The ‘Jesus Revolution’ Movie Will Not Be as Revolutionary as It Possibly Could Be

February 22, 2023

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Also Pictured: Jesus (PHOTO CREDIT: Dan Anderson)

Starring: Joel Courtney, Kelsey Grammer, Jonathan Roumie, Anna Grace Barlow, Kimberly Williams-Paisley

Directors: Jon Erwin and Brent McCorkle

Running Time: 119 Minutes

Rating: PG-13 for A Few Bad Trips

Release Date: February 24, 2023 (Theaters)

What’s It About?: Hey, have you heard the good news? That’s a favorite phrase of people spreading the Christian gospel, and they were doing it really enthusiastically in the 1960s and 70s, particularly in sunny Southern California. This is the vision of America that Jesus Revolution wants us to see. The Jesus movement of the era brought evangelical Christian fervor to hippies, drug users, and anyone else who was just looking for something to believe. Some of the major figures in the movement were Greg Laurie (played by Joel Courtney), who emerged from an unmoored, religion-free childhood with a single mom and multiple stepfathers; Lonnie Frisbee (played by Jonathan Roumie), who’s basically Hippie Jesus Matthew McConaughey; and Chuck Smith (Kelsey Grammer), the token traditionalist who starts to cotton to the vibes of the new generation. Will Jesus Revolution manage to convert any viewers? Let’s find out!

What Made an Impression?:  I’m not a godless heathen, as I’m still a practicing Catholic (though some Protestant sects might consider that pretty godless), but modern American Christian cinema still tends to be a little too didactic for my tastes. Co-director Jon Erwin is certainly known for his faith-based output alongside his brother Andrew in the likes of October Baby and I Can Only Imagine, as well as the Kurt Warner biopic American Underdog. This time around, he’s got a new co-director in the form of Brent McCorkle, but the religious angle is obviously still front and center. So that aspect might not be up my alley, but the time period and its corresponding soundtrack certainly are. I’ve enjoyed the convergence of Jesus and hippies before in the likes of Godspell and Jesus Christ Superstar, so I was interested to see if Jesus Revolution could pull off a similar trick.

And the verdict is: eh, I liked the music, at least. (You can’t go wrong with “Jesus Is Just Alright” in this case, after all.) The main issue is that it all just feels so perfunctory. Sure, Chuck and Lonnie have differing approaches when it comes to preaching to their congregation, but it never feels like any of the conflicts can’t easily be solved with just five minutes of conversation. Meanwhile, Greg has to convince his girlfriend’s dad that he’s worthy of her, and that whole segment just made me want to scream, “Hey Dad, he’s already redeemed! Didn’t you watch the first half of this movie?!” (At least his drug-fueled escapades have an ironic Reefer Madness-esque edge to them.)

Look, I’m sure these struggles actually happened in real life, so the Jesus Revolution team obviously had to make do with the raw materials of the true accounts. But there’s a way to finesse the mundane details into something that can make your audience stand up and shout “Hallelujah!” Alas, I cannot report that I was genuinely inspired.

Jesus Revolution is Recommended If You Like: Having perfect attendance at Sunday school

Grade: 2 out of 5 Baptisms

‘American Underdog’ is an Okay Football Movie and a Down-the-Middle Christian Movie

December 17, 2021

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American Underdog (CREDIT: Michael Kubeisy/Lionsgate)

Starring: Zachary Levi, Anna Paquin, Dennis Quaid, Chance Kelly, Cindy Hogan, Ser’Darius Blain, Adam Baldwin, Bruce McGill, Hayden Zaller

Directors: Andrew and Jon Erwin

Running Time: 112 Minutes

Rating: PG for Mild Adult Situations

Release Date: December 25, 2021 (Theaters)

Is American Underdog The Great Evangelical Christian Movie we’ve all been waiting for? Not quite, but it does promise a decent amount of inspiration. Plenty of professional athletes have attributed their success to God, and Kurt Warner is one of the most successful to ever do so. He was named Super Bowl MVP in 2001 and eventually made his way into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, but he took a uniquely circuitous path to the big time. He went undrafted out of a college that’s not exactly known for producing NFL talent, got a job stocking grocery shelves just to get by, and then tried at hand arena football just as his dreams were starting to slip away for good. That’s when he landed on the radar of the St. Louis Rams, a struggling franchise willing to take a chance on a guy that everyone else had written off as too old to be a rookie. And even after all that, he was still just a backup. But not for long, as the Rams’ starting quarterback got injured in a preseason game.

You might think it would be a little odd seeing 41-year-old Zachary Levi playing Warner throughout his twenties, but fortunately Shazam! did us the favor of establishing his overgrown kid bona fides. Besides, world-class athletes are often so physically imposing and metaphorically larger-than-life that they can easily appear to be ten years older than they actually are. So Levi sells that part of the role, but what about the Christianity aspect? I certainly believe that Warner lives his life dedicated to God and that he became especially committed to his faith when he meets divorced mother of two Brenda (Anna Paquin). But does that aspect of his life make for an interesting movie? I’ll say this: it could’ve been more interesting. There are some hints at internal existential struggles, particularly when Brenda’s parents die in a tornado. But we never feel the full weight of how the Warners can reconcile a merciful god with a cruel world. We just kind of learn that they in fact do do that.

But what about the football? It’s not hard to make the career of Kurt Warner exciting. His years with the Rams were nicknamed “The Greatest Show on Turf,” and they certainly featured some of the most dynamic offensive playmaking in the history of the NFL. I love touchdowns much more than I love concussion-causing tackles, so I’m reasonably happy with a highlight reel of this nature. But does American Underdog say anything that the real licensed game footage doesn’t already say? As with the Christianity, the answer is a resounding … “maybe”? There’s a running theme about how Kurt is resistant to the strictures imposed by his coaches. Did he possibly revolutionize football by scrambling out of the so-called “pocket” and thereby opening up the game to untold possibilities? Perhaps! The movie doesn’t really give us a definitive answer either way.

Oh well, at least there’s Dennis Quaid really enjoying himself (and relishing a chicken sandwich when we first meet him) as Rams coach Dick Vermeil, who’s in his sixties during the film’s events but even more of an overgrown kid than everyone else. Maybe American Underdog should have just been a Warner-Vermeil buddy comedy – and not even necessarily primarily about football! Just spitballing, but perhaps they could solve pigskin-related crimes in the St. Louis area. Billion dollar idea here for the taking, folks.

American Underdog is Recommended If You Like: Real life sports footage mixed with fake movie scenes, Inspirational kids with disabilities, Honky tonk bars

Grade: 2.5 out of 5 Touchdowns