The Song

This film was heavily hyped in the Faith Based community by email campaign and advertising on many web sites. I didn't want to leave an early review, as I didn't want to dissuade people from it, but I have to be frank; this film doesn't help much of anyone. It doesn't even hit the self-proclaimed target of being honest about marriage problems very well. It claims to be the 'best film about Marriage since Fireproof'; no way! There is far more to making a marriage work than just physical fidelity. There are better relatively low- budget faith-based films about marriage (albeit not theatrical releases) right now: Redeemed—Grace Abounds and The War Within just to name two. The former of the two deals honestly with real fidelity, and the latter with emotional fidelity. If you want to know how to fix a marriage, watch one of them! I really don't believe that was the film's true intent; I think it was an attempt at making a Christian film that Hollywood would embrace; if so, it had to fail. Hollywood could not help but ignore it; they already do sleaze better—so it's not 'cool enough' for them. The Faith- based community can't love it either; it's based loosely on the life of nobody's hero; Solomon. So what are we left with? An updated story about someone we don't (or shouldn't) even want to know. I can't blame the actors; to play a proud pompous jerk, you have to become one. Sorry.

Great story, great acting, great music, great message. You can't go wrong with this one! Its a love story but also has the excitement of music and life on the road. It deals with real life issues with couples and the struggles of relationships. The music scenes alone are worth seeing it. Wonderfully crafted songs with great musicianship and slick performance footage. The cinematography is beautifully done. The three lead actors are new to the craft and pull their rolls of great. "Faith-based" films too often shy away from issues of sex, drugs, drinking, affairs, and marital struggles, but not this one. It hits hard and goes deep. It is layered with parallels to king David's and Solomon's lives, and the narration is straight from Solomon's writings.

My last review again deviates from the normal blockbuster and instead turns to a lesser advertised movie. Instead of mind numbing action, stupid comedic gestures, or yet another animated movie, this one instead falls in the line of… yes you guessed it the drama. This review is centered on a movie called the Song, who you may have not seen advertised, because I didn't. So let's get down to it and give you the 411 on this cinematic journey as I will call it.

You might be asking what the heck is this movie about? The Song is a tale about a singer, surprise, named Jed King who is in the shadow of his famous father, who has a bit of sinful past. At the promise of not following in his footsteps, Jed puts his religion first in hopes of using that to keep straight. When love and a career begin to develop though, Jed is put to the trial of turning from the sinful life that the world offers.

So where does the Song come in? I wish not to ruin the surprise, but a part of it is that this movie has a lot of soundtrack to it, with a decent number of scenes involving some musical track. If you're a country lover, then you'll be pleased to hear that almost every song is in this genre. Most of the tracks sound exactly the same to me, the twang of the violin and banjo filling your eardrums with the sounds of Kentucky life. This annoyed me as the movie progressed, but mainly because 1. I hate country music, and 2. a majority of the numbers were the same song, only slightly mixing it up about halfway through. Luckily the numbers, for the most part, had a point to the story, often an outlet for the pent up emotions of young Jed, as a means of expressing himself. Some of these numbers made the point, but some of them seemed to be just whining with a certain beat that didn't do much for me.

As I mentioned the music is integrated into the story, but how good was the story in this film. The first aspect is that this movie is a big drama film, filled with the basic plot elements of a soap opera. Right at the start the tale is depressing, filled with a quick bout of adultery, death, redemption, and then more death, and these characters have little involvement in the tale. From there it goes back into the classic set up with a quick set up of romance that last no longer than ten minutes. Once the relationship is set, the real drama begins, which becomes the theme of the entire movie. The second component of the movie is the life lessons taught in the film via internal monologue and dialog between characters. Jed's journey through the stages of his trial is narrated by his thoughts, quoting from some poetry or verse summing up his feelings and actions. At times this is well done, but like everything requires a little balance, instead of beating the dead horse. Despite the delivery of the message, the lessons are grand though, the wise words delivered in such a manner to breach your conscious and make you feel the teachings. Well that, and the fact that Jed continues to make horrible choices, some of which had me saying "You idiot, or No don't do that dummy!" Outside of that though, the story isn't so much complex as simple and drawn out, with very little twist or surprise to the matter. Most of the things you can see coming a mile away, with the only thing keeping me in mystery being the ending. Yet, those that love emotional, tear jerking movies are going to be enthralled most of the movie.

