A Murder of Innocence

The acting is so stiff I actually thought I selected the wrong movie and was watching an church educational video from the Mormon church! Where did they find these "actors" even Madonna acts better than that!!!

A true story, obviously religious based, but the acting is so bad, especially the lead roles - how could the producers and the director allow that? Probably family or close friends. They did this on a tight budget but still....there are plenty of actors who would love to participate in a low budget film - but seriously the role of the pastor - he is so bad! It is embarrassing. And then there's the script - did anyone re-read it to leave out the obvious silliness and amateurishness...if the script was tightened and the lead roles cast properly it would have been a much better film...and then there is this one...why do scripts insist on someone throwing up? Is this really necessary? I wish someone with talent had produced this film because it is interesting, but so wishy washy silliness....

This movie is like a car crash you can't look away from. There is no sense of Beginning, no climax and the ending is just 🤦. It's a movie based on true events in a murder in 1971 but get updated so it is in present day, but poorly. The characters have cell phones but don't use them in key scenes but use landlines for plot reasons. The movie hangs on to scenes too long. People crying at a house for a solid minute, to move into their car driving while crying, on and on. I get they want to address the stress and emotions of the characters, but that amount of scenes isn't needed if it's written or acted well, it's just filler to make the movie longer. Perfect example of this is the people from NY, walking from the airport answer their phone, hear that they are not needed so they huff and turn around and go back, and scene...why 🤷?? That scene was pointless! Nothing is gained.

But really they just made this movie for them to say how good Christian people should act though everything, they smash you over the head with their ideology, their message as heavy handed as they can. Everything else in this movie is to just get to those moments. If that is what you need, what you are looking for, that's fine, but that does not make it a good film.

After a pastor (Frank Chiesurin) takes a job at an affluent assembly in the Puget Sound area, his family & congregants are rocked by homicide. Who did it? And, just as important, can they overcome the outbreak of fear? Rachel MacMillan plays the wife and Erin T. Allen the Sheriff.

Based on a true story, "A Murder of Innocence" (2018) is a crime drama with an obvious faith-based element since it involves a pastor's family and their new assembly. While clueless critics write off the biblical element as "propaganda," I found the honest communions revolving around God and faith refreshing and convincing. The movie tackles the age-old conundrum of bad things happening to good people. How do survivors overcome the invasion of evil and the tragedies thereof?

The filmmaking is on the level of a quality TV movie and I enjoyed it for what it is, a real-life crime drama involving mostly disciples of Christ. I appreciated the reverent ambiance and the honesty about how churches have to deal with things like jealousies and paranoid suspicions even while sincerely subscribing to a standard of love, which includes tough love. Really, the only flaw is that the story drags; the pace could've and should've been tightened up by about 10-15 minutes.

The protagonist, by the way, has the Clark Kent vibe down to a 'T.'

The film runs 1 hour, 43 minutes.

GRADE: C+/B-

I don't think people understand the definition of "propaganda". This movie has no intention of harming anyone. It's clear from the beginning that it's a Christian movie. I enjoyed it.