What Would Jesus Do?

Christian movie starring Gleason as a pastor trying to save his local church along with a diverse group of benevolent parishioners facing their own spiritual struggles on the path to virtuosity.

Bahns co-stars as the young real estate heiress who agrees to run as a Mayoral candidate in local elections against the unscrupulous evildoer Alex York (Arnold), whilst good ole boy John Schneider plays the mysterious drifter whose words of wisdom seem to be almost prophetic (although apparently no one is enlightened enough to suspect his identity).

A few familiar faces in some of the minor roles (e.g. Flo Gerrish, Mimi Cozzens as Bahns' initially ignorant mother who quickly sees the light following a moving encounter with a homeless teenager).

The film is essentially a series of redemptions in which various pilgrims are shown forgiveness, compassion and ultimately belonging. Maybe a little righteous but it's well intentioned, uncomplicated and as bonus material includes an unplugged version of the title song by Adam Gregory.

I've seen about a million movies, and this is my first ever movie review. I just felt motivated to say that this movie really blessed me! It certainly is more tailored for a Christian audience, and is intended as kind of a wake up call for the Church. I would encourage as many people as possible to pray for those who made the film, give it good reviews, and spread the word to others to go and see it. We need more wholesome movies like this to be made.

I would give this film a rating of about 6.5 or so. Definitely don't let the low rating scare you away. Just realize that it isn't going to be a blockbuster major Hollywood production, and sit back and enjoy a simple little story that will make you feel good, and encourage you in your Christian walk!

Those who rate this movie poorly are missing the intent of the movie and I guess to understand the intent you would have to understand WWJD. Any believer in Jesus believes in what the movie is trying to get across which it did very well. A stranger comes to a town, like many of ours, where the people place everything in their lives ahead of any thought of faith in Jesus. They are pursing what has often happened in the Old Testament wherein sin rules. This movie did for me and I am sure others who have watched it that when we make decisions in life and we are unsure what we should do, we should ask "What Would Jesus Do." I intend to use this movie as the subject of our church's Bible study group.

I only just started the movie, but they should have titled it something else and not used the character names of the 1896 book What Would Jesus Do? (by Charles Sheldon) and the 1990s phenomena with the WWJD bracelets. Please go read that book (and the Bible, too, of course)! It is a masterpiece. THE premise of the book is that the pastor IS successful, has a good family, HUGE congregation, loved by everyone, preaching good doctrine (but with no application) and so busy with 'God's work' that he doesn't have time for the drifter. This version makes him seem a worn out, barely surviving, family killed, empty church, preacher. Why is this important? Because Sheldon's book is INTENDED to shine a light on our prideful natures, thinking we are doing everything right, when we are missing the point. It may have been written in 1896, but (the book) shines an excellent light on modern, prosperity, seeker-sensitive talkers and challenges us all to look at the Word, be led by the Spirit (not our hearts), and do what Jesus would do in our daily lives. (Some of the primary answers to the question being, a removal of self-focus, emphasis on holiness, preaching the Gospel even when it's uncomfortable, etc...) This movie misses the mark by a long-shot. If they didn't use the character and location names and movie title, it might be a good story. Hopefully this review will inspire people to actually read the original book. (It's an easy read, simply written, beautiful, and Biblical.)

PureFlix has made some excellent films; however, this time, they failed when making this one. First of all, the screenwriting is terribly unrealistic. The characters are not given realistic reactions/emotions to certain situations, which makes them feel unrealistic. The characters are also provided with cliches that don't help with the script, but actually just make it worse. The cliches are obvious before they even appear; they do not feel realistic to real life. The characters should be more realistically written, as should the plot. The dialogue felt a little corny, as well, with awkward one-liners like "You fools!" filling the script pages. Second of all, John Schneider is a little overrated. He didn't do as well in this film as he has done in other movies. Sometimes, the acting by the cast felt unrealistic or melodramatic. The actor who played the antagonistic character, in particular, did a TERRIBLE job at his performance and delivery of lines. The point is, apart from the inspirational message that could be learned through this film, ultimately, this film sets a bad example of filmmaking.