User reviews

It could have been a good film, but it almost seems as though those involved were too close to it to see how it fails to draw any kind of an emotional response or much sympathy for the main character until much later in the story. The pace is slow, nothing was all that funny to me, cartoonish devices were used inconsistently and unnecessarily, which made the first half feel disjointed, as though different sections were directed by different people. Actions that moved the plot forward were so subtle as to be easily missed. One of my least favorite devices is to show a progression of time with a montage and music playing over the voices.

Some scenes left me wondering 'why did they do that?' as there was no obvious metaphor (or perhaps it was so obvious as to be insulting) and no further reference given to, for instance, a worn costume. Once some of the relationships were established, the movie picks up momentum, and the ending rather saves it.

I'm sure it's very difficult to portray the complex themes from the book, which makes it such rich reading. Action flicks are much easier. Much had to change for a movie to be created out of it. But a good director knows how to accomplish this without confusing, boring, or trying the patience of his audience. Perhaps Mr. Taylor should stick to music unless he wants all his work to go straight to DVD or the Hallmark channel. Sure, compared to other "Christian" movies this one rises above, but shouldn't we hold all movies to a critical standard, regardless of the company that made it?

If you were looking for a clean movie, Steve Taylor's film Blue Like Jazz is anything but. Make no mistake, there's no alter call, no stunning realization, there's no exhortation, or trumpets blaring, there's no rapture, or angels and even the manger is empty. If you were expecting a piece of "Christian" art you won't get it here.

Based on Donald Miller's bestselling memoir/essays of the same name it tells the story of Don Miller, a born and bread Christian kid from Texas who finds himself at Reed College in Oregon. There he shed's his clean cut ways and discovers that we all have to rebel sometimes.

Like an Evangelical Rumspringa Blue Like Jazz is full of objectionable PG-13 content that might make a church lady faint. Swearing, drinking, sexuality and drug use are all accounted for in this film and director Taylor uses it not to offend but disarm. This is a story about the search in everyones life for authentic faith in a secular world. Make no mistake the content in this film is not clean, but it's also not gratuitous. For this film to really work you have to believe that these college aged kids are real. To whitewash it is to destroy the very message trying to be conveyed. This is a film about the meeting of the sacred and the secular, and that never feels clean.

The screenplay tends to lose focus and a good amount of suspense is wasted because you can see a lot of Character motivations from a mile a way. One or two more passes at the screenplay may have fixed some of the meandering plot points, but overall there are moments of sweet serendipity, moments that are honest and real, unfortunately it makes the weaker, and sloppier points of characterization and plot stick out like a sore thumb.

For instance there is a love story buried in this tale and lead actors Marshall Allman and Claire Holt have a sweet and natural chemistry, but the screenplay has a secret it sits on and forces Holt's Character Penny into the background, and shift focus to a character that is funny, but not as compelling. Another pass on the screenplay may have brought this relationship to a higher place.

All in all though for the not easily offended Blue Like Jazz is gutsy, sweet, and pretty funny. Warts and all it presents a fairly realistic and quirky look into the nature of belief, finding truth, and gaining purpose when the world around us looks plastic and manufactured. I liked this movie, warts and all.

It's a film about faith, it's a film about life, and it's a film about how we all have to wake up one morning and decide if what we believe is true. It should spark some really nice dinner conversation, about the nature of faith, and the nature of God. It's about the melding of the sacred and spiritual, but more importantly it's about coming to the realization that we're all dirty, broken, and have rebelled, and yet God doesn't give up on us.

Now where do I get that Coltrane album.

Not your "typical Christian movie" is an understatement for this film in all the best ways. The absence of poor acting or cheap looking Hallmark-like production, gives Blue Like Jazz authenticity to tackle the misrepresentation of Christianity in a boldly candid way. While making fun of the way church is often viewed by the public, the movie tries to show the audience that there is more than meets the eye to this perceptively stuffy, and often annoying, complacent religion. There is a poetry to the universe that should evoke some search for deeper meaning that isn't so much about absolute rightness, as it is about continuous discovery, and pursuit of truth and compassion.

