Le Chant du destin

I was unaware of Toni Braxton's immense likability. I have known about her, of course, for years but had never seen anything with her in it. In fact, I hope I don't offend in saying that, given her slightly arched nose and those pipes, this movie was a revelation for me in that I saw her as a possible heiress to the throne of Barbra.

This might be appropriate in that the story in Twist of Faith involves a young Jewish man who finds solace in a Southern black church. He has a past ... a very grave past. It is his history that makes for me a romance between him and the young mother played by Braxton stretch credulity and propriety.

Braxton's character matches the handsome newcomer in mystery ... but he eventually gets her secret out of her. I don't recall that during the movie anyone ever hears what his is, although we, the audience know, so that's fair ... no doubt the congregation will eventually find out; perhaps there is no rush. And therein lies a beautiful leap of faith. I recall thinking, though, as the uncle, played by Mykelti Williamson whom we all remember and love from Forest Gump .. he was Bubba, takes the newcomer rabbit hunting that, in another film in which the young man was actually trouble, this would have been a very tense moment. Music would have mounted telling us the uncle was in danger especially when he handed the newcomer the gun. By the way, no rabbits were hurt in the making of this film I'm sure, although what follows seems lifted from Winter's Bone, a fabulous Jennifer Lawrence vehicle and the scene for me that made an indelible imprint on the American consciousness. That movie is the one that made Lawrence a star, in my view, not The Hunger Games, although it is probably what got her the part in Hunger Games.

But I digress.

I know the main characters are in their early 30's or so and both extremely attractive, and I know the Jewish mother in the story absolves anyone of guilt, but if you're like me you will find what seems to be the timeline in this story way too accelerated. Maybe the way things turned out are what the main male character needed, I'll give it that, so I guess I can rethink the movie and perhaps watch it again; the acting, production values, direction and title were all wonderful. But in my world the possibilities for the young man and woman should have taken about five years to reach develop.

So brace yourself. The story is indeed romantic. You might just not be ready for it either.

Sadly, sometimes people of faith, whether it be Jewish, Christian, Atheistic or any other, are so rigid in their beliefs that they overlook the power of God to bring people together who have common experiences.

Yeshua (Jesus Christ) pointed this out on several occasions. I also believe that being kind and hospitable to strangers is part of Judaism and of Christianity. I will not take the time to point out where but it IS there in whatever part of the Bible you wish to believe. Christians should at least believe both the old and new testaments. Jews can find this in what we call the Old Testament.

A Jewish man who loses his wife and 3 children at one time and sees them shot dead after being alive moments before, has caused him to lose his way and become a homeless man searching for some meaning to all of this.

He is befriended by an uncle of a beautiful young black woman (who looks aboriginal to me) who has also lost the love of her life through a mistake that she made. Gradually he becomes a part of their "family" by the kindness of these black Christians and of their whole church.

He is confused when both the black woman and he are drawn to each other and fall in love in spite of differences in their beliefs but suddenly feels like he is dishonoring his dead wife and family and goes home to the city.

Will true love overcome mistaken beliefs? Well if you wish to find out, you will need to watch the movie.

Hopefully you will be able to put aside rigid beliefs which do not allow for love to overcome them and experience this very emotional movie well-played by Toni Braxton and David Julian Hirsh.

I saw this once, told my wife about it, and together we watched it two more times. There were times that we were close to tears. We are Jewish, and I must say up front that the Jewish aspect of this is handled vaguely, though respectfully. If that were all there was to this movie, we might not have finished it once. But there was, in addition, the story of two people damaged by life but who are drawn together by the highest, most refined values. I know that sounds preachy, but it doesn't come out that way. The principals,Toni Braxton & Julian Hirsh, in fact every actor actor played with simple truth. My wife and I believe that the one of the highest purposes in life is to make the unseen visible, and that is what this movie does.

This is a feel good movie that I truly could watch every day. Braxton's acting is not perfect but it's not too distracting to get the gist of this movie. There may be actions or decisions that some believe would not happen IRL but it's just a movie. Relax and enjoy.... If you want to "feel good" and lose your troubles for a while, this is the movie.

I found this film to be exceptionally moving. I was loath to watch it, at first, as the brief description suggested that it might be emotionally disturbing to me in a way I do not like, with human tragedy at the basis of the story. However, I soon changed my mind, and have now watched most of it almost three times.

It is a human story set in a religious environment. It shows the true meaning of Christianity while dealing with human emotions in a most tender and loving way. Toni Braxton played her role most well and with feeling, once she began to recognize that Jacab was not only a gentle man, but also was deeply religious. I found there to be no conflict between the very different religious backgrounds of these two people, who were drawn closer together by the commonality of their religious beliefs and feelings.

I was moved to tears on several occasions, and there are few movies that do that to me. The acting is good and the story, excellent. I found two of the reviews somewhat short-sighted as to the meaning of the Christian spirit, and they clearly did not see as much humanity or the meaning of Christianity in it, as I did.