A new independent film is doing quite well at the box office, despite an obvious agenda embedded in the title itself, God’s Not Dead. This latest offering from director Harold Cronk is a pleasant surprise because it will not remind you of previous movies with similar themes.

As a full time Christian apologist who also has a degree in theater, the “artist” and the “minister” inside of me often do battle while I watch movies.

Naturally, I appreciate the messages found in “Christian films,” but let’s be honest: Many such projects, specifically marketed to the church and/or publicized by the church are cheesy, predictable, contrived, manipulative, poorly acted, and poorly directed. As for the stories and dialogue, one wonders if these scripts were purchased from a pack of 12-for-a-dollar screenplays.

Despite the good intentions behind such movies, I try to maintain some integrity when critiquing them artistically.With that qualification in mind, the so-called secular movies are often much better. This is ironic because it means a lot of horrible messages get skillfully produced.

I am very happy to say, God’s Not Dead was a delightful exception. Not only does it speak the truth, it is well written, well acted, and well directed.

That’s not to say that the film didn’t have a few flaws. It did, although thankfully, my criticism here is minor.

It’s difficult, for instance, to imagine a philosophy teacher, accosting his Christian student in the hallway with a warning along the lines of “How dare you try to make a fool out of me in class!”

In point of fact, there are bitter, atheist university professors with personal agendas.That part was realistic. And occasionally they do go into tirades. I can vouch for this. I used to argue with them myself back when I was an undergrad.

And in the many, MANY years since being a young student, my itinerant ministry has brought me into a significant number of college classes (including philosophy) as a guest lecturer.

I’ve also done formal debates with philosophy teachers. Some of these professors were very gracious and polite. Others were not.

I do remember one who got quite upset, even teary eyed, in the middle of presentation before a room filled with hundreds of students and faculty. But even then, proportionate to his almost involuntary out bursts, the poor guy kept trying to save face by quickly changing his demeanor or adding little disclaimers.

And where as I can imagine a professor wanting to say something intimidating to a student outside the appropriate boundaries of a classroom or office, in most cases, he would be smart enough to keep such feelings to himself. It could happen. And maybe it has happened on rare occasions, but that would be an exception to the rule.

I am keeping in mind that God’s Not Dead, although fiction, is actually inspired by many court cases being defended by the ACLJ regarding universities and their dealings with Christian students and faculty. These cases are listed in the closing credits and there are quite a few of them. Still, that one scene in the hallway came across as unrealistic.

Now, having said that, this professor in the film is very believable in all of his other scenes with students.

There was also another character in the movie, a jerk boyfriend who couldn’t wait to tell his girlfriend over dinner in a nice restaurant about his promotion at work.

Unbeknownst to him, his girlfriend has news of her own. Right after he enthusiastically brags about his promotion, she blurts out:

“I have cancer”

At this point, the guy immediately responds by saying, “Couldn’t this have waited?”

Again, yes, the world is full of very selfish people,and this character is accurately portrayed in the film as a conceited, narcissist, so it would have been realistic for him to not really care, but it’s doubtful he would have been so honestly transparent and so quickly blunt.

The scene would have played better if he subtly said something to the effect of …

“Gee…I’m ah…sorry to hear that.”

Then his girlfriend might recognize that he doesn’t seem to care and she might possibly confront his less than empathetic reaction.

But for him to come out that quickly and say, “Couldn’t this have waited?”…A bit too exaggerated. A bit unrealistic.

On the other hand, where as some of these non-Christian characters would have been better painted with gray areas and subtle shadows, the Christian characters were NOT painted as flawless, angelic saints. They had their idiosyncrasies.

There was a discontent pastor who loved God and helped people but got annoyed with little things and didn’t have a whole lot of faith.

As for the student who challenges his philosophy professor about God’s existence; he does not immediately have answers. We see him needing to study up. We see him striking out after his first presentation.

Meanwhile, his girlfriend is a piece of work. She too calls herself a Christian but she threatens to break up with her boyfriend if he doesn’t stop debating his own teacher, thus endangering his grade and putting his future on the line, a future she wants to be a part of. She may be a Christian, but she’s also a superficial, self-centered twit.

And so, in many ways, this movie was fair. The fact that Christians were portrayed without unrealistic stereotypes made up a little for the exaggerated stereotypes of some, (but not all) of the film’s unbelievers.

One more problem: The suggestion that each student would be won over by the theistic arguments so quickly, culminating in every single one of them standing up out of their seats to say, “God’s not dead,” was some what of a stretch (to make the understatement of the century). Some would have been convinced. Others would not have been. Still others would need more time to think about it. And finally, a few would be afraid to openly disagree with the professor no matter what they might now be reconsidering. It simply happened too fast.

On a scale of 1-10 I give this movie an 8. It’s definitely one of the better Christian films. The final classroom scene not withstanding, the remainder of the story has a genuine, climactic, unpredictable ending, a bittersweet ending. Not every plot gets neatly tied up. Not every character lives happily ever after. Not every character gets saved.Those that do get saved don’t stumble into conversion by accidentally turning on the TV and hearing Billy Graham (although Franklin Graham and Duck Dynasty family members do have a cameo.)

A skeptic could watch this feature and be genuinely challenged without feeling manipulated.

I strongly recommend God’s Not Dead. And again, I’m doing that as someone who usually likes secular movies more than Christian movies.

 

 

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