The movie roughly follows the book's range of stories and characters, but introduces several fictitious turns to tie us in emotionally to the story. There are several major themes and little details that anyone who has read Blue Like Jazz would recognize and connect with. However, for those who are not familiar with the book, the overall story should be easy to follow, relevant, and entertaining. And to those who watch it and become intrigued, I can only say that the book takes you on an even deeper and more thorough journey. Don't believe me? Just ask the 4500 fans who financially supported the making of the film when all seemed lost. The story behind the movie is just as poignant as the movie itself.

Disclaimer: There is a decent amount of profanity, drug and alcohol use, and adult themes that nearly cost the movie an R rating. So while it is PG 13 it was made for mature audiences that can comprehend the compromising nature of the real world. I know this film will cause an inadvertent dropping of the jaw for most of the Christian community, but the response of the rest of the world seems to be a refreshing sigh of relief.

So come without expectations, and a willingness to see the bigger picture, and I think it will create a good amount of discussion that could lead to a change in our subculture.

I have never written a review on IMDb before but felt compelled to after watching this film.

Last night I was looking for a good independent film to watch and this flicked across the screen in my Netflix options. Never having heard of the book and not knowing a thing about what I was getting myself into, I went for it.

There were early hints that I had walked myself into a "Christianity is the bestest" type film, but I didn't know for sure until halfway through when the main love interest professes to the main character something along the lines of, "I can't explain it, I just love Jesus!". I recognized this tell-tale sign of propaganda but decided to suspend judgement. I sat through the rest of the film in hopes that there'd be surprise character or plot development in the second half. Unfortunately, there wasn't.

The plot is thin and predictable. I find it remarkable that others who have reviewed the film found it thought provoking. In my estimation, those who found it to be this way enjoyed the affirmation that the film provided. Can't fault anyone there: we all like a little positive reinforcement from Hollywood every now and then.

For those of us who aren't sold on Christianity, the underlying theme of Christianity being the "right" belief is obvious and more than a little off-putting. In order to be truly thought provoking (to those who aren't already on board with the concept), the message shouldn't have been so obvious and cheesy.

If the hope was that this movie would help put Christianity in a better light with non-Christians, the movie misses that mark too. None of the characters exhibited a need for Jesus/the church - at their core they were smart people with good consciouses, and were clearly capable of sorting themselves out without the church. I didn't see or hear any testimony as to why either required religious support to do this, in fact the movie highlighted several good reasons to stay away from the church: priest pedophilia and some mixed up relationships amongst church members. If a salesperson is trying to sell something, they need to talk about the benefits of the product they're pushing at least a little bit, right?

All in all, this is probably a great film if you are a "church-every-Sunday" kind of person - this may be just the thing to make you feel great about your beliefs (basing this not on personal experience but on other reviews). But if you are that person, please don't kid yourself that this will be the movie to convince your non-believer friends that they should worship with you.

For the non-believers, regardless of your non-believing status, this movie is skippable. The plot, characters, acting and writing is all pretty thin - not a whole lot of meat to chew on here.

My preconceptions about what a Christian movie would be like were happily proved wrong with this movie. I thought it would be another poorly acted, cheesy feel-good film of the us-versus-them variety like so many Christian films are. But it wasn't.

This story of a college student trying to escape his Bible Belt upbringing at a godless campus deals with universal themes that will appeal to people from many walks of life.

The actors gave solid performances, breathing humanity into the characters. The writers balanced the heavy soul searching with a sense of humor. The producer delivered a final product that rivals studio films with much greater budgets.

An entertaining film that makes you think.

I am a huge fan of the book "Blue Like Jazz" and was so looking forward to the movie. I felt this was a great opportunity to produce a Christian film that would be authentic, could show what Christianity really could be, something based on an authentic relationship with Jesus, something really quite beautiful.

To say I was disappointed with the movie is an understatement. For those of you who have read the book and really loved its essence, its soul, how relationships with the key characters were developed, how his relationship with Jesus was developed and experienced, you will be disappointed too.

The thing about the book was it was so authentic, so real, so honest. The movie is none of those things. To say it is a loose interpretation of the book is giving this movie too much credit. It is not an honest and authentic portrayal of the book.

