A Week Away

It is nice and refreshing for Netflix to drop a feel-good Christian movie on their streaming platform. Although the movie was predictable and some scenes and musical numbers a bit cringe-worthy, the overall message was about acceptance and God understanding people's struggles in life which was relatable to watch.

Between the catchy songs, and the warmth of the characters, you get lost in the nostalgia. Great family movie and perfect for that young Christian in your life.

This is Camp Rock for the church crowd with a dash of High School Musical sprinkled in (the two leads will remind you of Troy and Gabriella). You'll especially love the movie if you were into Christian music in the late 80's and 90's (there are even a couple of artist cameos for you).

I am a Christian, but my eyes get sore watching Christian movies because I'm rolling them so hard. They're very typically over-earnest, heavy-handed, and usually far-right in sentiment. One Week Away is none of these things, and if you like Camp Rock you'll enjoy this movie too, whether you appreciate the churchy message or not. The themes are universal: love, redemption, belonging, and the characters play through the themes without being schlocky - or at least more schlocky than any teen musical. I like that Will asks the hard questions that Christians are often afraid to ask, and there's no ready answer for him.

There are many things to criticize - the acting is at times uneven and the music isn't for everyone (although the showstopper is the Awesome God/God Only Knows mashup - brilliant performance), but the movie was short and fun and a very pleasant trip down memory lane for me. Worth watching, and worth watching with the kids.

Uplifting, inspirational movie with catchy music and entertaining for kids and parents alike. Very family friendly.

Troublesome orphan Will Hawkins (Kevin Quinn) is on his last chance. He's set to go to group home until foster parent Kristin (Sherri Shepherd) volunteers to take him in. Only he has to join her and her son George at a Christian camp run by David (David Koechner). Immediately, he falls for sweetie Avery (Bailee Madison).

This Christian film is trying to be a Disney TV musical. It's not the worst idea but the first half is a dud. The lead kid is written as a prankster troublemaker but he's played like a lightweight. At most, he's lying to get the girl. He doesn't even try to run away as his first move. He's bland until the second half. Along with the movie in general, it gets better in the second half. The first half is a boring version of High School Musical. Will and Avery don't even get a good meet-cute. Their first meeting is a perfunctory love-at-first-sight moment which turns immediately to a big musical. It's a meet-perfunctory. It's not until 45 minutes when the couple has a good one-on-one heart-to-heart. From that moment on, the movie improves markedly. They even have their first good song by the campfire and they let their God flag fly. It's like the movie decides to land all the big punches at once. If Will is more of a brigand earlier, his character could have a bigger arc. If the Christianity gets let loose sooner, it could set up the internal religious conflict better. If Will and Avery have more moments quicker, they could have more punch in their emotional drama. Bailee Madison could eat up those Emmy moments if she's released. The first half is a missed opportunity.