The Song

I looked up this movie out of curiosity, once I discovered that Alan Powell -- a former member of Anthem Lights -- had left the group to pursue an acting career, and The Song was his first. Anthem Lights has been my favorite singing group since they debuted their first album. Making the transition from singer to actor doesn't always work, so I wanted to see this movie for myself -- which I did last night.

I had no preconceived ideas or pre-knowledge about this movie. It was interesting, stylistically, to see how the movie unfolded. Fortunately, I was familiar with the story & writings of Solomon, so I was able to track with the movie -- and found it to be creatively & masterfully woven. But someone unfamiliar with Solomon's writings might not understand or enjoy the format. The storyline itself though, is great, and everyone should be able to appreciate the realism of the drama and the life story it tells.

Personally, I was super-impressed (and surprised) by Alan's acting ability -- he is obviously a natural, and belongs on the screen. The entire film was solid -- cinematography, acting, editing, writing. If someone saying this is a "Christian" movie would scare you away, don't let it. I would not really know it was a Christian movie -- just a real movie about life and the true struggles of mankind.

I hesitated to watch this movie since it was made by Samuel Goldwyn and not by a Christian Studio. However, to my surprise, I liked it! The main character and his wife are very happy until the husband falls for the oldest trick in the book (by no doubt a very pretty and unscrupulous female). If you don't have a babysitter for your children, please see IMDb's Parent's Guide for movie's cautions, to see if this film is safe for your child to see. The movie is about a Singer, so expect some singing; about six or more partial (not full length) songs. The romance is when the main character and his wife go on a date or two and get married (the wedding night consists of one kiss, in a medium to almost dark bedroom) No sex is seen or heard. No Nudity (I don't count a man without a shirt as nudity). A Drama film with a few intense scenes and a very wise message to whoever gets this movie. We did.

I did not know what to expect when I saw the screening of this movie, and boy was I surprised. I knew it was based on the life of King Solomon but nothing else.

The script and acting quality was top-notch, and the directing was well executed. I was drawn into the storyline and found myself rooting for the characters. It was a wonderful movie to take my wife to for our anniversary, and we found ourselves talking about it for days after we saw it.

The movie is intense at times and probably not suitable for young children, but I highly recommend it for teens and up!

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.