I feel like in some ways Donald Miller sold out - that is, he allowed a movie to be produced that is not an accurate depiction of how he got to Reed college, his key "struggle" is fabricated, acts of deviance are fabricated, the whole movie is really a fabrication.

I was so sad. What a great opportunity missed.

As a big fan of the book the movie is based on, I went in thinking there was no way that the movie could compare with the book.

While it is very hard to translate a series of essays into a story with a flowing plot, the creators of Blue Like Jazz the movie did an exceptional job.

The film is unique in that there is no way to compare it to any other Christian film. The message of Jesus isn't heavily preached, and instead, a truthful representation of a boy brought up in the Southern Baptist religion is presented. It also leads to a discussion on what it means to be a true follower of Christ.

While there is language, alcohol, and drug use, the movie has integrity and heart, and I highly recommend it!

Whether we like it or not, college is an existential odyssey landing us in more uncertain territory than we began. I attended liberal Georgetown University as an already well-trained Catholic boy. I left an agnostic happy in his dilemmas, uncertain as hell about God but ready to spend a life searching for truth and beauty, both of which I found thanks to that Jesuit education.

Ratchet up that liberalism to arguably the most liberal college in the US, Reed College in Portland, Oregon, set the movie Blue Like Jazz square in the middle of that progressive world, and you have fertile ground for a young Baptist, Don (Marshall Allman), from conservative East Texas learn about ambiguity and find God in strange places. It's a gentle, counter culture film about secular extremism that actually leads Don to an understanding of religion transcending Christian moms and hypocritical pastors.

Blue Like Jazz is successful showing the liberating nature of a college where the average student IQ is 138, classroom discussions pit cultures against each other to find common ground, and one is free to express to the delight and challenge of others. The film fails, however, to provide a coherent point of view because of its passion for discursive episodes not always linked by motif or theme. Just too many eccentrics and not enough time.

The defining event of the search for godlessness leading to God is Renn Fayre, the annual selection of a "Pope," meant to be a mockery of exalted Catholicism that turns out to be a growth point in the intellectual journey of freshman Don. He turns out to be not unlike the Graduate's Benjamin, naïve but on his glacial way to enlightenment.

Blue Like Jazz is a charming, incoherent coming-of-age film that made me nostalgic for the low-key anarchy of Georgetown, where I may have grown away from the orthodoxy of the Sisters of Saint Joseph in favor of the secular humanism of the Jesuits, but where even I have to admit uncertainty about the existence of God is a pleasant antidote to the uncompromising certainty of the Baltimore Catechism.

First of all, I have to be honest. I found this film scrolling down Tania's filmography. I was curious (and still am) what she was like before Goliath.

Now, While watching the film I've learned it's a book. Since I didn't read it I'm judging the film as a film from a standpoint of viewing experience. And even that was hard because I'm struggling to find the source of my dissatisfaction.

Regardless how the film is a book's reincarnation seems, as a film film it gives you a hard time in finding something amongst all the storylines to stick your mind to. What is the film about is it about loosing faith, or is it about finding faith? Is it about Reed College, ahh, wait, wait, no it's clearly not. But it sure seemed that in the beginning. Is it a coming-of-age film? Well, the dude is a grown-up man. Where else you need to "come" of this "age"? Ok, maybe it's a love story? Well, sure the screen time isn't dedicated to the love story.

Paraphrasing the quote from the film. This film is like a bad jazz tune. It can't find its theme to improvise on, instead it's just rambling around like a young musician that just learned a couple of scale-runs.

Can't give it anything lower than 6. It's not a b-film. Casting is good. Music selection is very very good. Probably because they didn't have a budget and they chose all the obscure indie band which tilt the film into this earth Stumptown vibe very neatly. Locations are good. Cinematography does its jobs. I didn't see anything groundbreaking but clearly they put some thought into it. Sound recording should be also taken into consideration. It's comfortable to watch and it doesn't sound like a radio play. Editing is pleasing, it helps to tell the story, however messy it might be.

I'm not going to discuss the characters. It's a slippery slope. We tend to do all crazy stuff in real life. It's hard to argue what is realistic and what is not. On a personal level I don't sympathize with the main character. He's dumb. But we need stories about lost souls too.