Of course the thing that really brings this movie alive is the acting in the film. Alan Powell takes point in this movie, being the tragic "hero" in this tale. Powell's character has a nice set of pipes, not the best mind you, but decent enough. How much is autotuned? I have no idea, but he does a nice job for the most part. Outside of singing though he plays the emotions of sincere, sad, happy, and angry quite well, but goes a little overboard at times. He can even play the pathetic role quite well, all while looking good, at least from the comments by the female audience members. Overall his acting is good, though I can't say I enjoyed his character the most. Caitlin Nicol-Thomas also does a nice job playing the role she did as well. She's got edge, flare, and plays the wild girl quite well. In both music and acting, the girl brings spice to the picture and offsets the comfort zone the beginning part of the movie sets. Of course of all the cast my favorite is the lovely Ali Faulkner. Not only is this girl beautiful, but I loved her character in the film, and even more how she brought her to life. Faulkner plays the entire spectrum, and brings both wholesome goodness and loyalty to the screen. Of all the characters, I felt she was the one who kept the acting in check, not going overboard with the screaming and crying as some of the others did. My only complaint with her, the depressed sighing got a little old at some points.

The Song is a great teaching movie, and is meant for drama lovers who want that soap opera method. However, if you are looking for something a little more… fulfilling and less preaching, then skip this movie and watch it on Netflix. Just give this picture a try at some point; you may just learn a lesson that will go a long way.

My scores are: Drama/Music/Romance: 7.5 Movie Overall: 6.5

I have watched this film twice. I appreciated the acting and the technical quality of the production, and would recommend the film for that reason. However, like so many moralistic films, the singer and musician failed his true calling in life, and ultimately renounced the life that brought him briefly to sin, but also could have brought him closer to the wisdom he sought through sharing his life's lesson. It made him a one-trick pony, and his wife only wanted him if he just stayed on her father's vineyard to work, renouncing his musical talent because "she didn't know anything about such things."

Whenever a film makes either the man's or the woman's work, which supports the family, appear only sinful and even harmful to the family, it makes me angry, as a wife and as a Christian. Yes, it caused him to sin, but so did his wife's inability to show him love and appreciation when he came off the road and home to her. It is part of what made him fall from grace - he had asked her to come with him on the road with their son, and she said she never would.

I would have been far more supportive of the film if he had fallen, rediscovered God's love and purpose in redemption through Christ, and taken that new understanding into his music, to inspire others. As it was, the movie gave out a lot of Old Testament platitudes in the narrative, and lost a great opportunity to demonstrate growth in both the characters of the husband and wife. So, watch it for the scenery, and the bits of good music, or as a cautionary tale, but don't look for answers in the lives of its lead characters.

"'The Song' is a gripping story of a singer that seeks the wisdom of God, and that tastes the temptations of this life along the way. A modern day Solomon, Jed King learns the hard way that fame comes at a heavy price. The way we all often find out when we 'go into the world'.

Alan Powell (singer of Anthem Lights) pulls off an outstanding preference on the 'Big Screen.' His captivating and believable character development was strongly brought to life through his acting. Throughout the movie you can feel his battles, from the fame, to the lust, to the struggles within his own marriage. That without God everything is 'meaningless.'

Sadly we find that most Christian movies are of low quality when it comes to acting, graphics and everything else that goes into making movies. But 'The Song' aced it. The scenes were beautifully done and the cast acting was enjoyable. It always makes me happy to watch a Christian movie with such an amazing impact. We definitely need more of these films in theaters.