JeffBatHome
Joined Nov 2010
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JeffBatHome's rating
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JeffBatHome's rating
Let me start off by saying that I come from a Christian heritage but I am not a Christian. I am an agnostic. I can find no proof for the existence of God (let alone what's in the Bible, Koran, etc) nor can I find proof for the non-existence of God. Intellectual honesty requires, therefore, that I neither believe nor disbelieve. Given my stance on God and religion, I dismissed the Bible / Christian stuff in "A Question of Faith" out of hand. I just ignored it and instead approached this movie from a human behavior standpoint. I'm glad I did.
"A Question of Faith" is one of those stories about people who do not know each other but are brought together by an event, in this case a totally avoidable tragedy, and, as is necessary for this kind of movie, by coincidence. The tragedy begets pain and, of course, anger.
I like the acting in this movie. Some of the characters could have seemed "too good" to be real, but since I've met real people who are like the characters portrayed in the movie I was able to get past that.
The characters were all introduced early in the movie, and it became fairly predictable what what was going to happen next. So you might think, therefore, that "A Question of Faith" just left me flat and from my description that this movie is not worth watching, but you would be wrong.
By the end of "A Question of Faith" I was crying. This movie, to me, is about the power and beauty of forgiveness, and it doesn't matter whether forgiveness comes from some religion or from innate human goodness. Maybe forgiveness means nothing to you but it means a whole lot to me. I have been both forgiven and have forgiven in my lifetime and I know what it truly means. "A Question of Faith" portrayed forgiveness in its true glory in spite of the biblical connections.
I knocked off a couple of points for all the bible stuff. But the thing I really didn't like about "A Question of Faith" is that it left all the theaters around here before I could go see it again.
"A Question of Faith" is one of those stories about people who do not know each other but are brought together by an event, in this case a totally avoidable tragedy, and, as is necessary for this kind of movie, by coincidence. The tragedy begets pain and, of course, anger.
I like the acting in this movie. Some of the characters could have seemed "too good" to be real, but since I've met real people who are like the characters portrayed in the movie I was able to get past that.
The characters were all introduced early in the movie, and it became fairly predictable what what was going to happen next. So you might think, therefore, that "A Question of Faith" just left me flat and from my description that this movie is not worth watching, but you would be wrong.
By the end of "A Question of Faith" I was crying. This movie, to me, is about the power and beauty of forgiveness, and it doesn't matter whether forgiveness comes from some religion or from innate human goodness. Maybe forgiveness means nothing to you but it means a whole lot to me. I have been both forgiven and have forgiven in my lifetime and I know what it truly means. "A Question of Faith" portrayed forgiveness in its true glory in spite of the biblical connections.
I knocked off a couple of points for all the bible stuff. But the thing I really didn't like about "A Question of Faith" is that it left all the theaters around here before I could go see it again.
I will NOT discuss how this story unfolds.
Our main protagonist, Henry, is an 11 year old genius. He is almost too smart to be believed but, being rather smart myself, I have spent lots of time around smart people, even when I was growing up, and I can tell you from first hand experience that there are kids like Henry out there. Sadly they are rare.
Our second protagonist, Henry's mother, cares deeply about her two sons. She is a single mother, and that's relevant to the plot. We are never told how she came to be a single mother, but that is unimportant.
Being such a good mother she has imbued Henry and his younger brother with a sense of decency and responsibility, and Henry uses his genius in his own unique ways. It's a delight to watch. When I was his age I did a number of the same things, but clearly he is way beyond where I was at 11 years old.
The story takes off when we find out that Henry has figured out, correctly, that the girl next door, a classmate of his, is being abused by her step father, and Henry sets out to stop it.
Henry is driven by a powerful sense of injustice about what is happening to the girl, something I understand well. I know this because I was a severely abused child myself. My own mother was "less than ideal", but there were other adults in my childhood who were there for me so my life has turned out well in spite of my mother.
But because of my background I know the rage at betrayal which Henry feels, and I know his determination to set things right. As the story unfolds we see his determination to end the girl's abuse, and the story beautifully lays out for us the reasons why it goes in the direction it does.
This is an intelligent, carefully crafted, nearly flawless story. I urge you to go see it. For me it is one of the best movies ever.
Our main protagonist, Henry, is an 11 year old genius. He is almost too smart to be believed but, being rather smart myself, I have spent lots of time around smart people, even when I was growing up, and I can tell you from first hand experience that there are kids like Henry out there. Sadly they are rare.
Our second protagonist, Henry's mother, cares deeply about her two sons. She is a single mother, and that's relevant to the plot. We are never told how she came to be a single mother, but that is unimportant.
Being such a good mother she has imbued Henry and his younger brother with a sense of decency and responsibility, and Henry uses his genius in his own unique ways. It's a delight to watch. When I was his age I did a number of the same things, but clearly he is way beyond where I was at 11 years old.
The story takes off when we find out that Henry has figured out, correctly, that the girl next door, a classmate of his, is being abused by her step father, and Henry sets out to stop it.
Henry is driven by a powerful sense of injustice about what is happening to the girl, something I understand well. I know this because I was a severely abused child myself. My own mother was "less than ideal", but there were other adults in my childhood who were there for me so my life has turned out well in spite of my mother.
But because of my background I know the rage at betrayal which Henry feels, and I know his determination to set things right. As the story unfolds we see his determination to end the girl's abuse, and the story beautifully lays out for us the reasons why it goes in the direction it does.
This is an intelligent, carefully crafted, nearly flawless story. I urge you to go see it. For me it is one of the best movies ever.