Worse than its wretched boredom, grotesquely bland plot line, and incomparably shallow commentary on Christianity, culture, Reed College and the world in general, this movie sacrifices Miller's own mother.

"What?" you ask. "The whole introduction with his mom having sex with the youth pastor, getting pregnant by him, and all that is actually pure fiction?" Yes. "But he made it sound like this was a 'true' memoir...a story about a his own 'real' struggle with faith and life." You had good reason to think that, but you've been played, by Miller, who threw his own mother under the bus to turn a Hollywood buck. Ask yourself, even if your mom was "cool" with it, would you back a "true- story" movie that portrayed her to the entire world as a sex-starved idiot if it wasn't true?

There is so much to say, but it is simply not worth typing out. This movie will undoubtedly experience an initial explosion of interest, the same kind of painstaking interest you would see if somebody were publicly mocking a handicapped person or punching a child in the back...you're attention is certainly grabbed, but you would feel sick to your stomach. After Miller and this movie are exposed for what they both are, malcontent and ignorantly boring, the premature and ill- considered commendations for Blue Like Jazz will shrink out of the limelight, back to where they belong: on the stale, played-out, cliché shelves of whiny charlatans.

(NOTE: Am I the only one who finds it suspect that more than 30 ten-star ratings, each gushing with uninhibited worship for this movie, were posted well before it was even released?)

For that reason, avoid the trap and save your time, money, and mind. Miller is apparently so amused by his own semi-intellectual babblings that he has made no effort whatsoever to learn about the world that exists beyond his initial, juvenile impressions. Worse, he has through this movie subjected thousands to the horrible void of his unchecked pride. Longing to be accepted, Miller humiliated himself like the desperate boy on the playground who takes on a self-deprecating dare and trashes his own reputation just to get a chuckle from curious onlookers. Suckered in by the promise of fame, and he gathered the cool kids together and started mocking his family, his church, his Savior and himself. All things considered, two hours of doing absolutely nothing will be more profitable to you than exposing yourself to this this heartbreaking absurdity.

The movie Blue Like Jazz follows the path of discovery of Donald Miller a youngster who tries to escape his Christian upbringing by enrolling himself into a 'liberal' college only to go through the whole process of denying what he was told to believe in all his life. All along one sees him struggling to be somebody he is not... like a dog trying to shake off its own tail!

What I liked about the movie was that Don was open to all that he came across. He really did not make a decision about something just because he felt so... he looked for convictions... Another aspect of the movie that I found quite interesting to observe was the influence and role of friends. The impact they had on Don and the things he does in their life... (Penny, Lauryn, Russian, him mom, 'Pope'). And finally I hope Don continues to carry on as 'Pope' for I sincerely believe he'd do a better and greater job being Pope than going out gun-blazing saying that he believes in God and all that goes with it. He truly would be a great help to all those fellow students to help them in their situation than taking a pedestal posture or stance and helping 'from above'!

It quite well summarizes the journey of self-discovery, of finding out the value and meaning of real faith... not just 'inheriting faith' but 'earning' it and thereby living it! That I think makes a huge ... huge... difference in reality. Most of us barely manage to graduate to the latter stage of faith.

http://www.vcastilino.blogspot.in/

Blue Like Jazz comes out strong, you start and you feel, "this is going to be great", but then it carries on, on weak acting by some of the cast and a very weak script that makes you want to get up and walk away, the movie message is good and it does preach commitment to Christ.

The movie message can be easily related to, as a Christian I know of times (when I was new in the faith) that I concealed my identity of being a Christian just to blend in, the movie's message rides on that; it rides on a Christian trying to be part of the world, forgetting that we are but on a pilgrimage in this world and heaven is our final destination.

Based on a book of the same name written by Donald Miller, it (the book) is a semi-autobiographical work, and on the cover the book is subtitled "Non-Religious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality," I happen not to have ready the book, but from the movie I believe it is named such because of the protagonist father's love for Jazz, and the fact that he was the person that pointed the protagonist in the direction where doubt looms.

