The Penny

This movie uses about every Christian cliché in the Christian Culture Book of Cultural Clichés. Teens who feel unloved, a sick person who coughs, unconvincing bad guys, drunk driving that leads to an accident... Instead of focusing on one or two story lines and making them powerful, it leads its cardboard characters around predictable scenes that don't resolve. It's called a thriller? Maybe if it's the first movie you've ever seen.

The writing is wooden and stiff, uses no subtext. The acting is poor, the best being the drunk girls. But it's easy to act convincingly drunk. Unfortunately, I laughed more at this than I usually do at movies that are supposed to be funny.

I don't think it's necessary to have big budgets and A-list actors to make a good movie. A good script, passion and inspired direction can do it. I find it strange that with the God of the universe on our side, that Christians consistently make weak films. What are we afraid of?