O Poder da Graça

We finally got to watch this movie, after missing it for the box office opening night. Excellent movie! I cannot believe it was done in 28 days on a $200,000 budget....just goes to show you can produce quality film without spending millions! Schools show lots of fluff, idiotic and useless movies all the time. This movie should be required viewing at every middle school and high school...not for the subdued religious tones, but for the race relations for all of us. The shot in the end was an amazing message alone. I highly recommend it for all ages. My own sons, 11 and 14 watched it with us tonight and I intend to let them watch it as many times as they want to. This one is a good one to let all the messages of the movie sink into their hearts!

It was better than I thought. Whenever I want to watch a movie I always check with IMDb before I watch it because 98% of the time they are right. In this case they were wrong. IMDb gave this movie 4.6 out of 10 stars. I gave it 7 stars. As a Christian I thought the message in this movie was very powerful, for anyone. If you're a person who cries at tear jerker movies, this one just might make you cry. I recommend this movie to everyone. The acting in this movie, except for Louis Gossett Jr, was kind of amateur, but that didn't hurt this film. This would definitely be a good movie for the whole family to sit around and see on a nice quiet evening. This movie is a must see. Now it's rare that my wife and I agree on what's a good movie and what isn't a good movie, but we both agreed that this one was good.

Some will reject this movie from the offset because it is a Christian-themed movie, which is unfortunate. It portrays life as it really is, and the struggles we have with wrongs done to us in the past, and the profound moments of letting go, of grace and reconciliation and forgiveness.

Although we see God working through the hearts, actions, and circumstances of people, it is not one of those films that portrays this in a triumphal, miraculous, or unrealistic way.

It's the story of a Memphis cop, Bill "Mac" McDonald, who, 17 years prior, lost his 5-year-old son who was an innocent bystander when police were conducting a drug bust on their street. "Mac" turns inward and becomes very bitter, a racist and a perfectionist, straining relations with his wife and other son, and has an attitude problem which keeps him from getting promoted as a cop.

Seventeen years later, still deeply embittered and racist, Mac looses out on a promotion that goes to an African-American cop Sam Wright.

Sam has struggles of his own. He is a preacher in a small, somewhat declining Church of the Nazarene congregation that seems to be growing stagnant. Sam had hoped that God would bless his ministry and be able to commit full time to it, but in order to support his family, must remain on the Police force. He's a pretty good preacher, but God seems to be using him in even more effective ways on the Police force.

Sam Wright and Bill "Mac" McDonald (the racist, embittered cop) are temporarily placed together as partners on the police force.

Despite being emotionally with it, even Sam is deeply hurt by Mac's nonacceptance, unfriendliness, hurtful remarks and scowling hatred merely because Sam is a black man. As a result it hurts his ministry which wants him to preach forgiveness and reconciliation.

Without giving away too much, it is Sam's grandfather (played by Louis Gossett Jr.) who helps Sam deal with his feelings, and produces a short letter from his grandfather the 1880s that becomes the miraculous premise for helping Sam overcome his hurt.

A NEW tragedy in Mac McDonald's family brings Sam and Mac closer together in Mac's hour of desperate, prayer-fraught need.

Yes, there is a surprise twist or two in the plot.

It should be noted that this movie is the work of a first-time director David G. Evans and scores of first-time actors, sponsored mainly by one church (Calvary Church of the Nazarene, Memphis). Even so, the results are remarkably good. The actors, the police force -- all seem like down to earth, ordinary people pulled together by miraculous circumstances, and a few surprise twists. We see God working profoundly through hearts and circumstances rather than divine intervention and miracles. Only a couple of actors are less than professional and their lines or scenes are short, unobtrusive. Louis Gossett fits in well with his stellar performance.

The film also has great shots of Memphis, portraying the city as it really is -- many of the familiar but less known streets and intersections.

Don't expect a high-tech thriller. But this is a realistic, down-to-earth slice of life film with a powerful Christian theme of Grace and reconciliation.

This movie was excellent. It was not over the top preachy as the one reviewer said. It actually had a realistic transformation scene in the end. While the acting was not maybe as good as some Hollywood big names it was still very well done. If you enjoyed any of the Sherwood Pictures films such as Facing the Giants and Fireproof, you will enjoy The Grace Card. It is just as well done and will be a film that the whole family will enjoy. Excellent family film and a film that you can use as outreach as well. Great film to make a part of your family or church library.This would also be a great film to show to your unsaved family and friends. The ending was full awesome and showed the great grace of God and how it can impact families and change individuals.

I knew nothing about the movie before seeing it, except I heard a brief rave on Christian radio so I was inclined to go. Even though I am giving this film a 6 out of 10, I was touched and moved by several scenes. The low score is due to the heavy handed feel of the film, and the choppy editing that made the acting seem worse than it was. My wife thought the acting was amateurish, but I think bad directing, editing and camera work made their acting seem worse than it was.

Michael Joiner's character, Bill McDonald, was unrealistically morose. He blames himself for the death of his first child and resents the second child who lives 17 years later. I blame the director for the character' unrealistic grief. I think it would have been more realistic if he tried to put on a normal demeanor, kidding around and striving to be professional with bursts of behavior that would betray the underlying grief and anger that he carried around.

Another example of directing that should have changed regards the son Blake (played by Robert Erikson) after the counselor (who is a Christian) suggests the son try to reach out to the hurting father. For the amount of conflict that had already been established between father and son, I felt the portrayal of the boy's effort to be nice was too sunny and cheerful. The director should have had more struggle on the son's part to be nice for it to be believable.

As for Bill McDonald's recently assigned partner, Sam Wright (played by Michael Higgenbottom), who also was a black pastor promoted as a police Sargent, I thought the Christian family portrayed was too happy and loving. It was almost stereotypical of Christians. Particularly concerning Sam's regard for his missing father. It was like the missing father was only written into the story to be a touchstone of sympathy for Sam's character when he talked to Bill. Otherwise it was a meaningless element of the story that should have been built up to give more realistic depth to Sam's character and family.

Nevertheless, the film had an edifying message, so I don't regret seeing the movie.