Come Sunday

This is a biopic film that tells the story of a Pentecostal preacher who came to the conclusion that all humans and their sins are atoned for by the Cross of Christ, regardless of whether one has a relationship with Christ or not.

The film displays good acting and production value, but the script only skims the surface of the internal and intellectual shift Pearson embraced that took him into heresy and heterodoxy. As a Pentecostal and Evangelical, he believed in Calvin's doctrines of Total Depravity and Penal Substitution Atonement. Pearson finally admitted these doctrines make God look like a monster and threw them out. He reached for an extravagant love beyond what humans are capable of and concluded that God loves the world so much that he would not send people to hell, having previously concluded that God does send people to hell - as Pearson is depicted in this film, if not in reality. However, he consulted on the film.

Pearson and his detractors also assume to have the authority to interpret Scripture and are obsessed with "knowing" whether every person goes to heaven or hell after death. These assumptions go unchallenged in the script, but along with Calvanist doctrines are the underlying causes of the whole story.

The film is thought-provoking and worth watching. It displays the biggest problems with Protestant fundamentalism from the inside, but could have done so much better.

Come Sunday is a powerful film delivering an even powerful message 'What if GOD allowed you, now, to understand a meaning of the Message that was contradictory to what others as well as yourself previously believed?' This is not a crisis of faith, but that of interpretation and understanding. Come Sunday will resonate with Believers and will really hit home who have discovered the true understanding of the Word years after it's first reading. If you believe that GOD will only allow you to see when GOD feels that you are ready, you will find Come Sunday a most wonderful film.

Yes you've got it, I don't believe in any of it. But the film was a decent portrayal of someone who does, but then asks questions of their own belief, that's true enlightenment. As Voltaire very cleverly put it, " if God didn't exist, man would have to create him ". Make no mistake there has to be a creative power, I just happen to be one of those who thinks we don't and never have been able to comprehend it. All of human history has had a Heaven, be it Valhalla or Nirvana, basically a fear of mortality. Hell in the modern sense was a late arrival, if you crossed the river Styx, it was just the dead underworld. Hell and demons take centre stage with the advent of Christianity or specifically Catholicism. All pagan gods now become the hierarchy of demonology. All heretics are doomed to hell, salvation must be sought or bought. Christ threw out money lenders, so Christians could be millionaires. If I lie, strike me down now, Aaaaarrrrrgghh.

Based on a true story, this intriguing drama follows the self-discovery of an Evangelical preacher, played by Chiwetel Ejiofor. I'd never seen a movie of his before, and I was extremely impressed by his performance. What an actor! I believed every single word he said, and his emotions were so personal, it was as if he didn't even know a camera was filming him. While he did give broad "performance" preaches, he also had some very private scenes.

When the movie starts out, he's a prominent member of the church and beloved by all. He has a little strain in his marriage, but that's to be expected when he's traveling all over the country to different churches, and when he's home he's pulled in different directions by his best friend and business manager, Jason Segal. When Chiwetel visits his uncle (Danny Glover) in prison, he's brokenhearted that the sinner refuses to repent. Shortly after, he receives the news that his uncle has killed himself. Because he's wracked with guilt, disappointment, and despair that his relative is burning in the fires of Hell, he turns to his family, friends, mentor (Martin Sheen plays Oral Roberts), and God for help. (There's also a little scene where he watches the genocide in Rwanda on television, and he feels terrible that all the innocent souls weren't saved and were therefore sent to Hell.) God finally tells him that there's no need for despair; everyone's soul has already been saved and therefore no one is going to Hell.

You can imagine the uproar Chiwetel receives when he preaches the news. Everyone turns on him! His friends, his family, his congregation, his mentor, the other preachers throughout the country. . . It's a huge backlash, and he gets intense pressure to publicly change his story. The rest of the film shows his enormous struggle, within himself and within the community.

I found this movie fascinating, and Chiwetel's performance was a tour-de-force. I'm not sure how regular churchgoers felt about the film and the message, because in real life (and as portrayed in the film) it was very controversial. Since it is a touchy subject, there are those who might not want to watch it. But for those who appreciate fine acting, I would absolutely recommend this movie.

DLM Warning: If you suffer from vertigo or dizzy spells, like my mom does, this movie might not be your friend. There is quite a bit of handheld camerawork throughout the film, and it will make you sick. In other words, "Don't Look, Mom!"

Well acted, well paced biopic, good music. What happens when an established pastor's thinking takes a radical turn? Balanced portrayal of sincere religious people grappling with different interpretations of what defines faith.