after decades, a provocative film, little different by Christian recipe for few accents at first sigh just eccentric.

Some of the reviews seem unaware that this is a true story based on real people. I went to school with one of the main characters and, the other lived in my home town. Thus, this Christian film is aware of the cultures foreign to Christianity exhibited in the film because it is a true story.

Note this story happened in the 70's, so for many it may seem out of place in today's culture.

This movie has a merger of three cultures, the United States, Amsterdam, and India. It also has a merger of non-Christian and Christian cultures, including the conflict between them.

I saw this movie when it came out and found it to be real, greedy, truthful, and full of love and grace. Here I am again 30 years later, watching it again and it's still impacted me the same way. It is an amazing story, it is a real story, it is a story of Hope and forgiveness. Some of the things people seek after the most yesterday and today. I would say judge this yourself and watch it. It is worth it! I am usually a very harsh judge of movies, I am very picky about what I will give a review to. This movie was tremendously touching, and its message was powerful. If you can spend a couple of hours every day scrolling on social media wasting time, you can spend a couple hours watching this movie and being impacted by its incredible message. You will not be disappointed. I've worked with homeless youth and at risk youth for over 20 years and I'm telling you this story I have seen many times in many different faces.