The book and movie plot follows the life of Don, a nineteen-year-old sophomore at a Texas junior college. Don moves to Pacific Northwest, where he learns that being a Christian makes you an outcast, so in order to escape his Biblical background and Biblical way of life, Don does everything possible to make sure he is part of the cool kids, even denying his faith.

Before watching I did a little research to know what I am getting in to, some people say the movie is a Christian movie, the director claims that it is not, just a regular movie with religious undertones. I have seen the movie and I wonder how people didn't see it in the same view as the director. Also the movie actually came to being from the contributions put together by fans of the book (and more) from the Kickstarter website. The names of the contributors can be seen at the end of the movie, in the credits.

In conclusion, the movie message is great as I said before, but the implementation is just canny the director is trying to cover up a Christian film with a lot of worldly additions just to make the movie look secular. He added controversial things like cursing and homosexuality, knowing that many have different views concerning such. This movie could have been better, but since I have not read the book, I can't ascertain that the story in the movie has strayed from the original, but I can ascertain this though I didn't like this film.

www.lagsreviews.com

When I heard Donald Miller's book was being made into a movie, I was half elated, half skeptical. While the book-- that sold over 1.2 Million Copies-- is one of my favorites, it doesn't really lend itself well to a movie screenplay.

Or so I thought.

The movie follows a young kid named Don as he grows up in a Southern Baptist church in Texas, the only child of a uber-religious single mother and absentee deadbeat dad he refers to as "the hobo." Don is about to graduate from High School and is headed to Bible College. He's then faced with a situation that shakes him to his core. He ends up at Reed College, a liberal college in Oregon. The stories that follow show us the author's real struggles with faith and how he comes to grips with his own spirituality aside from the oppressive, rigid religious home he was raised in.

In addition to the screenplay, the director of photography does an impeccable job bringing the characters to life. The characters in the book, though not completely identical to the ones in the movie, become so personally vulnerable and familiar through equal parts can't-look-away awkwardness and close, tight, clean camera work that by the end of the film I found myself angry at myself for not interpreting the characters in the book more accurately even though they were in fact the real people.

BLJ is a movie that is desperately needed in the Christian art scene. The stunning dialog surrounding the film and the idiotic, egocentric way it has been received by many evangelical groups and churches clearly illustrate how needed films like this are. It earns its PG13 ranking in earnest, and there's no Kirk Cameron anywhere to be found. People talk about loving Jesus while drinking a beer, and not everyone who professes to follow Christ walks about with a pious attitude praying out loud and thumbing their Bibles incessantly. They make mistakes, hurt each other, and even cuss! In other words, it's real.

Kudos to Miller, Taylor and company. BLJ has, if nothing else, made in-roads for other non-craptastic movies with a Christ-centered message.

Thank you, God.

If you've ever felt empty, or if you've ever wondered if there was more to life, or if you've ever wanted to know more about God, or if you've ever been hurt by the church, or if you've ever felt scared or angry about religion, or if you've ever wondered how God really thinks or feels, this is the movie for you It's a movie about love, acceptance, fulfillment, searching, being lost, finding your way through life and that void inside each of us that makes us constantly wonder--is this it? Is this all there is to life? This movie is about God, but it never preaches to you once. It will completely flip your previous notions of what God is like and will comfort you by showing you that you're not alone in your confusion and mess, and that there IS more to this life. The acting is so authentic and the cinematography is beautiful. I have read all of Donald Miller's books and this exceeded my expectations. You can't miss this movie; the book was literally life-changing for me and I know it will be for many others

Having read the book, I was extremely excited to finally see "Blue Like Jazz" hit the big screen. I had high expectations, and these were greatly exceeded. The film resonates with anyone, Christian or non. Please don't stereotype this movie in with other "Christian movies" because it isn't. It's beautifully and artistically done, well-written, and well acted. The film follows the life of Don Miller, a young Texan from the Bible-Belt south who, after a series of events, begins to question what he believes and finds himself on the most "Ungodly campus" in the country. Through many hilarious, poignant, and relatable scenes, the movie becomes a beautiful storyline of a man who is simply searching to figure out what he believes. And, I mean, aren't we all? I wish more movies were like this… REAL. Go see it opening weekend! You won't regret it.